Low-skilled Workers Archives - SRDC

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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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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Pathway to Productivity: Using Pay-for-Performance to Facilitate SME Investment in Human Capital

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 06 Feb 2025 15:38:03 +0000

This initiative is testing the effectiveness of a Pay-for-Performance (PFP) funding model in encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to increase their investment in employee training across various industries. We are exploring the potential of PFP to promote more intentional employer planning and support of training activities, and more generally to build a culture of continuous learning within SMEs. Furthermore, we are seeking to understand how the PFP model previously implemented with our partners Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC) can be adapted cross-sectorally, leveraging the existing expertise of SRDC and EMC along with the unique insights and employer networks of our new sectoral partners, The Environmental Careers Organization of Canada (ECO Canada), Food Processing Skills Canada, and BioTalent Canada.

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Using Pay-for-Performance to Incentivize Manufacturing SMEs to Promote Active, Continuous Training (Pay-for-Performance IMPACT)

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 15:21:20 +0000

This project examines several key questions related to the effectiveness of a pay-for-performance (PFP) funding model in facilitating and incentivizing small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) investment in workplace training. We use a mixed methods data collection approach to better understand how PFP funding could influence employer training decisions and supports, and resulting training outcomes. One key question is whether and how a PFP model could mitigate the risks, uncertainties, and opportunity costs associated with workplace training by providing SMEs with a structure to link their behaviour and decisions with tangible outcomes. Another important consideration is whether a PFP approach could help SMEs develop and implement more equitable and inclusive training strategies, suitable for employees from various backgrounds, learning preferences, and skill levels. Finally, we explore sustainability and scalability, by asking whether the PFP approach could be a viable long-term solution for encouraging SMEs to take a lead role in addressing Canada’s broader productivity challenges.

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Enhancing Displaced Workers’ Literacy and Essential Skills

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 18:04:44 +0000

The Enhancing Displaced Workers Literacy and Essential Skills project is a collaborative project that is managed by Decoda Literacy Solutions and supported by the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC).

The overall goal of the project is to enhance knowledge and raise awareness of promising Literacy and Essential Skills (LES) interventions for displaced workers in Canada to improve their employability.

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Evaluation Methodology for the Pathway to Apprenticeship Completion in the Trades (PACT)

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 02 Jan 2024 15:40:55 +0000

The PACT (Pathway to Apprenticeship Completion) is an important initiative that tests and gathers data on scalable solutions for apprenticeship retention, progression, and completion in British Columbia. Focusing on the needs and experiences of individual apprentices, the project aims to offer services that align with the unique personal and interpersonal factors affecting apprenticeship pathways, with the goal of informing future investments. The current project focuses on Phase 1 pre-implementation activities, focused principally on SRDC’s development of an outcome tracking and evaluation methodology. SRDC is also providing feedback on the partner-developed Theory of Change and key performance indicators, and contributing to a review of services and programs that illustrate emerging best practices. Phase 2 will be focused on implementing the Phase 1 design and corresponding data collection and analysis.

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Enhancing Human Resources and Supervisory Capacity to Champion Skills for Success Training

Wallaa Daramlly — Wed, 29 Nov 2023 18:43:06 +0000

SRDC is working in partnership with SkillPlan, Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC), and Ontario Tourism Education Corporation (OTEC) to design, implement, and evaluate a dual Skills for Success training approach, targeting front-line workers as well as Human Resources (HR) and supervisory staff in construction, manufacturing, and tourism. Through close collaboration with our sectoral training partners as well as with employers, unions, and industry associations, the project is leveraging and enhancing existing skills training programs for front-line workers while also designing and implementing new training for HR and supervisory staff to champion learning transfer. The ultimate goal is to foster more productive and inclusive workplaces by creating post-training opportunities for front-line workers to apply and continue to develop their skills in the workplace.

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Developing the Next Generation of Skilled Trades Workers in Advanced Manufacturing

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 11 May 2023 13:18:42 +0000

According to the Excellence in Manufacturing Consortium (EMC), Canadian manufacturing is changing at a rapid rate. In addition to workers retiring, there is a growing need to support the technological adoption occurring in advanced manufacturing. Skilled tradespeople are in high demand and will continue to be at an increasing rate, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the needs to minimize supply chain disruptions and emphasizes the opportunities to strengthen Canadian production. This project designs, implements, and evaluates a pre-apprenticeship program customized to the advanced manufacturing sector. The program provides youth aged 15 to 29 with technical and experiential learning, delivered through online self-directed modules and hands-on practical work placement with employers for up to 16 weeks. SRDC leads the evaluation to examine the extent to which the program responds to current labour market needs while setting the foundation for an apprenticeship pathway in manufacturing in the long term.

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Earnings Supplement Project (ESP)

Wallaa Daramlly — Wed, 31 Mar 2004 21:30:26 +0000

Lessons learned from the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation’s research on work and reliance on Employment Insurance (EI) benefits.

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Skills for Success Proficiency Levels Development

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 07 Feb 2023 16:03:08 +0000

In May 2021, the Skills for Success model was launched to provide a common structure that aligns program and policy transformation with evolving skill and workforce development needs. Along with the skill descriptions, the launch of Skills for Success included preliminary proficiency descriptors; however, it was seen as important to build a stronger evidence base before providing more details (Palameta et al., 2021; Nguyen et al., 2022). This project, Skills for Success Proficiency Levels Development, was conceptualized as the first step toward addressing the need for more detailed proficiency levels and descriptions. The project aimed to produce a richer set of conceptual resources on skills proficiency to inform and inspire further work.

Skills for Success Proficiency Levels Development was conceptualized as the first step toward addressing the need for more proficiency details. The project aimed to produce a richer set of conceptual resources on skills proficiency to inform and inspire further work. Led by SRDC and funded by the Skills for Success Program, this project consolidated existing knowledge on skills proficiency in Canada and international jurisdictions, adding more depth to the conceptualization of Skills for Success proficiency that was developed prior to its launch. In the current project, we aimed to set a strong foundation upon which further work can emerge to support the continuation of Skills for Success implementation.

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