Future Skills Centre and Labour Market Information Council Announce $3 Million Partnership for Creation of Front-Line Career-Guidance Tools

New project aims to equip front-line organizations with tools and insights needed to help Canadians navigate their career choices 

TORONTO, Dec. 14, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, the Future Skills Centre (FSC) and the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC) announce a partnership to help Canadians navigate the changing world of work.

This is on the heels of a recent Future Skills Council report received by the Government of Canada, Canada – A Learning Nation: A Skilled, Agile Workforce Ready to Shape the Future, outlining five priorities including the provision of relevant, reliable and timely labour market information and tools, to ensure that Canada's skills, policies and programs respond to the needs of Canadians. 

Every day, Canadians and the organizations that support them seek out skills and labour market information when making important career and education choices. Research by LMIC indicates that useful labour market data, such as the skill requirements of jobs, is difficult to access and not sufficiently tailored to meet individual needs. In the wake of COVID-19, decision-making has become even more difficult and front-line career counselors are coping with escalating client needs.

With $3M over the next two years, the partnership will pilot the creation of an open cloud-based data repository to facilitate and streamline access to practical and relevant information. The project will also dedicate resources to support the development of front-line career-planning and guidance tools to help prepare those just entering the job market, mid-career workers, and those looking to change career paths. This collaboration between FSC and LMIC will enable both organizations to gather system-wide lessons on how to help Canadians make more informed decisions.

"The pandemic has heightened our need to better understand the skill requirements of jobs. It has made clear that an important part of a sustainable and inclusive recovery involves managing information more effectively—from determining how the labour market is shifting and what employers are demanding, to identifying how to provide that information to front-line organizations. That in turn will have a concrete impact on supporting the career and employment decisions of Canadians."

– Pedro Barata, Executive Director, Future Skills Centre

"During these times of uncertainty, the demands for more and better labour market information and insights have intensified. Our partnership will test new and innovative ways of providing front-line organizations with access to timely and relevant labour market information. We will also equip them with the knowledge and tools to make sense of it in an insightful and coherent way so that Canadians make the most informed career decisions."

– Steven Tobin, Executive Director, Labour Market Information Council

"This collaborative partnership between the Future Skills Centre and Labour Market Information Council is exactly what we need to see happening across sectors. Their leadership in this area will provide innovative tools to help Canada build a skilled, agile and resilient workforce that is ready and able to shape the future. When everyone does their part, it paves a way forward to ensure that our workforce is at the forefront of innovative thinking and action, now and for years to come."

– Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion, Carla Qualtrough

ABOUT FSC
Future Skills Centre is a forward-thinking research and collaboration hub dedicated to preparing Canadians for employment success and meeting the emerging talent needs of employers. As a pan-Canadian community, FSC brings together experts and organizations across sectors to rigorously identify, assess, and share innovative approaches to develop the skills needed to drive prosperity and inclusion. FSC is directly involved in innovation through investments in pilot projects and academic research on the future of work and skills in Canada. The Future Skills Centre is funded by the Government of Canada's Future Skills program.

ABOUT LMIC
The Labour Market Information Council is a not-for-profit organization with the goal to improve the timeliness, reliability and accessibility of labour market information to ensure Canadians and the organizations that support them have the tools they need to make informed career and education decisions. Through the power of relevant information, delivered in an engaging way, LMIC wants to help Canadians succeed in a changing, dynamic world of work.

SOURCE The Future Skills Centre

Media Contacts: Peter Aterman, Bilingual Communications Manager, Future Skills Centre, 647-262-3706, [email protected]; Nadine Purdy, Manager of Communications, Labour Market Information Council, 343-961-7858, [email protected]