The global economy and Canada’s place in it are going through a period of tumultuous change, with an energy transition underway, and a major reconfiguration of trade patterns in the offing.
The implications for Canada’s entire workforce are significant, but they are even more important for communities with higher concentrations of employment in sectors susceptible to economic disruption, including Indigenous communities dependent on resource sectors.
Many of these communities are in rural or remote areas, and face greater challenges in attracting skilled workers and more barriers to accessing training. Among other issues, workers are often reluctant to pursue training at their own cost unless it is linked to an employment opportunity.
Training provided by employers is an integral part of the education and training ecosystem but is unlikely to build sufficient workforce resilience. Various levels of government offer programs that address some gaps, but their limited scale and scope constrain their effectiveness. All too often, economic development planning is not co-ordinated with local skills development, leading to missed opportunities for companies and workers.
A more proactive, co-ordinated and place-based approach to skills development that recognizes the unique challenges and opportunities facing each community could help build the resilience Canada needs as it faces global headwinds.
To help prepare workers in susceptible communities for the future, the Institute for Research on Public Policy recommends that:
The global economy is changing and, as a result, Canada is expected to face both temporary economic shocks and permanent structural changes over the coming decades.
The rise in protectionism and geopolitical conflict is likely to reconfigure trade patterns and upend Canada’s relationship with the United States, our closest trading partner. At the same time, major demographic and technological changes are taking place, including the rising use of artificial intelligence, an aging population and the energy transition.
The implications are important for all Canadian workers, but especially for those in communities with high concentrations of employment in sectors susceptible to economic disruption. When a large employer closes in a small community, the ripple effects can be devastating for other businesses, workers and the wider community. Local contractors and suppliers, as well as restaurants and services and their employees, are all likely to feel the pinch. Such economic disruption can also lead to a drop in local government revenues and a decline in housing prices (Samson et al., 2025). History has shown that communities can struggle to recover as skilled workers and young people leave to find work elsewhere, and local social services falter due to falling tax revenues (OECD, 2023).
Some Canadian communities are more exposed to the possibility of disruption than others. Identifying these communities can help to focus targeted efforts to improve resilience.
Disruption can come not only from the economic challenges themselves but also from Canada’s response, which is expected to include large investments in a range of projects such as roads, ports, mines, electricity generation, electricity transmission and pipelines (Thurton, 2025). Many of these projects will be built in and around rural, remote and Indigenous communities. Without careful planning and government support, local populations may not benefit as much as they should.
Our first policy brief, published as part of our Community Transformations Project, Empowering Community-Led Transformation Strategies, focused on building resilience through community economic development plans (Samson et al., 2025). This brief looks at ways to build workforce resilience through targeted skills development.
As a starting point, the Institute for Research on Public Policy has developed methodologies for identifying communities that are more susceptible to two potential sources of disruption:
There is inherent uncertainty regarding how specific communities will be affected. In the case of the net-zero transition, much will depend on the evolution of government policies, consumer demand, investor sentiments and global markets, as well as the response of Canadian companies. In the case of U.S. tariffs, it will depend on the specific goods that are targeted, the level of the tariffs, the alternatives available to U.S. consumers and businesses, and the potential for Canadian companies to shift sales to markets in Europe, Asia and elsewhere.
Susceptibility measures the likelihood of significant community impact if disruption arises but does not necessarily predict a negative outcome. It can help governments identify actions that may improve community and workforce resilience, and capture new opportunities that arise.
In total, we identify 68 Canadian communities that are susceptible to the energy transition, 30 that are susceptible to U.S. tariffs, and 19 that are susceptible to both (table 1).
Our analysis of workforces in the 68 communities susceptible to net-zero transition reveals four notable insights, largely stemming from the fact that these communities tend to be smaller and more rural and remote.
First, workers have less formal education than those in non-susceptible communities (figure 1). On average, 43 per cent of workers in susceptible communities (those in the moderately, more, or most categories) have completed high school or less, compared to 32 per cent of workers in the least susceptible communities. Just 19 per cent of workers in susceptible communities have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared to 36 per cent in the least susceptible communities. Lower levels of post-secondary education typically make it more challenging for workers to adapt to new skill requirements or to find alternative employment when they lose their jobs (Leclerc, 2022).
