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We’ve developed a partner registration and funding application process designed to continuously capture interest, fast-track project proposals, and advance talent solutions based on employer demand.
The Canadian education and training landscape is filled with organizations and institutes that are well-positioned to build programs that connect employers to the talent they need. Found in each region of the country, these organizations have tremendous training capacity, subject-matter expertise, and ability to systematically scale new talent solutions for employers.
Through Upskill Canada, we will support and fund partners to develop short-cycle programs (up to 16 weeks) that consist of a mix of specialized technical training, general business, and interpersonal skill development across key sectors of the Canadian economy.
Upskill Canada has a mandate to ensure programs are delivered in each region of the country and to work to generate proposals from partners in all provinces.
The Canadian education and training landscape is filled with organizations and institutes that are well-positioned to build programs that connect employers to the talent they need. Found in each region of the country, these organizations have tremendous training capacity, subject-matter expertise, and ability to systematically scale new talent solutions for employers.
Through Upskill Canada, we will support and fund partners to develop short-cycle programs (4 to 16 weeks) that consist of a mix of specialized technical training, general business, and interpersonal skill development across key sectors of the Canadian economy.
Upskill Canada has a mandate to ensure programs are delivered in each region of the country and to work to generate proposals from partners in all provinces.
Organizations such as training providers, post-secondary institutes and other organizations interested in program delivery will be eligible to apply to be a delivery partner through Upskill Canada.
Industry associations, and other business or sector associations may also be able to apply to be a delivery partners through Upskill Canada. Employers cannot apply for funding to upskill their own employees at this time.
Organizations such as not-for-profits, community organizations and for-profit organizations will be eligible to be delivery partners. For-profit organizations are only eligible if they do not generate profits from the proposed program.
Partners will be asked to register their interest in working with Upskill Canada through the portal, regardless of the stage of development their program is in. This will help us to quickly identify overall capacity across the ecosystem as well as to identify potential areas for connection, alignment, and collaboration. Registration will remain open and ongoing.
During registration, delivery partners will be asked questions to gauge how developed their program concept is, and placed in an application stream based on the level of employer-commitment already established and the time required before launch, once funded. There are three streams: Launch, Validate and Develop.
Only delivery partners who are deemed launch-ready will be invited to submit a full proposal. Please keep your delivery partner manager updated on your evolving program details.
Partners placed in the Launch stream will be invited to submit a full application. Partners placed in the Validate or Develop streams will be connected to additional support and resources through the partnerships team and Learning Sandbox to help their programs become launch-ready.
A delivery partner has employers already committed to co-design and delivery and is ready to begin upskilling individuals within 3 months or less.
A delivery partner has identified employers and is planning to engage them, and is ready to begin upskilling individuals within 3–6 months.
A delivery partner has identified a job role in demand, but has not yet started employer engagement and/or program scoping.
The purpose of Upskill Canada is to connect employers to qualified talent, to address their need for workers. All programs supported through Upskill Canada will prioritize job placement as the key performance indicator they will be evaluated on. Job placement is defined as a participant of a program securing full time employment in the targeted field and sector.
Delivery partner registration is open now, and remember you need to register before you can be invited to apply.
If an upcoming funding window is not currently posted, you can review the application questions in the appendix of the Applicant Guide.
Once the application opens, invited applicants will have 4 weeks to submit their full application and will be notified of their funding status within 8-10 weeks after submission.
Once registered, you will be assigned a Delivery Partner Manager who will contact you to inform you on next steps for upcoming rounds.
Canadian organizations that fall into one of the following categories can apply to receive program funding through Upskill Canada:
Register your organization and program idea here. Based on your answers and stage of development, you will be placed in an application stream and either invited to submit a full application in an upcoming round or directed to additional support to further develop your concept.
Yes! Part of the vision for Upskill Canada is a platform where organizations involved in talent acquisition and workforce development from across the country can connect to qualified talent pipelines and program opportunities. Upskill Canada has a partnerships team to connect and serve partners based on their needs, even if you are not applying directly for funding.
Once you register, you will be connected to an Upskill Canada team member to discuss your application. When your application is deemed launch-ready, you will be invited to submit a full application to Upskill Canada. Applicants will have four weeks to submit their application and will be notified of their funding status within 8-10 weeks after submission. Registration will remain open, and an application portal will re-open to accept launch-ready applications approximately every 8 weeks.
Once available, the application portal will remain open for four weeks.
The application portal will open approximately every 8 weeks to accept new program applications.
Applicants will be asked to describe the specific job they are upskilling participants into, and to demonstrate employer demand for talent in those roles. This includes providing a minimum of 3-5 companies who have agreed to co-design the program and potentially hire the candidates upon program completion.
In addition, applications will be evaluated for how their program design aligns with the six components of Palette’s upskilling model, operational capacity and financial robustness of the lead applicant, program budget, accessibility and equity, diversity and inclusion approaches, and job placement strategies.
All applications submitted to Upskill Canada will go through an internal review process as well as an external review, provided by our Industry Review Panel, a group of industry leaders and hiring managers in talent, HR and people and culture roles, focused on reviewing proposals from a talent acquisition perspective. All proposals will be scored against an evaluation rubric with the Palette Skills board providing governance and fiduciary oversight.
Our program application guide will provide details on what expenses are eligible or ineligible and any limits around costs. We expect proposals to provide budgets that are reasonable and defensible and in line with general market rates. As part of our application review process, we may come back with questions around certain expenses or budget lines if they appear to be outliers.
Programs with demonstrated track records of success that align with Palette’s upskilling model can be funded through Upskill Canada. Delivery partners will be asked to demonstrate plans to expand and/or increase the impact of existing programs through funding.
Funding will be provided to applicants shortly after funding contracts have been signed. Applicants will be informed about the success of their program funding within approximately 8-10 weeks after submission of the full application.
Yes, we encourage delivery partners to collaborate with other training partners to develop unique delivery models.
Delivery partners retain all intellectual property rights for any upskilling programs that are funded through Upskill Canada.
Upskilling programs will start based on the start dates agreed upon in the delivery contracts signed with partners.
Upskilling programs can be up to 16 weeks in length.
Delivery partners can deliver programs in-person or virtually or a hybrid.
Upskill Canada will target employers located across the country, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in high-growth sectors, to better address their skills needs. It will focus on strengthening key growth sectors, including
Upskill Canada has a mandate to ensure programs are delivered in each region of the country and to work to generate proposals from partners in all provinces. Program applications can target any region, but ensuring an equitable distribution of programs based on targets will be a consideration in the funding evaluation process.
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