WSS FAQs

What is the Workplace Skills Strategy?
The Workplace Skills Strategy (WSS) is aimed at helping Canadians become the best trained, most highly skilled workers in the world, and ensures that employers’ workplace skills needs are met.

The Government of Canada recognizes that Canada’s future competitiveness depends on a highly skilled work force and on high-performance workplaces that focus on skills development.

The GoC will work with business, unions, provinces and territories, sector councils, and workers to ensure that all Canadians have the opportunity to develop their skills so that they can obtain meaningful and productive jobs.

What are the objectives of the WSS?
The goals of Government of Canada’s Workplace Skills Strategy are to:

• ensure that the Canadian work force is highly skilled, adaptable, and resilient;
• build a labour market that is flexible and efficient; and
• respond to the needs of employers to ensure that our workplaces are productive and innovative.

Who will benefit from the WSS?
The WSS will benefit all those with a stake in building modern, productive workplaces in Canada. 

Ultimately, businesses and firms will benefit by having access to a more highly skilled work force, which is critical to remaining competitive in the knowledge-based economy.  Workers will benefit by having increased opportunities to fully develop and apply their skills, talents, and abilities in the workplace, remaining flexible and mobile in the evolving economy.  Colleges and other learning institutions will also benefit by working more closely with industry partners to ensure that the skills being developed are responsive to workplace needs.

What are the key elements of the WSS?
The key elements announced in Budget 2005 are to:

• strengthen apprenticeship systems in Canada and work in key areas of federal responsibility such as the participation of Aboriginal peoples in apprenticeship;
• support the testing of new skills initiatives that are demand-driven and targeted to employed people; and
• foster dialogue on workplace skills issues through the Workplace Partners Panel, comprised of business, labour, and training leaders.

What are the next steps in implementing the WSS?
The WSS will be a long-term endeavour and will be phased in gradually. This will serve two purposes.  First, it will create momentum in addressing workplace skills issues as new programs and initiatives are implemented, while triggering new opportunities for collaboration and remaining responsive to changing demands. Second, it will ensure the strategy is comprehensive and robust by subjecting programs and new initiatives to on-going review. 

What is the first phase of WSS implementation?
The first phase consists of setting the stage by introducing the overall WSS framework.   The GoC will also develop three early initiatives to increase capacity in addressing a number of national workplace skills issues, to build momentum and to strengthen partnerships with workplace partners:

1. the Trades and Apprenticeship Strategy;
2. the Initiative for Workplace Skills Innovation; and
3. the Workplace Partners Panel.

How does Trades and Apprenticeship fit into the WSS?
A skilled and adaptable workforce is critical to Canada’s productivity and quality of life in the global economy. Apprenticeship is a provincial and territorial responsibility. The Government of Canada has an important role in ensuring Canada has the skilled and mobile labour demanded by the growing economy. Skilled trades and apprenticeship are therefore a key part of the WSS. 

The Government of Canada will continue working with provinces and territories and with employers, unions, the learning system, and others to foster harmonization of the individual apprenticeship systems; to enhance interprovincial mobility in the skilled trades; and to support access to high-quality apprenticeships for Canadians.

As part of this process, the Government of Canada is consulting business and labour, as well as provinces and territories, on the federal role in apprenticeship. A ministerial advisor on apprenticeship has been appointed to gather the views of stakeholders on apprenticeship issues of federal interest—Aboriginal participation in apprenticeship, interprovincial mobility, and federal support for apprenticeship. The ministerial advisor’s recommendations will guide decisions on improving future federal support of apprenticeship.

What is the Workplace Skills Initiative?
The Workplace Skills Initiative (WSI) aims at promoting and testing innovative approaches to skills development in Canada. The main objectives of the WSI are to test new approaches to skills development, inform, and encourage employers to invest in the skills development of their employees, and inform Government of Canada labour market policy and programming.

What is the Workplace Partners Panel?
The Workplace Partners Panel (WPP) is an industry-led organisation that will facilitate the dialogue on labour market and skills issues and ensure that business and labour as well as regional and sectoral perspectives contribute to the Workplace Skills agenda.

The WPP is an arm's-length body comprising leaders from business and labour. It will foster awareness, build a sense of ownership around the skills agenda and leverage increased commitments to skills development by industry partners, increasing focus on workplace skills issues and improving approaches and attitudes toward skills development practicies.

The panel will promote private sector leadership and participation, and it will provide advice on developing skills in and for the Canadian workplace. The arm’s-length panel will be comprised of leaders from business and labour.

What is the second phase of WSS implementation?
The second phase will consist of developing possible new tools and initiatives for workplace skills development.

The government will also review and improve current tools and programs, such as the Sector Council Program, Labour Market Information program, and Literacy and Essential Skills programs.

By reinvigorating and innovating existing programs so they align with the WSS objectives, the GoC is ensuring a more coordinated, coherent, and holistic approach to workplace skills development in Canada.

Who else is involved in the WSS?
The GoC has a role in initiating and facilitating a new skills agenda in Canada.    However, no one jurisdiction can do it all.   Other groups have an equally important role to play.

1. Employers are the prime decision-makers and need to invest in their workforce.
2. Unions promote workers’ interests; some provide apprenticeship and job-related training.
3. Individuals are responsible for upgrading their skills.
4. Provinces have jurisdiction over training and education and they regulate professional accreditation.
5. Private training providers and community colleges respond to employers’ demands for human resources development and “just-in-time” training.

Partnerships are therefore key to developing and implementing a comprehensive, national workplace skills strategy.  The Government of Canada will work with business, unions, other levels of government, sector councils, workers, and other partners so that all Canadians have the opportunity to develop their skills and succeed.