A new toolkit, released today by the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) and the Forum of Labour Market Ministers (FLMM) outlines best practice ideas to help Government align individual skill-sets with the needs of the labour market, says Minister of Workforce and Advanced Learning Richard Brown.
“Today, more than ever, we are experiencing a rapid and ever changing knowledge-based economy,” said Minister Brown. “It is crucial that our workforce be made up of highly-skilled individuals, and thanks to this new toolkit, we can work together to ensure secondary and postsecondary institutions are preparing our students with the skills required to participate in this global economy.”
The toolkit, titled “Toolkit of Promising Practices,” is designed to do just that—promote the alignment of skills and education systems with the needs of the labour market. This toolkit comes after decisions made at a symposium held in Charlottetown in July 2014.
“All provinces and territories have unique economic challenges, and it’s important that we share best practices in developing a skilled Canadian workforce,” said Minister of Education, Early Learning and Culture Hal Perry. “We can learn from other provinces and territories, as we design education and training systems to benefit Islanders in the labour market.”
The toolkit of best practices is divided into four themes—upgrading the skills of Canadians; aligning secondary school programming to labour market demands; aligning postsecondary education programming to labour market demands; and supporting the labour market attachment of target populations. Provincial and territorial education and labour market ministers can use the toolkit to learn from one another on shared goals and challenges.
To view the toolkit, visit http://www.cmec.ca/9/Publications/