DEVlab — National Strategy Connections
(1) Skills for Success
The Skills for Success are one of Canada’s job training initiatives. Launched in 2021 the Skills for Success Program was created to “help Canadians succeed in work, learning, and life.”
Rationale: Part of the DEVlab research noted a perceived mismatch between the competencies emphasized in the skills for success framework and those in job postings. This could be valuable for the government to consider if the skills required for young people to succeed in careers are shifting.
(2) Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS)
The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy is an initiative led by Employment and Social Development Canada. The program is overseen by the Youth and Skills Innovation Directorate and engages 11 federal departments, agencies, and crown corporations which together deliver funding programs for youth (15-30) to develop skills and gain experience to successfully move into the labour market.
Programs under YESS include the YESS Program, which supports youth serving organizations to deliver activities to help young people overcome barriers to employment and the Canada Summer Jobs program.
Rationale: This strategy directly relates to youth employment and skills. In recent months, the Skills for Success program was also added to this ESDC Directorate.
Actions to date: The DEVlab project and results were shared with the Director General of the Youth and Skills Innovation Directorate, and they were invited to attend the webinar series.
(3) Supports for Student Learning Program (SSLP)
The SSLP is focused on improving equity for all students to help them complete their studies. The program provides support for students and afterschool programming and study and work abroad opportunities.
Rationale: The DEVLab research highlighted the difficulty many young people face navigating the transition from education to work. This transition can be even harder for youth that face multiple barriers to success. Programs like SSLP can help to ease this transition for young people. At the same time the SSLP team could learn about the challenges youth are facing to help in their efforts.
Next Steps: Tamarack to share Building Bridges report with SSLP contacts and help to set up a meeting between DEVlab team and SSLP team.
(4) Quality of Life Framework
Statistics Canada’s Centre for Social Data Insights and Innovation released its Biennial review of the QoL Indicators in February 2025. The report noted some areas for improvement on data for youth and that NEET youth was among the most popular indicators.
(5) Investment Readiness Program
The Investment Readiness Program represented a $100 million investment to help advance social innovation and social finance (SI/SF) in Canada. The IRP ended on March 31, 2024. IRP was designed to help social purpose organizations (SPOs) overcome barriers to accessing social finance. SPOs are organizations operating with a social, cultural or environmental mission. They can be charities, non-profits, social enterprises, co-operatives or businesses with a social mission.
The purpose of the program was to support SPOs to improve their capacity to access social finance, and to build a supportive marketplace through: strong networks of support, research and knowledge-building, support for social procurement, connections across the marketplace.
The program also supported SPOs led by or serving equity-deserving groups, such as:
- Black Canadians and other racialized peoples
- Indigenous peoples - First Nations, Métis, Inuit
- Low-income people
- Members of the LGBTQ2+ community
- Official language minority communities
- People with disabilities
- Recent immigrants and refugees
- Women
Source: Statistics Canada
(6) National Housing Strategy
The National Housing Strategy is Canada’s commitment to ensure more people living in Canada have access to safe, affordable and inclusive housing. The National Housing Strategy is currently a 10-year, $115+ billion plan to give more people in Canada a place to call home. Launched in 2017, the Strategy includes a range of complementary programs and initiatives that address diverse needs across the entire housing continuum. It’s anchored in the National Housing Strategy Act which requires the Strategy to consider the key principles of a human rights-based approach to housing.
The National Housing Strategy places significant emphasis on addressing the housing needs of populations with unique needs. These groups include:
- Survivors of gender-based violence
- Seniors
- Indigenous Peoples
- Young adults
- People with disabilities
- Individuals dealing with mental health and addiction issues
- Veterans
- 2SLGBTQIA+ communities
- Racialized groups, including Black Canadians
- Recent immigrants, including refugees
- People experiencing homelessness
Source: Government of Canada (2025)
(7) National Volunteer Strategy (Volunteer Canada)
The strategy will be a comprehensive and coordinated effort aimed at: creating new participation and engagement frameworks and pathways; addressing critical economic, cultural, and social cohesion challenges; building Canadian communities inclusively through volunteering and service.
According to Volunteer Canada, a National Volunteer Action Strategy is essential to unify all of Canada to work toward a shared vision for inclusive participation and volunteering that recognizes, amplifies, promotes and supports the many different ways Canadians work together to build strong, inclusive and connected communities.
Source: Volunteer Canada (2025)
(8) Youth Climate Corps
Youth Climate Corps BC (YCCBC) is an organization (non-profit program) that aims to empower British Columbian youth to take actions that address the climate crisis. YCCBC provides paid work and training to young people in climate action projects that impact their communities. YCCBC gets jobs done in communities that reduce emissions, build resiliency, and adapt communities to the changing climate.