Second, susceptible communities have a higher share of older workers: 25 per cent of workers in susceptible communities are 55 or older, compared to 22 per cent in the least susceptible communities (figure 2). Mid- or late-career changes are more challenging for older workers because they face higher barriers to geographic and professional mobility along with heavier demands on their time and financial resources (Okeke et al., 2023).
Third, susceptible communities are more likely to have greater difficulty attracting skilled labour because they tend to be more remote and less economically diverse and have smaller populations (Samson et al., 2025). By the second quarter of 2025, organizations and businesses in rural areas and small towns were more likely to report challenges around labour shortages and recruiting skilled employees, compared to urban areas. Roughly one in four rural businesses reported them as an obstacle, and close to 20 per cent reported one of these two challenges as the biggest obstacle (figure 3).
Fourth, susceptible communities tend to have a larger share of Indigenous people in their labour force, working both in and outside of susceptible sectors (figure 4). We found that roughly 18 per cent of the national Indigenous labour force — or 151,000 people of working age — live in communities (census divisions) that score in the top three categories of susceptibility, nearly double the proportion of the non-Indigenous labour force. While the majority of Indigenous workers were employed (or last employed as of 2021) in sectors deemed not susceptible, even they could experience disruption from a local economic downturn or a drop in revenue flowing to their community. Indigenous communities also have higher pre-existing poverty and unemployment rates, making it tougher for them to adapt to economic disruption (OECD, 2020a).
We identified a total of 131 First Nations communities and seven Inuit communities located within the boundaries of census divisions in the top three categories of susceptibility to the net-zero transition using the First Nations geographic location and the Inuit Communities geographic location datasets (Indigenous Services Canada, 2022, 2023). Eight government-recognized Métis land settlements in Alberta are located within two census divisions that rank as moderately and most susceptible to net-zero transition (Government of Alberta, 2024).
Indigenous workers are also overrepresented in the resource sector, which provides some of the highest-paying jobs on or near their traditional territories (Statistics Canada, 2023a). Furthermore, Indigenous communities can earn significant income from oil and gas, mining, forestry and fishing enterpises if they have equity stakes in specific projects or impact and benefit agreements with resource companies. Indigenous communities’ dependence on resources presents both risks and opportunities as the energy transition unfolds. For example, while oil and gas production may eventually decline, new opportunities may open up in renewable energy, electricity transmission and critical minerals.
While we focus on net-zero transition and U.S. tariffs, there is growing evidence that Canada’s workforce is not ready for many of the technological, demographic, trade and geopolitical upheavals poised to transform the economy over the coming decades.
Even as more workers participate in training programs, Canadian businesses continue to report that they face skills shortages. In a 2024 Statistics Canada survey, one-third of businesses said that recruiting skilled employees was the most important labour-related obstacle they faced, while one-quarter faced obstacles from labour shortages (Statistics Canada, 2024a). Recruiting skilled labour was cited by one in 10 organizations in rural areas and small towns as the top obstacle expected in the next three months (Statistics Canada, 2024).
The nature of work is also changing. Automation is set to continue — and perhaps even accelerate — as more companies implement productivity-enhancing technologies (Oschinski & Nguyen, 2022). The rise of artificial intelligence will have far-reaching implications for the future of work, including skills needs and employment practices (Future Skills Centre, 2025; Mehdi & Frenette, 2024; Oschinski & Walia, 2025). And the net-zero transition adds a layer of complexity and uncertainty to skills needs as companies invest in lower-emission technologies or shift business models to respond to government policies and market change (OECD, 2025).
While Canada’s literacy rate is higher than the OECD average, a 2022-23 survey shows that Canadian adults over the age of 25 demonstrate steadily declining rates of proficiency in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving as they age (OECD, 2024). Importantly, these skills correlate with higher labour force participation: in 2022-23, 94 per cent of Canadian working-age adults who scored at the highest level of the numeracy proficiency scale on international assessments were employed, compared to just 67 per cent who scored at the lowest proficiency level (OECD, 2024).
