Racialized Canadians 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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Understanding the Experiences of Equity-Deserving Students and Prospective Students who Face Barriers Accessing Student Financial Assistance

Wallaa Daramlly — Tue, 21 Apr 2026 18:53:19 +0000

This project examines the experiences of equity-deserving individuals who face barriers to accessing student financial assistance (SFA) in Canada. Despite the availability of federal and provincial supports, some current and prospective postsecondary students do not apply for or receive financial aid, even when they may be eligible. This study seeks to understand why.

Using a mixed-methods research design, the project gathers evidence from two groups: current postsecondary students who are not using student financial assistance and youth aged 18 to 30 who are not currently enrolled in postsecondary education. Surveys provide national-level insight into awareness, perceptions, and barriers, while in-depth interviews explore how financial, administrative, informational, and personal factors shape decision-making.

By centring the lived experiences of equity-deserving populations, the project aims to generate actionable evidence to inform policy improvements to make SFA more accessible, inclusive, and responsive to the needs of diverse learners across Canada.

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Scaling & Replicator Strategic Evaluation and Learning Support for FSC

Wallaa Daramlly — Wed, 03 Dec 2025 15:12:24 +0000

SRDC is undertaking several evaluations within new categories of Future Skills Centre (FSC) projects. The SCALE initiative invited existing FSC partners whose projects were ready for the next scale-up phase to apply for additional funding to advance their projects along a clearly defined scaling pathway. The projects were selected to answer pressing strategic questions that represent gaps in knowledge and/or practice – and around which FSC investment strategies are oriented. The projects embrace ongoing testing of program feasibility and effectiveness derived from specified scaling objectives. The REPLICATE initiative funds FSC partners whose projects present the best evidence of effectiveness and impact to conduct replication projects with up to two or three different partners working in different geographical locations. The projects test the feasibility of replication as further proof of the effectiveness of the program and help to further build up a cohort of partnerships ready to move towards full scaling and sustainability, as well as test replication as a strategy for project sustainability.

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National Training System to Ensure Low-Carbon Building Performance to Reduce Energy Consumption

Wallaa Daramlly — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 18:09:01 +0000

SkillPlan, in partnership with the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers and Local Unions (IAHFIAW), Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU), Social Research and Demonstration Corporation (SRDC), Climate and Industry Research Team (CIRT), and Building Efficiency Resources (BER), is supporting Canada’s climate and low-carbon economy goals by developing, implementing, and evaluating a national energy assessment training program for the Insulator Heat and Frost Red Seal trade. The project will train both unionized and non-unionized journeypersons and apprentices in the Insulator Heat and Frost Red Seal trade with technical, operational, and communication tools to upgrade their knowledge and skills, and develop their leadership capacity.

SRDC is leading a comprehensive needs analysis to support the design of the program training. SRDC will also support this project through developing a comprehensive evaluation framework and protocols, conducting fieldwork, data quality control, analysis, and knowledge dissemination.

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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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Connecting Racialized Youth with Employment – Secondary Analysis of 2024 Survey Responses

Wallaa Daramlly — Sun, 01 Jun 2025 14:09:17 +0000

As an extension of our previous ESDC-funded research project, Connecting Racialized Youth with Employment: Strengthening Skills for Success via Mentoring, SRDC and Mentor Canada are undertaking an additional secondary data analysis of our youth survey data set, focusing on subgroups of interest to the mentoring field. The original survey included 3,100 responses from youth aged 18 to 30 from across Canada, focused on racialized youth’s employment journeys and experiences with community-based mentoring opportunities specifically designed to strengthen their skills and support their career pathways. In the current project, SRDC will provide additional data and research analyses of the survey dataset to contribute to and advance the knowledge of the field. The additional data and research analysis will be provided in data sets, analysis tables, graphs, and visual data knowledge mobilization formats, including an analysis report.

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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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Diversifying the Talent Pipelines for In-Demand Red Seal Trades

Wallaa Daramlly — Mon, 01 Jan 2024 16:46:44 +0000

This project focuses on supporting apprentices from equity-deserving groups, including women, gender-diverse individuals, youth, Indigenous people, and racialized individuals in Ontario, Alberta, and Nova Scotia. Build a Dream delivers learning programs aligned with the unique needs of these apprentice groups to improve their overall skills and Red Seal trades competencies. Build a Dream also brings unions and employers together to facilitate more inclusive work placement opportunities.

The project comprises an Apprenticeship Incubator program, which aims to improve the quality of training in the skilled trades by upgrading the social-emotional skills of apprentices. Another programming component, #PowerUP Skills, upgrades apprentices’ technical competencies by providing more hands-on experience in a safe learning environment. Finally, Build a Dream organizes and delivers You’re Hired Road Shows across the country to facilitate the connections between apprentices from equity-deserving groups to employers and unions, improving their access to work placement and employment opportunities. SRDC is the research and evaluation partner of the project, collecting data to conduct implementation research and evaluate the outcomes of all programming components.

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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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Understanding Participation Gaps in Active Employment Programs for Black Canadians

Wallaa Daramlly — Thu, 12 Oct 2023 13:37:15 +0000

Funded by Employment and Social Development Canada, this project examines the barriers that Black Canadians face accessing active skills development and employment programming. In Canada, this includes programming delivered under Employment Insurance (EI) Part II via Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) and the Workforce Development Agreements (WDAs) with the provinces and territories. Although the target population for this study is Black Canadians, research on other racialized groups is included as a comparator if appropriate. The research includes a literature review and environmental scan, as well as recommendations for how active measures programming may be improved to be more inclusive, effective, and equitable to Black Canadians.

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