Employment Supports and Services Archives - SRDC

Research on Public Employment Service (PES) Accessibility for English-Speaking Quebecers

Wallaa Daramlly — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 19:28:39 +0000

Research on Public Employment Service (PES) Accessibility for English-Speaking Quebecers

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Access to Public Employment Services for English-Speaking Quebecers

Wallaa Daramlly — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 13:40:50 +0000

This project aims to 1) Produce a complete and nuanced portrait of the current state of access to public employment services for the English-speaking population in Quebec, and 2) Understand to what extent policies, current programs, infrastructure, and delivery models adequately meet the needs of this population.

The project examines both the challenges faced by both French-language and English-language service providers, in urban or rural settings, and the barriers experienced by English-speaking users when trying to access public employment services.

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Resources and Practices for Engaging Opportunity Youth in Career Development

Wallaa Daramlly — Mon, 01 Dec 2025 17:20:46 +0000

This project explores the best ways to engage students who are disconnected from school and at risk of becoming NEET (not in education, employment, or training) in career development. The right support at the right time can reengage students and positively shape their career paths. Yet career development professionals face two major challenges: first, it is often challenging to reach young people who are disconnected from school and not inclined to seek support; and second, when they do reach this population, they may not know what supportive career guidance practices are most impactful.

To address these challenges, the project combines a literature review and environmental scan that identifies promising programs and practices and a survey of 500 school guidance counsellors across Canada that gathers insight on both barriers to engagement and best practices in working with opportunity youth. Together, these sources highlight obstacles to engagement and uncover practical strategies for supporting opportunity youth. The mission of the project is to find tangible ways to reach and engage this population, understand what practices and tools can motivate them to engage in career planning, and learn what further resources are needed to support career counselling practices.

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Youth LMI Development

Wallaa Daramlly — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 14:46:00 +0000

Many young people face challenges accessing labour market information (LMI) that is relevant, engaging, and tailored to their needs; particularly those who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). To address this gap, SRDC is improving youth-focused LMI on a provincial employment platform. The project will develop a suite of integrated resources designed to support career exploration and readiness among youth, with special attention to those who are currently (or at risk of becoming) NEET. Planned components include a youth-aligned career exploration model, an interactive self-assessment tool linked to occupational profiles, and customized content for NEET youth. The initiative also involves redesign recommendations for the platform’s interface to better serve young users and the creation of a labour market information presentation tailored for Alternative Education settings. Focus groups and user testing with NEET youth will be conducted to ensure the tools are accessible, relevant, and effective. Ultimately, the project aims to empower young people with personalized, engaging resources that foster informed career choices, build confidence, and strengthen their pathways into work, education, and training.

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The Employment and Employability of English-Speaking Quebecers

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 01 Jul 2025 14:20:58 +0000

The project aims to develop innovative and reliable tools to monitor and analyze the employment and employability of English-speaking Quebecers (ESQs) as well as their employment trends. These tools provide ongoing insights into the employment status of ESQs. The project also seeks to identify effective employment supports and to understand the value of providing such interventions to ESQs. We analyze the return on investment of active labour market policies designed to support ESQ employment and help close existing employment gaps.

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Newcomers with Remote Information and Career Help in British Columbia and Yukon (ENRICH BCY)

Wallaa Daramlly — Sun, 15 Jun 2025 19:26:14 +0000

Led by Douglas College and in partnership with the Yukon Literacy Coalition, this project’s overarching goals are to enhance newcomer settlement and integration in rural and remote regions of British Columbia and the Yukon (BCY). Our approach emphasizes community engagement and local partnerships to co-design online tools and resources that complement rather than duplicate existing in-person services. Specific areas of focus include developing pre-arrival information to enhance migration pathways; facilitating social and economic integration to promote newcomer retention and address local skill and labour needs; supporting truth and reconciliation through the integration of First Nations history, culture, and governance into settlement services; and addressing gaps in existing community and settlement services to improve newcomers’ access to supports. Consultations (in person and remote) with newcomers, employers, First Nations representatives, community leaders, and service providers are used to i) collect information on local contexts, strengths, services, and needs, and ii) co-design and develop ideas for service enhancements to pilot with local communities. Our evaluation focuses on tracking outcomes, identifying areas for improvement, and capturing lessons learned for further enhancement related to program design and delivery.

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Strategic Evaluation and Learning Support for the Future Skills Centre 2025

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:58:11 +0000

Since 2020, the Future Skills Centre (FSC) has supported the development, refinement, or expansion of approaches to developing skills for workers from a variety of backgrounds and in a variety of sectors. These innovation projects are required to mobilize knowledge and evidence among key stakeholders, institutions and decision-makers for the purposes of improving policies and practices in Canada. SRDC is developing a mix of retrospective and prospective evaluation approaches for a subset of these projects, dependent on the timelines and stage of development of each project. These involve quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis using document and data review, interviews with project partners and their subcontractors, implementation evaluation, and theory of change or logic model development. SRDC’s learning and evaluation framework is designed to capture what has been learned from these projects for the future development of the skills ecosystem in Canada.

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Skilled4Success Program Evaluation

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 15:22:21 +0000

BGC Canada supports Clubs across the country who provide safe, supportive places and programs where children and youth can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, and develop confidence and skills for life. With support from the Government of Canada’s Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS) program, BGC Canada is delivering Skilled4Success, which is designed to help youth facing barriers to employment develop the skills and gain the experience they need to find and keep quality jobs. Through a combination of employment services, training, and work experiences, the program provides the foundation for learning and other skills that will help participants better prepare for, get and keep a job, and adapt and succeed at work. In addition, Skilled4Success includes individualized supports to enable youth to benefit from these interventions. As BGC Canada’s evaluation partner, SRDC is working with BGC Canada and participating Clubs to capture the impact of youth participating in the program, while connecting evaluation findings to BGC Canada’s broader learning and impact objectives.

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Expanding Apprenticeship Success Through Improved and Enhanced System of Technology (EAST Project)

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 27 Feb 2025 20:11:39 +0000

SkillPlan, BC Construction Industry Skills Improvement Council, in partnership with Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU), Provincial Building Trades Councils (PBTC), U7 SOLUTIONS, British Columbia Colleges (BCC), and the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC), are providing online educational tools, resources, and materials to support apprentices progressing in and obtaining certification in an apprenticeship in the Red Seal trades. This project will be delivered across Canada. More specifically the project seeks to firstly improve the quality of training in the skilled trades by utilizing a structured, integrated, and accessible online training system and secondly to support Red Seal trades partners to create safe and inclusive workplaces of equity-deserving groups, including women, youth, newcomers, Indigenous and racialized persons, persons with disabilities, as well as low-skilled individuals by expanding training platform and developing new courses. SRDC is helping to test and measure the results of this project through a mixed-methods approach which will include administrative data from online platforms, surveys, and interviews.

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Literature Review: Learning Disabilities Among Francophones in Canada

Wallaa Daramlly — Fri, 28 Jun 2024 17:13:41 +0000

SRDC was asked by the Coalition ontarienne de formation des adultes (COFA) and their partners to conduct a literature review on the detection and support of French-speaking adults with learning disabilities who are seeking employment or career advancement. The aim of the project was to identify effective approaches and tools for the detection of learning disabilities in a French-speaking minority context, as well as best practices in the training, coaching, and support of French-speaking adults with learning disabilities, taking a holistic approach to the individual. It also aimed to propose adaptations to training programs to facilitate learning in this specific context, and to identify the elements needed to better equip employers to support these adults. The results of the project will make it possible to develop detection and support tools for this clientele and to better train and equip practitioners in adult education centres.

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