The 2023 Survey on Employment and Skills, conducted by the Environics Institute for Survey Research in collaboration with the Future Skills Centre and the Diversity Institute, found that 56 per cent of Canada’s labour force had taken part in at least one of three types of training in the previous year, namely, a course provided by an employer, a course not provided by an employer or a course taken while unemployed (Future Skills Centre, 2023).
The most popular employer-provided training was workplace health and safety (37 per cent), followed by digital skills training (27 per cent). The survey also found that participation in skills training differed markedly by age, with three-quarters of workers in the 18 to 24 age group participating in skills training in the previous year compared to little more than half of those aged 25 to 54 (figure 5). Furthermore, members of a labour union were significantly more likely than non-members to undertake training because it was required by their employer (52 and 39 per cent, respectively).
Employed workers are generally more likely to receive training, but participation is uneven. Employees of large firms, public-sector employees and unionized workers reported that they have more training opportunities than their peers in smaller companies or in non-unionized jobs (Munro & Lamb, 2023; Statistics Canada, 2023b). However, only 15.5 per cent of private-sector workers were unionized in 2023 (Statistics Canada, 2024c).
Even when training is provided by an employer, workers may not sign up if they aren’t adequately compensated. Some companies may provide partial wages or workers may have access to Employment Insurance training benefits, but for workers with families, the drop in income may limit their ability to commit to a training program (IRPP, 2025a).
Enrolment in post-secondary education also declines with age. In the 2023-24 school year, 45 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in college or university, in comparison to only 12 per cent of those aged 25 to 29 and 6 per cent of those aged 30 to 34 (Statistics Canada, 2024d).
Often, the onus for skills development falls largely on workers themselves, which can limit enrolment (White & Wolfe, 2021). Individuals must navigate the process of identifying appropriate training programs and, in many cases, even cover the direct and indirect costs of tuition. This hurdle is especially daunting for those with less education, leaving Canada with one of the largest gaps in training participation rates between workers who score at higher proficiency levels on international skills assessments and those at lower proficiency levels (28 per cent in 2012 compared to the OECD average of 23 per cent)(Garcilazo & McCann, 2025; OECD, 2020b). Studies in the 1990s showed a similar trend, suggesting that the dynamic is long-standing and has not been responsive to shifts in public policy (Statistics Canada, 2001).
Susceptible communities tend to be more rural and remote, with average remoteness scores more than double those of non-susceptible communities (Samson et al., 2025). This remoteness creates challenges for residents who must travel longer distances to find essential services, employment and education opportunities (Zarifa et al., 2019). A dearth of safe, reliable transportation options compounds these challenges (Affordability Action Council, 2024).
Not only do rural and northern communities generally have fewer post-secondary education institutions, but colleges in these areas typically provide fewer and less diverse programs than those in southern urban communities (Hango et al., 2021). These institutions generally align their offerings with local labour market demands and are more likely to focus on hands-on skills development and industry-focused curriculums (Kaufman et al., 2018; Weingarten et al., 2017). For example, a 2015 survey of Ontario colleges revealed that nearly 100 per cent of graduates at several local institutions, including Niagara, Sheridan, Loyalist and La Cité, had participated in workplace experience activities as part of their programs (Kaufman et al., 2018).
Proximity to education and employment can influence participation in learning and work and it is common for young people to move away from rural and remote communities in pursuit of educational and employment opportunities (Infrastructure Canada, 2019; Layton, 2023). Distance-related barriers to education and employment are particularly pronounced for Indigenous Peoples (Layton, 2023).
