Backgrounder: Sectoral Initiatives Program

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 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 Program funds multi-year partnership-based projects in key economic sectors to advance the Canadian labour market.

The Program will:

• develop sectoral labour market information that is national in scope or has national significance and leads to improved understanding of sectoral labour markets;
• support creative solutions that explore new ways of addressing labour market issues;
• 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.

Through programs like the Sectoral Initiatives Program, the Government is helping to address the skills requirements in key sectors of the economy. It helps industries identify, forecast and address workforce and skills development gaps, including attracting integrating and retaining workers, particularly under-represented groups such as Indigenous people and new immigrants.

The goal of the Sectoral Initiatives Program is 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.