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Future-proof: Preparing young Canadians for the future of work

What are the technical and soft skills Canadian youth need to succeed in a changing labour market?

Future-proof: Preparing young Canadians for the future of work

Sarah Doyle

Director of Policy + Research

Creig Lamb

Senior Policy Analyst

March 28, 2017

Read Report PDF Infographic Sharable Deck Print Page

About this Report

Future Proof is a new report produced by the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship (BII+E) in partnership with RBC.

Technological trends—while always a critical driver of the economy—are reshaping Canada’s workforce. With a large number of jobs at risk of automation in the near future, including those held by some of the most vulnerable segments of Canada’s population, youth are facing higher skill and experience requirements than ever before. As a result, Canadian youth joining the labour market must come equipped with a broad suite of technical and soft skills to succeed.

To ensure Canada’s youth are adequately prepared for this new economic reality, new models that focus on both improving youth employment outcomes and building a stronger talent pipeline need to be explored.

Read this report to help you:

Understand technological trends in Canada and their implications for millennials
Identify the most valuable skills for the future of work in Canada
Understand the complex job market requirements millennials are facing
Identify ways to prepare Canada’s millennials for a rapidly advancing workforce

Key facts from the report:

Youth aged 15 to 24 are one of the most vulnerable segments of the population to the effects of automation, making up nearly 20 per cent of high-risk occupations in 2011.
Technologies, such as artificial intelligence and robots, are driving growth and could raise global productivity growth by 0.8 to 1.4 per cent annually between 2015 and 2065.
Over the next decade, about two-thirds of the job openings in Canada are expected to be in occupations that typically require postsecondary education, or in management roles.
Canada’s youth will require a diverse set of technical and soft skills, including creativity, problem solving, social intelligence as well as entrepreneurial abilities, such as managing uncertainty and taking risks in order to compete in the workplaces of the future.
Youth face a number of challenges when it comes to integrating into the labour market, including underemployment and the prominence of part-time and precarious work.
Many Canadian youth face an “experience mismatch” whereby despite educational achievements, they lack the appropriate experience to integrate into the labour market.
When asked if youth are adequately prepared for the workforce, 83 percent of education providers said yes while only 44 percent of youth and 34 percent of employers felt the same way.

Sarah Doyle

Director of Policy + Research

Creig Lamb

Senior Policy Analyst

March 28, 2017

Read Report PDF Infographic Sharable Deck Print Page

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