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Consumers Tread Cautiously as Canada Enters the Fall Season

Consumer confidence is roughly at the same level it was in the Fall of 2020. At 75 points, the index is currently lower than its pre-pandemic level. With confidence this low, the likelihood that consumer confidence will sink drastically lower is unlikely. Consumer confidence tends to fall quickly, while the rebound takes time and needs months of a conducive economic environment to avoid any trepidation by consumers.

Quick take  |  3-min read
September 26, 2022
Focus Area—Canadian Economics

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Tipping Points: Toward Policies for Plastics Recycling in Businesses and Institutions

Government and private sector efforts to develop and regulate plastic recycling in Canada have largely been confined to the residential sector. However, Canada’s industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) sector is where most plastic waste is generated. It is also where collection and recycling rates are the lowest. Canada needs to broaden its focus beyond the residential sector and include ICI entities.

Impact paper  |  22-min read
August 12, 2022
Focus Area—Sustainability

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C-Suite Challenge: Attracting and Retaining Talent Through Global Volatility

Organizations planning to return to the office full-time need to understand that their employees may have a different agenda and that it may impact the organization’s ability to attract and retain talent. Overwhelming research shows that many employees who have been working from home for the past two years do not want, and are not willing, to return to the office full-time.

Issue briefing  |  7-min read
August 11, 2022
Focus Area—Human Resources

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Setting the Stage: The Status of Value-Based Procurement in Canada

Value-based procurement of health technologies and services is an advanced approach to procurement at the system or organizational level. In contrast to the traditional focus on lowest acquisition price or short-term savings, VBP looks at the overall value of a product or solution in terms of its ability to improve patient outcomes and experiences from healthcare interactions.

Issue briefing  |  10-min read
August 5, 2022
Focus Area—Health

Focus Areas

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Future Skills Centre Research

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Digital Skills for Today and Tomorrow

The pandemic changed how many Canadian workers do their job. For some, this change is minor. For others, it is seismic. A central feature of the shifts in working is the increased interaction with, and reliance on, digital tools. These tools—and the skills needed to use them—are largely what helped Canada weather the economic storm the pandemic caused and continue to support Canadian businesses in a strong recovery.

Issue briefing  |  12-min read
September 27, 2022
Focus Area—Education & Skills
Partner—Future Skills Centre

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Beyond Blue and White Collar: A Skills-Based Approach to Canadian Job Groupings

In Canada’s modern, knowledge-based, and service-centric economy, employers are increasingly thinking about work from a skills perspective. Old-fashioned labels like “blue collar” and “white collar” are no longer relevant. As well, factors such as educational attainment or work experience are only proxies for assessing the skills of workers. This means that we need a more sophisticated way to talk about employment opportunities.

Issue briefing  |  10-min read
August 3, 2022
Focus Area—Canadian Economics
Partner—Future Skills Centre

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Transitioning to Jobs in the Clean Economy

One in five Canadian employees works at a job that’s vulnerable to automation. The clean economy is a rapid-growth sector that needs workers. Is there a way to solve for both? Employees working high-risk, low-mobility (HRLM) jobs have few options to transition into lower-risk occupations without undergoing retraining.

Online experience  |  8-min read
July 28, 2022
Focus Area—Innovation & Technology
Partner—Future Skills Centre

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Finding Your Employability Skills

The Employability Skills Toolkit is a guide to the skills needed to adapt and succeed in the world of work. It includes explanations and descriptions of these skills and ways to build them. The Toolkit includes key information about how to become job-ready and exercises to practice and apply what you have learned.

Online experience  |  8-min read
July 28, 2022
Focus Area—Education & Skills
Partner—Future Skills Centre

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