The reality is that rural youth have consistently lower post-secondary education participation rates than their urban counterparts. A 2011 Statistics Canada study reported that only 67 per cent of youth in rural areas pursued post-secondary education, compared to 77 per cent in urban centres (McMullen, 2011). In Ontario in 2011, the overall post-secondary education participation rate for rural students was 10 percentage points lower than for urban students, largely due to longer travel distances, fewer local institutions, and the financial burden of relocation (Finnie et al., 2011). Notably, Quebec stands out as an exception. College participation rates for rural and urban students were equal there in 2011 (40 per cent each), likely thanks to the decentralized CEGEP network (Finnie et al., 2011).
Indigenous learners are less likely to enrol in post-secondary education wherever they happen to live. In 2016, fewer than one-third of Indigenous women in very remote areas held a post-secondary credential, compared to 58 per cent in more accessible regions (Leclerc, 2022). Similar access challenges extend across Indigenous communities. The Assembly of First Nations reported in 2018 that Indigenous-serving institutions in rural and remote areas faced substantial financial pressures, including costs associated with academic upgrading, satellite campus delivery and staff recruitment, constraining their capacity and program offerings (AFN, 2018). Indigenous educational attainment is also affected by the legacy of residential schools, inadequate funding and the absence of culturally relevant curriculums (Layton, 2023).
Online learning offers the prospect of improved access to education and training, but connectivity remains spotty in rural, remote and northern areas (Office of the Auditor General of Canada, 2023; Pinsent-Johnson & Sturm, 2024; Scott, 2024). At the end of 2023, only 78 per cent of rural households and fewer than 60 per cent of households in the territories and on First Nations reserves had access to internet speeds meeting Canada’s 50/10 Mbps target, compared to the national average of over 95 per cent (CRTC, n.d.).
Given the magnitude of the challenges facing Canada’s workforce, it is important to evaluate the existing suite of training and education programs to ensure they are up to the task of preparing Canadians. Our assessment shows that, while pockets of success have emerged, gaps remain, particularly for rural and remote communities. There is also a diversity of skills needs across the country that have yet to be adequately addressed (box 2).
Unfortunately, most employer-provided training is not geared toward improving long-term workforce resilience in the face of change. A resilient workforce has the capacity to adapt to an economic shock, major technological change or rapid development of a new sector quickly without undue hardship to individual workers or communities.
Employer-provided training all too often zeroes in on government-mandated requirements related to health and safety, or is designed to fine-tune existing skills or address immediate needs, such as onboarding, technology adoption or skills gaps within an organization (Munro & Lamb, 2023).
Small and medium-sized businesses in particular typically provide short-term training that promises fast, tangible returns (White & Wolfe, 2021). It is not uncommon for employers to ask workers to share the cost of their training or to schedule it outside regular work hours (Okeke et al., 2023).
Many large employers provide their own training, specific to their own equipment and processes (Munro & Lamb, 2023). While this may benefit employees within the company, it often does not leave them with a certificate or diploma that they can use to pursue other opportunities, whether voluntarily or in the event of a layoff. Indeed, many employers prefer in-house, on-site training over classroom training or other external options in part to avoid equipping workers with portable skills that they can use to find other jobs, particularly in areas where there are skills shortages (Munro & Lamb, 2023).
Partnerships between industry and post-secondary institutions can help. For example, work-integrated learning programs, such as the Mining Industry Human Resource Council’s Gearing Up program, offer a combination of on-the-job learning and post-secondary credentials. Continuing education programs at post-secondary institutions can also offer wider choices and greater flexibility (Business + Higher Education Roundtable, 2023).
However, forming such partnerships can be difficult when industry lacks the information, capacity or ability to clearly communicate its needs, and learning institutions fail to communicate the services they may be able to offer. Post-secondary training timelines are also often too long for industry (Business + Higher Education Roundtable, 2023).
Many workers with less formal education may benefit from broad-based education and training that is not provided by employers, including language, literacy or digital skills training. Others may want targeted training related to specific job opportunities. And some workers may be looking for longer, more comprehensive training that positions them for new career pathways with less precarity and higher wages. One problem in fulfilling these ambitions, however, is that the interests of individual workers do not always align with those of their employers.
