Future of work

This Future Skills Centre report argues that Canada’s ongoing economic challenges—slow productivity growth, uneven prosperity, and gaps in well-being—are closely tied to how skills are distributed across the population and how effectively they are deployed in workplaces and communities.  

The authors urge Canada to use its uniquely large PIAAC dataset not just to measure skill levels among adults, but to understand the causal role they play in economic and social outcomes. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s PIAAC includes a comprehensive survey of levels and use of skills among people aged 16 to 65 years. Canada has one of the largest samples worldwide, with nearly 40,000 respondents across two survey cycles, giving the country solid data to build upon. With the most recent results released in late 2024, the country has a once-in-a-decade opportunity to realign its research and policy frameworks according to proper research based on these data.  

The report finds that most Canadian studies using PIAAC data have treated skills as outcomes—describing proficiency levels, tracking distribution across regions and demographics, and monitoring gains and losses in skills over time. What has been underexplored is skill use and skills as drivers of economic and social performance. To fill this gap, the authors propose a Canadian PIAAC research agenda supported by three pillars: 

• treating skills as drivers by analyzing how these are associated with economic performance and social outcomes 

• continuing to examine skills as outcomes by documenting how Canadians perform on skills, how proficiency is gained and distributed across the population, and how this proficiency can be improved 

• strengthening data infrastructure and analysis by linking PIAAC with labour market, education, and social datasets and creating a community of practice that enables and encourages collaboration and knowledge-sharing among all stakeholders 

For the future of work in Canada, the implications are significant:  

• More targeted and evidence-based policies and evaluations become possible.  

• The proposed community of practice can ensure that research areas and approaches remain aligned with real-world needs. It can also facilitate training for researchers in this context.  

• The agenda can enable productivity and inclusion to advance together because research can identify which skills produce measurable returns (and how) and which interventions raise productivity and close gaps in prosperity and well-being. 

The report concludes that PIAAC is one of Canada’s most valuable research assets for the decade ahead. If leveraged effectively through a structured agenda, linked data, and active knowledge-sharing, it can shift skills development toward targeted, evidence-driven policies that generate economic growth and improved well-being for Canadians.