Skills Investment Strategy

To help maintain the province’s high standard of living, a priority for the Government of Alberta is to ensure that Albertans are prepared for success in the labour market through effective employment and training programs and services. To contribute to this success, the government has implemented the Skills Investment Strategy. It has been designed to respond to labour market trends that include:

• labour market fluctuations,
• the evolving nature of technologies affecting all workers across all industrial sectors,
• the increasingly complex labour market (e.g. global competition, changing nature of work, changing skills requirements).
• the increasingly diverse Alberta workforce, and
• the need for Albertans to continuously upgrade their skills and participate in lifelong learning, as the economy becomes more knowledge based.

Clients

Many Albertans are served, including people eligible for, or receiving Employment Insurance benefits, low-income individuals, Aboriginal people, immigrants, persons with disabilities, youth and older workers. Individuals are responsible for providing the information needed to determine if they are eligible for funding and they must be willing to invest the time and energy needed to make successful changes in their lives. In return, they benefit from enhanced opportunities to access employment and training programs and services on a full or part-time basis.

Stakeholders

Employers, training providers, government and community organizations all have a stake in ensuring programs and services are responsive to training needs. Building a highly skilled workforce in Alberta requires commitment, collaboration, and high-level coordination among all stakeholders. The Skills Investment Strategy depends on this extensive network of partners and providers, and on a diverse delivery system, to supply more effective training programs and services to Albertans.

The Skills Investment Strategy is helping Albertans become more successful members of the labour force, which in turn, benefits employers and creates a stronger economy for Alberta.

The four programs are:

• Career Information
  provides you with information and resources to help make well-informed career, education, employment and business decisions.
   
• Work Foundations
  provides full-time or part-time basic skills training to help you prepare for further job-related training, get a job, or get a better job.
   
• Training for Work
  provides full-time or part-time occupationally-focused training opportunities to help you get a job, get a better job, or increase your skills to keep your job.
   
• Workforce Partnerships
  helps ensure working Albertans continue to enhance their skills in order to contribute to Alberta’s economic growth or respond to skills shortages through industry and community partnerships.

Document Title and Description	Date (dd/mm/yy)	Format
Skills Investment Strategy Framework	12/01/04