Another concern is that employer-provided training typically targets employees who are younger, more educated and working full-time (Future Skills Centre, n.d.; Munro & Lamb, 2023). In 2022, almost 40 per cent of workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher were likely to participate in job-related training, more than double the proportion of those with a high school diploma or less (Statistics Canada, 2023b).
Many government programs are available to workers only after they lose a job, which makes it difficult to prepare for economic disruption or for workers to proactively pivot to a new career trajectory (Sonmez et al., 2022).
The current system of employment assistance services for unemployed workers is geared to getting them back to work quickly rather than helping them develop the skills needed for less precarious employment. Employment assistance services, funded under Labour Market Development Agreements with the provinces and territories, provide supports such as employment counselling and job-search assistance. These are typically among the first services people will receive after they are laid off (Employment and Social Development Canada, 2024a).
In the 2022-23 fiscal year, the federal government provided $645.9 million for 562,987 employment assistance services across the country. While that may sound impressive, each “service” often amounts to less than one day of support (Employment and Social Development Canada, 2024a). What’s more, unless they have special permission, employment insurance recipients are normally required to accept a suitable job offer even if they are in the middle of completing a training program that could equip them for a more stable, long-term career (Employment and Social Development, 2024b).
While some government programs do target future opportunities, they tend to focus on specific sectors and are only available in some parts of the country, leaving sizable gaps.
For example, Ottawa’s interim Sustainable Jobs Plan for 2023-25 provides funding for skills development in its ten key action areas (Natural Resources Canada, 2023). To achieve this, the plan includes three new programs: the Sustainable Jobs Training Fund, the Community Workforce Development Program and the Upskilling for Industry Initiative (see Appendix).
The Sustainable Jobs Training Fund allocates $99.1 million over four years for training projects focused on any one of three objectives: low-carbon energy and carbon management; green buildings and retrofits; and electric vehicle maintenance and charging infrastructure (Employment and Social Development Canada, 2025a). However, these may not be the areas of opportunity available to some communities at risk from net-zero transition. A rural town or village with a small population may have little potential to create jobs in retrofitting buildings or maintaining electric vehicles. Similarly, solar and wind energy projects may create jobs during construction, but few of those remain once the projects are in operation (Fabra et al., 2024).
The Community Workforce Development Program started as a two-year pilot project but now delivers the Canada Retraining and Opportunities Initiative. This program helps workers affected by a mass layoff make the transition to new jobs, including developing additional skills (Employment and Social Development Canada, 2024c). But with a $50-million budget spread over four years, the program will provide limited support across the country (Employment and Social Development Canada, 2025b). The assistance may also come too late for many workers, given that local organizations can only apply after a mass layoff takes place.
In 2023, Palette Skills, a Toronto-based organization that offers upskilling programs, was selected as the lead recipient to deliver the Government of Canada’s Upskilling for Industry Initiative. Palette Skills delivers the initiative nationally in collaboration with local partners, helping workers gain new skills in six sectors: digital technology, cybersecurity, agricultural technology, advanced manufacturing, clean technology and biomanufacturing. While the program helps to bridge gaps between training providers and industry, it currently offers only a limited number of programs across the country for each sector. Workers may not be able to attend a course close to home even for a local job opportunity, or they may have to resort to online learning, if available (Palette Skills, n.d.).
At the provincial level, various future-oriented programs cater to rural and Indigenous communities. In Ontario, Contact North helps match rural residents with online programs and courses at the basic skills, secondary, and post-secondary levels so that they can learn without leaving home (Contact North, 2025). British Columbia’s StrongerBC future skills grant helps ease financial concerns by providing up to $3,500 for short-term skills training at public post-secondary institutions (WorkBC, 2025). Apatisiiwin Skills Development, managed by the Grand Council of the Crees in Eeyou Istchee, northern Quebec, provides a range of services and financial supports for individuals, and local training programs to help improve skills and build capacity (Apatisiiwin Skills Development, 2025). Saskatchewan provides a training subsidy of up to $5,000 to employers through its Re-Skill Saskatchewan program (Government of Saskatchewan, 2021).
While many of these programs may be on the right track, their scale and scope are often insufficient to fully meet the needs of individual communities.
