Palette Skills announces partnership with leading organizations to address Canada’s skills gap
This consortium of partners will help drive Canada’s economic recovery by creating programs to rapidly upskill Canadians for high-demand roles in the fastest-growing parts of the economy
TORONTO, April 8, 2021 – Palette Skills, a leading national non-profit, today announced the launch of a partnership of leading Canadian academic and business organizations committed to working together to address the growing skills gap in the Canadian economy.
As Canada works to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19, these partners will collaboratively identify talent gaps as they emerge and develop strategies for bridging Canadians who are best positioned to fill these roles. Palette Skills and its partners will develop demand-driven, industry-led, accelerated training programs that will offer effective skilling that quickly transitions more Canadians into high-demand roles in growing industries.
“Canada has an extremely talented and diverse workforce, but we lack accessible pathways to transition large sections of the Canadian workforce into careers in industries that emerge from the pandemic ready to grow and compete on a global scale,” said Arvind Gupta, chief executive officer of Palette Skills. “This newly announced consortium of business and higher education partners ensures that we can effectively provide a broad cross-section of opportunities to Canadians.”
Palette Skills will work with its new partners to build upon and scale its successful skilling models and act as a nexus to connect post-secondary institutions and businesses. Through the initiative, the consortium is committed to growing skilled talent pools and boosting economic recovery.
“Collaboration between Canada’s businesses and its higher education partners will be a key factor in our ability to create good jobs and economic growth across the country,” said Meric Gertler, president of the University of Toronto. “The University of Toronto is proud to host this great initiative led by Palette Skills, and we look forward to collaborating with its member organizations and institutions.”
“Close partnerships between educators and employers ensure that workers learn the skills they need to build successful careers,” said Goldy Hyder, president and chief executive officer of the Business Council of Canada. “Palette is building the programs we need to create a better future and a higher quality of life for Canadians.”
In addition to Palette Skills, the founding members of this partnership include the Business Council of Canada, Council of Canadian Innovators, Business Council of British Columbia, Brookfield Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Simon Fraser University, University of Calgary, Dalhousie University, University of Guelph, Université Laval, University of Saskatchewan and the University of Toronto.
This partnership will actively seek to expand its membership to include additional post-secondary colleges and universities, business associations and other community partners from coast to coast, ensuring the broadest opportunities are made available.
About Palette Skills:
Palette Skills is a national nonprofit funded in part by the Government of Canada. Palette Skills helps organizations access untapped labour markets and create pathways to career growth through demand-driven, industry-led accelerated skilling programs. Job placement is our number one metric. Paletteskills.org.
Media inquiries:
Haley Morrison,
Palette Skills
haley@paletteskills.org
416-666-9136
Catherine Snider
Kaiser & Partners
Catherine.snider@kaiserpartners.com 416-419-8333
