Toronto, ON. April 12, 2023 – Today, Palette Skills is excited to launch Upskill Canada, a national talent platform that will help fast-growing companies access the talent they need to succeed and create new career pathways for workers to rapidly transition into high-demand roles.
Upskill Canada is the platform through which Palette Skills will deliver on Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada’s Upskilling for Industry Initiative fund, a $250M investment over three years to upskill 15,000 workers across the country.
This investment will help Canadian companies take full advantage of our highly skilled workforce, increasing their competitiveness globally, while building a more inclusive economy in the process.
“Palette Skills’ core competencies as an organization are to develop best practices in employer-led program design that leads to job placement, and to connect with diverse sets of partners across the ecosystem to deliver these programs”, said Rhonda Barnet, CEO of Palette Skills. “Through Upskill Canada, we now have the opportunity to scale this work across the country.”
“Canada’s workforce is the backbone of our economy. As new, high-growth sectors emerge, we need to ensure workers can gain the necessary skills that align with the needs of modern employers,” said the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. “That’s why we are partnering with Palette Skills, whose new Upskill Canada portal announced today will put our vision into action. No worker will be left behind.”
Upskill Canada will connect employers operating in key growth sectors, including digital technology, cyber security, agricultural technology, advanced manufacturing, clean technology and biomanufacturing, to qualified talent to fill high-demand roles, with the target outcome being job placement. It will be pan-Canadian in scope, and support Canadian-based employers, with a particular focus on small and medium businesses (SMEs) in high-growth sectors, to better address their skills needs.
Upskill Canada will target mid-career Canadians, including those from underrepresented groups, and help them connect with new work opportunities in high-growth sectors. Ultimately, Upskill Canada will drive lasting improvements to the upskilling ecosystem by catalyzing close collaborations across training providers, employers, and other partners to design and deliver upskilling programs and shift mindsets around talent development and utilization.
To learn more, visit www.upskillcanada.org.
About Palette Skills
Palette Skills is a national nonprofit whose purpose is to help Canada’s most innovative companies access untapped talent through industry-led rapid upskilling programs. Powered by a consortium of national business associations, leading academic institutions, and nonprofit organizations, Palette works to catalyze a network of partners to adopt new best practices in industry-led upskilling approaches. Palette Skills is hosted at the University of Toronto.
For more information or media inquiries, please contact:
Alexandra Yallouz
Senior Advisor, Communications and Public Relations
Palette Skills
alex@paletteskills.org