Workers are often looking for greater certainty about future job opportunities close to home and may be eager to enrol in training that can help capture those opportunities. Yet their ambitions are all too often thwarted by a lack of collaboration between employers and learning institutions on relevant training programs.
Local employers are not always clear about how colleges, training centres and other learning institutions can pursue upskilling and reskilling partnerships (Business + Higher Education Roundtable, 2023). Likewise, learning institutions may not be aware of industry needs or have the funding or capacity to quickly develop new programs.
Some institutions are actively responding to changing labour force needs. Nova Scotia Community College, for example, is expanding its programming for wind-energy technicians as wind-power projects proliferate in the province (NSCC, 2024). The college is also accelerating development of its green-energy skills assessment and training programs, and embedding renewable-energy modules into existing programs (IRPP, 2025d). In British Columbia, Coast Mountain College and the BC Institute of Technology have partnered with LNG Canada to deliver a power engineering training program that will help address LNG Canada’s skills needs at its Kitimat liquefied natural gas export terminal while also supporting broader skills needs in other parts of the province (IRPP, 2025c).
It may not be realistic however, to expect colleges and other learning institutions to shoulder the entire burden of aligning training and education with economic development plans. They may have limited connections with employers and face their own capacity constraints. While funding models differ across provinces and territories, some colleges face financial constraints due to their reliance on international students — now declining in number — as a source of revenue (Hassan, 2024). Some smaller colleges had previously been able to use fees from international students to deliver a greater diversity of programming than would otherwise have been feasible (Johnston, 2025).
A concerted effort is needed across Canada, especially in rural and remote communities, to proactively align local economic plans with skills development policies. This will require close co-ordination between all levels of government, private companies, educational institutions and relevant community organizations. As described in more detail below, experience in other countries, such as the United States, Australia and Denmark, has produced models that can potentially be adapted for use in Canada.
Recommendation 1: Federal, provincial, and territorial governments should offer flexible skills programming tailored to the challenges and opportunities of susceptible communities.
Federal, provincial, and territorial funders of programming should take their direction from local communities about the skills training they require.
For some skills and communities, access to online learning may be sufficient. For others, where quality internet access is unavailable or hands-on training is involved, financial support may be needed to facilitate partnerships with colleges, including satellite campuses or temporary training sites. Support for regular affordable transportation options between rural communities and colleges may also be necessary.
Indigenous communities may wish to devise their own tailored solutions. In northern Ontario, the Seven Generations Education Institute offers high school, post-secondary, training for employment and cultural programming to all residents in the region, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, at four different locations (Rainy Lake, Kenora, Sioux Lookout and Dryden) (Seven Generations Education Institute, 2025). Expanded partnerships with organizations such as these could make it easier to develop skills within communities, rather than relying solely on efforts to attract skilled workers from elsewhere.
Other countries have tried approaches that may be worth considering. In the United States, the Workforce Opportunities for Rural Communities initiative provides grants for place-based skills training projects that address local workforce needs. The grants are administered through regional economic commissions and authorities with federal oversight, while the projects themselves are designed and delivered by the local grantees (Jackson, Yassin, & Gu, forthcoming). Applicants have the flexibility to deliver creative solutions for local challenges while at the same time addressing broader strategic priorities, bearing in mind that projects must align with existing community-led local economic development plans, workforce development strategies and relevant state-level policies.
While governments are often tempted to limit programming to specific sectors, skills or applicants, greater flexibility can smooth the way for a wide range of innovative ideas for training or improved access to training. Numerous players can contribute their knowledge and experience, including local governments, employers, chambers of commerce, colleges, technology hubs, unions or other organizations, based on a community’s specific circumstances or aspirations. Even if the proposed projects are not selected for funding, governments can help connect applicants with other training options or potential partnerships. With limited funding, governments could focus first on communities that are most susceptible to workforce disruption.
Recommendation 2: Federally funded Community Futures Organizations should play a leading role in co-ordinating better alignment between local economic planning and skills development.