Youth Climate Corps BC builds community capacity by developing a motivated, organized, and adaptable youth labour force to make climate plans a reality. Young people aged 17-30 work together for four to six months to build skills, scale up climate action projects, and develop their leadership skills and community networks.
Source: Youth Climate Corps (2025)
(9) Build Canada Strategy (of Cabinet)
From the Building Canada Strong strategy: The Liberal housing plan will create Build Canada Homes (BCH) to get the federal government back into the business of home building, by:
- acting as a developer to build affordable housing at scale, including on public lands;
- catalyzing the housing industry by providing over $25 billion in financing to innovative prefabricated home builders in Canada, including those using Canadian technologies and resources like mass timber and softwood lumber, to build faster, smarter, more affordably, and more sustainably;
- providing $10 billion in low-cost financing and capital to affordable home builders.
The Liberal housing plan will make the housing market work better by catalyzing private capital, cutting red tape, and lowering the cost of homebuilding:
- cutting municipal development charges in half for multi-unit residential housing while working with provinces and territories to keep municipalities whole;
- reintroducing a tax incentive which, when originally introduced in the 1970s, spurred tens of thousands of rental housing units across the country;
- facilitating the conversion of existing structures into affordable housing units;
- building on the success of the Housing Accelerator Fund, further reducing housing bureaucracy, zoning restrictions, and other red tape to have builders navigate one housing market, instead of thirteen.
(Important to consider and acknowledge the impact on ‘cutting red tape’ on Indigenous communities, as it is critical to only go forth with building following consultations).
The Liberal housing plan will build on the elimination of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) for first-time homebuyers on homes at or under $1 million.
Sources: Building Canada Strong | Housing | Liberal Government of Canada (2025)
(10) Canada Youth Policy + State of Youth Report (transitioning out of heritage)
The State of Youth Report creates greater awareness of how young people are doing and highlights the opportunities and challenges they face, in their own words. It also helps the Government of Canada better understand the needs of the youth they serve, from finding jobs to accessing mental health support. The State of Youth Report is grounded in feedback from youth across the country about the issues that matter most to them.
Canada’s second State of Youth Report is scheduled for publication in 2025. This report will serve as a snapshot of youth in Canada in 2025 along the existing 6 priority areas of Canada’s Youth Policy and will also identify what other emerging issues, opportunities and challenges are top of mind for youth across Canada.
As we look toward the report, it’s clear that the context in which young people live, learn, and work has changed significantly. Our goal is to continue to be aware of these changes and ensure that our policies and programs evolve to meet the current and future needs of Canada’s youth. Now more than ever, we must ensure that young people are well-supported as they embark on – and stay on – the road to success.
The Government of Canada invited young people between the ages of 16 and 29 to share their perspectives through the online youth engagement tool for the second State of Youth Report.
To learn more, visit Youth engagement on the second State of Youth Report.
Canada’s Youth Policy is the first step in demonstrating action on issues important to youth. It is also an important way to better prepare Canada’s economy for growth. This policy highlights six priority areas: Leadership and Impact; Health and Wellness; Innovation, Skills and Learning; Employment; Truth and Reconciliation; and Environment and Climate Action. The Government of Canada will continue to engage with youth across the country to ensure these priorities, as well as federal policies and programs, remain relevant and continue to meet young people’s needs.
Sources: Canada’s Youth Policy (2020), State of Youth (2025)
(11) Public Health Officer Report (to be released)
This report offers a vision and framework to realize the full potential of vaccination in Canada, so that everyone, at every stage of life, can experience the benefits of vaccination for health and well-being.
To achieve this vision, public health can continue to take a leadership role to:
- harness vaccination to promote health for all people across the life course;
- facilitate collaboration across systems and with communities; and
- prepare for and adapt to evolving health, technology, and sociocultural contexts.
Cutting across this framework are principles that can help steer the collective efforts of people, organizations, and institutions that make up the vaccination system. These principles represent the basis of a public health approach to vaccination, one that prioritizes prevention and takes a population-level perspective on health.
- Population health approach: Stimulating action across sectors and with a life course perspective to improve population health and reduce vaccination-related inequities.
- Equity: A commitment to and recognition that an equity-focused public health system requires multiple voices at decision-making tables. Equity considerations and community engagement inform vaccination programs and policies.
- Rights-based: Recognizing colonial injustices and the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, and applying rights-based frameworks to vaccination decision making, programs, and policies.
- Evidence-informed and effective: Valuing inclusive, diverse, high-quality, and innovative systems of knowledge and evidence to support optimal vaccination programs and policies.
- Participatory: Integrating diverse participation, respect for community knowledge, relationship building, and meaningful collaboration into the core of vaccination activities.
- Trustworthy: Earning trust by demonstrating transparency, listening continuously, reflecting on feedback, and taking concrete actions within the vaccination system to be accountable to the people the public health system serves.