Hopes high for federal budget aimed at boosting high-tech job skills

Expectations are running high that next week’s federal budget will provide a more detailed federal strategy – and perhaps more cash – to help post-secondary students land real-life work experience in emerging, employee-starved fields.

In last year’s budget, Ottawa committed $73 million over four years to fund an initiative aimed at ensuring that what’s being taught inside the classroom is better aligned with the tech-related needs of the job market.

Specifics have yet to be released, but the government plans to launch the program this year – and advocates will be watching the March 22 budget for signs of a framework.

“Students today want to get their hands dirty as part of the university experience,” said Universities Canada president Paul Davidson, noting there have been good discussions about work-integrated learning over the past year.

“There might be some amplification of it in the budget; there might be an extended commitment to it.”

Last year, the government set aside money for new co-op placements and work-integrated learning in anticipation of a program to encourage participation in “high-demand fields,” such as science, technology, engineering, mathematics and business.

The feds billed it at the time as part of a broader plan for a so-called “innovation agenda,” a strategy to foster the growth of young, high-potential firms in Canada and encourage talented graduates to stay in the country.

The government is counting on that strategy to help drive Canada’s long-term economic growth.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s second budget comes amid growing awareness that a wide range of today’s jobs will eventually be replaced by the rapid advance of new technologies, such as automation and artificial intelligence.

The Liberal government has spent more and more time in recent weeks talking about the need to address the evolving labour market, as well as the importance of finding ways to increase participation in the workforce.

Job skills will be “one of the key areas of focus” in the budget, Morneau said last week.

“I’m confident that we’ll help Canadians get the skills they need in a challenging economic environment,” he said.