Innovation Projects

Testing and Evaluating

We invest in action-based research and community-based projects that are testing innovative approaches for helping diverse Canadians gain the skills they need to adapt and succeed in the workforce. 

Call Collage

Funding for Innovation Projects

We recently launched a call for community-based project ideas that address one of these three questions:

  • How can we best support Canadians facing labour market disruption to transition to new jobs or industries?
  • How can employers be more effectively engaged in developing and delivering demand-driven solutions to skills gap challenges?
  • How can skills development systems be optimized, building up the capacity of service providers and encouraging collaboration between organizations?

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to submit a full application.

August 2019 Call for Proposals

Featured Projects

Youth playing outdoors with a stick and ball.

For-Credit InSTEM Program

Testing a culturally-based approach to essential employability skills training for Indigenous and Northern youth.

EDGE UP: Energy to Digital Growth Education and Upskilling Project

Digital upskilling project to transition displaced energy sector workers
A man speaking with a truck driver.

Building the Skills of the Trucking Industry

The project will leverage virtual reality technology to deliver training in a way that compliments…
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Evaluation Strategy

We focus on generating high-quality evidence about innovation projects to help practitioners and policy makers understand how they can learn, improve, and maximize their impact.

Our approach to evaluation combines a systematic approach to measuring outcomes across innovation projects, with the flexibility to customize designs to the purpose, context, and goals of each project.

We work closely with innovation project partners to ensure we are measuring what matters most – ensuring that findings not only contribute to a broader evidence base on what works, but also inform the day-to-practices and decision-making of our partners.

Learn about our Evaluation Strategy

CLIMB: Continuous Learning for Individuals’ Mid-career and Beyond

Mid-career workers are most vulnerable to disruption of the labour market but there is little…
A worker looking up at an oil rig.

Transition to a New Tomorrow

Unique professional development program to support mid-career oil and gas workers
A birds eye image of two construction workers.

BOLD: Better Outcomes in Layoffs and Downsizing

Retraining and skills development project for manufacturing and steel workers
Three students working in front of laptops in a library setting.

Supporting Mid-Career Workers with Disabilities

Assessing tools and resources for mid-career workers with disabilities
A man speaking with a truck driver.

Building the Skills of the Trucking Industry

The project will leverage virtual reality technology to deliver training in a way that compliments…
An individual stressfully holding their head up as they look at their laptop.

Learner Shock: Preparedness of Learning

Testing strategies for addressing “Learning Shock”
A technician working on an injection mold

Skilled jobs for Mid-Career Workers Through Work-Based Learning

Training to fill vacancies in the mold-making and injection-molding trades
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