While education is primarily a provincial and territorial responsibility, the federal government will inevitably play a key role in economic and skills development through its commitment to support workers and communities through the net-zero transition and mitigate the impact of punitive tariffs imposed by the United States and China. Ottawa also plays a vital role in supporting education in Indigenous communities.
Under the Sustainable Jobs Act, the federal government is required to develop action plans that facilitate and promote economic growth, create sustainable jobs and provide support for workers and communities in the shift to a net-zero economy (Government of Canada, 2024). The first such plan is due by the end of 2025, with revisions to be submitted every five years thereafter.
The IRPP has previously recommended expanding the role of federally funded Community Futures Organizations near susceptible communities (mainly in rural and remote areas) to support the development of community-led transition plans (Samson et al., 2025). With an expanded mandate and increased capacity, these organizations would be well placed to help co-ordinate the various regional and local players involved in economic and skills development (box 3). Depending on the community, other local groups may be better suited to the co-ordination role; in those cases, the Community Futures Organizations could provide grants or other financial support to help unite all involved behind a common purpose.
The Community Futures Organizations, which are locally governed but primarily funded through the federal regional development agencies, are well placed to strengthen connections with federal departments, initiatives and programs through the lens of local needs and priorities. And since they are locally based and run by local leaders, they often have a deep understanding of local needs and existing networks and relationships. The regional development agencies themselves could also support efforts that span a number of communities.
Some Community Futures offices already co-ordinate economic and workforce development in tandem. Quebec’s network of Sociétés d’aide au développement des collectivités sprang from initiatives that originally had workforce development as a core focus (Réseau des SADC + CAE, n.d.). In British Columbia, several local organizations integrate skills training into their programs and services. For instance, the Community Futures North Okanagan (2024) office provides a variety of employment services, including a youth employability skills training program, and Community Futures North Cariboo (n.d.) has set up a skills development fund. In Restigouche, New Brunswick, the local Community Business Development Corporation (another name for Community Futures Organizations in Atlantic Canada) developed Skills in Action, an online training portal (CBDC, n.d.).
The experience of other countries could provide lessons for Canada. In Australia, the federal government has set up an arm’s-length agency, the Net Zero Economy Authority, to co-ordinate policies on both economic and workforce transition. It has the power to identify regions where energy transitions are expected to create employment disruptions, and to develop transition plans that engage affected firms (Stanford, forthcoming). Canada could potentially fulfil a similar function through the existing network of Community Futures Organizations and regional development agencies.
Recommendation 3: Federal, provincial, territorial, municipal and Indigenous governments should proactively facilitate skills development partnerships between employers, learning institutions, unions and local community organizations to gain maximum local benefit from major projects.
When a major project comes to a community, it typically generates hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs. However, those jobs increasingly need to be filled by employees with specialized skills. If those skills are not available locally, companies will bring in employees from elsewhere. These employees could be temporary or permanent, depending whether they are needed for the construction or operation phase of the project.
Since companies can benefit from investments in local skills development and learning institutions can benefit from demand for courses with solid employment prospects, collaboration makes perfect sense. However, if the collaborative opportunities are not identified early on, it could be too late to establish local programs in time for the project.
Governments at all levels are involved in the approval and funding of major projects. In order to streamline the review process, the federal government recently committed to set up a Major Federal Projects Management Office and to strike co-operation agreements with interested provinces and territories (Government of Canada, 2025).
Ideally, approval of a major project should trigger a process led by regional development agencies, with support from Community Futures Organizations, that brings together all the relevant players to discuss skills that will be needed and gaps in the availability of relevant local education or training. Relevant organizations could then take the lead in closing various gaps and organizing funding from the employer, as appropriate.
A group of local stakeholders in Esbjerg, Denmark has shown how this can be done by coming together to proactively address skills needs in the region’s offshore energy sector (Jackson, Yassin, & Pautonnier, forthcoming). The municipally owned port authority partnered with industry, unions and local learning institutions to set up an “offshore academy” that trains offshore oil and gas workers at the port’s facilities so they can seamlessly transition into jobs in the offshore wind-power industry (Krawchenko & Gordon, 2022). The academy is financed through public funds, including the European Union’s Just Transition Fund, as well as private investment. It provides workers with salaried, flexible training options that enable them to transition with minimal disruption to their lives.
