Backgrounder: Changing demands of the workplace

Changing demands of the workplace

Canada is home to a well-educated and highly skilled workforce, but rapid technological change and globalization are accelerating the need to learn and develop new skills. As the demands of the workplace change, so too must the skills that workers bring to their jobs. The Government of Canada is taking action to ensure that workers, employers and post-secondary education institutions have the information necessary to address the current and upcoming challenges of rapidly evolving work environments.

Sectoral Initiatives Program

The Sectoral Initiatives Program (SIP) is a grants-and-contributions program that helps address current and future skills shortages by supporting the development and distribution of sector-specific labour market information, national occupational standards and skills certification and accreditation systems.

The SIP will:

• develop sectoral labour market information that is national in scope or has a national significance and leads to improved understanding of sectoral labour markets;
• develop national occupational standards that are validated by industry; and
• develop certification and accreditation programs that are industry-driven and validated by industry at the national level.

The call for proposals for the SIP was launched in fall 2017. The goal was to fund projects that will give workers, employers and post-secondary education institutions access to sectoral labour market information that will address the changing skills needs in many industries.