Skills for the Post-Pandemic World

This is a joint project of the Public Policy Forum (PPF) and Diversity Institute, and is funded by the Future Skills Centre (FSC) with support from Microsoft. Building on Skills Next, a longstanding project conducted by PPF and the Diversity Institute about the future of work, Skills for the Post Pandemic World tackles key questions facing policymakers, employers, training providers and workers as we collectively turn to face the post-pandemic future of skills, training and retraining.

The pandemic and economic crisis have generated new challenges and opportunities in Canada’s skills ecosystem, and accelerated existing ones. In this scoping report, we outline a research agenda we believe will help Canada develop a new skills strategy for a more resilient, inclusive and innovative post-pandemic future. In addition to highlighting the key issues at play, Skills for the Post Pandemic World identifies eight research areas which will each be explored in a dedicated thematic report as a part of the next phase of the project, including:

1. Education and skills systems capacity
2. Rethinking essential infrastructure for supporting skills development
3. Skills development for more inclusive workforces
4. Skills for new work arrangements
5. Immigration policies and practices
6. Innovative and emergent models
7. Developing and supporting entrepreneurship and small businesses during the recovery
8. Understanding job polarization and the levers needed to address it post-pandemic

Skills for the Post-Pandemic World is a partnership between the Public Policy Forum (PPF) and Diversity Institute, funded by the Future Skills Centre (FSC), with support from Microsoft.

For more information about this project, please contact Andrée Loucks.