Effective place-based skills development will require long-term thinking and co-ordination among a diverse set of local players. To that end, local skills should be viewed as an essential asset and investment whenever a community lands a major project. They can make an invaluable contribution not only to the success of the project but to the long-term resilience of the community and its collective capacity to adapt in a fast-changing world.
To better prepare workers and communities for the future, we must recognize that each community is different. Each has its own aspirations, its own resources, and its own deficiencies. Each is shaped by its own history and culture. With that in mind, governments at all levels need to adopt a more place-based approach to skills development, carried out in a proactive and co-ordinated way. This will require leadership, dedicated resources, planning, co-operation and a willingness to be flexible and adaptable.
Governments can — and must — work together to close the many gaps that still exist in local learning opportunities in rural and remote areas. By building on the strengths of existing entities, notably the federally funded Community Futures Organizations, governments can ensure that there is greater co-ordination between local economic development planning and skills development programs. And when major projects are conceived, governments should do more to ensure that local populations have the skills they need to take advantage of these new drivers of economic growth and job creation.
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This Policy Brief was published as part of the IRPP’s Community Transformations Project. The manuscript was copy-edited by Bernard Simon, proofreading was by Zofia Laubitz, editorial co-ordination was by Étienne Tremblay, production was by Chantal Létourneau, research assistance was provided by Dena Abtahi, publication management was by Rosanna Tamburri and art direction was by Anne Tremblay.
Abigail Jackson is research associate at the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
Rachel Samson is vice president of research at the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
Ricardo Chejfec is a research director at the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
The Community Transformations Project was funded in part by The McConnell Foundation and Vancity. Research independence is one of the IRPP’s core values, and the IRPP maintains editorial control over all publications. A French translation of this text is available under the title Travailleurs résilients, communautés résilientes : pour un développement des compétences axé sur le lieu.
To cite this document:
Jackson, A., Samson, R., & Chejfec, R. (2025). Resilient workers, resilient communities: The need for place-based skills development. Montreal: Institute for Research on Public Policy.
The authors would like to thank the experts who reviewed earlier versions of this policy brief
for their valuable insights and feedback, particularly Steven Tobin and Jennifer Robson.
This Policy Brief has undergone rigorous internal and external peer review for academic soundness and policy relevance. The opinions expressed in this Policy Brief are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the individuals consulted or the IRPP Board of Directors.
If you have questions about our publications, please contact irpp@nullirpp.org. If you would like to subscribe to our newsletter, IRPP News, please go to our website, at irpp.org.
Illustration: Auni Milne, Sumack Loft.
Montreal – New research from the Institute for Research on Public Policy recommends a proactive, flexible and place-based strategy for skills development, tailored to the unique needs of specific regions that can respond to changes in the economy.
Authored by the IRPP’s Abigail Jackson, Rachel Samson and Ricardo Chejfec, the report highlights the challenges facing Canadian communities exposed to tariffs on their exports, the global energy transition or rapid expansion of major projects. These types of economic disruptions can be particularly challenging for Indigenous, rural and remote communities that face greater barriers to attracting skilled workers and accessing training opportunities.
“Workers are understandably hesitant to invest in training unless it’s clearly tied to a job opportunity,” says IRPP Vice President of Research Rachel Samson. “And while employers and governments offer programs to fill some gaps, these efforts are often fragmented, slow to respond to change, or too limited in scope to meet the needs of workers in the community.”
The IRPP research identifies a critical disconnect between economic development planning and local skills training. That gap has resulted in missed opportunities for both communities and businesses. To address this, the IRPP recommends governments adopt a more localized and coordinated approach to workforce development.
Key recommendations from the policy brief include:
“Canada’s ability to adapt depends on the strength and resilience of its workforce,” says Samson. “That means investing in people where they are — and ensuring skills development is aligned with local realities.”
