A recent report by Canada’s Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) offers valuable insights for Australia’s VET system, especially in regional areas. The Canadian research calls for a place-based workforce development model that gives communities more autonomy and flexibility to design training aligned with local economic opportunities. In many ways, this mirrors the goals outlined in Jobs and Skills Australia’s Jobs and Skills Roadmap for Regional Australia, which identifies local engagement and community-led initiatives as essential to improving equity and effectiveness in the VET system.
The Canadian report highlights the difficulty regional communities can face when workforce and economic development systems operate in silos, especially in times of economic transformation (eg the transition to net zero). It identifies that the Canadian VET system is too reactive, fragmented, and too slow to adapt to new opportunities. The IRPP calls for more integrated planning and flexible funding that enables timely training in anticipation of future job growth, especially where large projects are in the pipeline. This is directly relevant to JSA’s concern that complex, interrelated barriers continue to prevent many regional Australian, particularly young people, from entering training or work, despite strong demand from employers.
A key recommendation from the IRPP report is to give communities “flexible envelopes” of funding to pilot innovative approaches that respond to regional labour needs. In Australia, JSA makes a similar case for trialling and scaling local solutions, including “hubs” that bring together training, employment services, and social supports. Both reports recognise the high cost of delivering services in thin markets and call for block grant models or long-term funding for proven approaches, moving away from short-term, competitive contracts that fragment the system and undermine continuity.
Another parallel lies in the recognition that addressing barriers to participation requires more than just the provision of training places. The Canadian report emphasises personalised, case-managed support, especially for equity groups and long-term income support recipients. This is echoed in the JSA roadmap, which calls for wrap-around supports and pathway programs to lift school attendance, reduce the rate of people not being in education or employment (NEET), and build foundational skills before learners can succeed in VET.
Canada also urges earlier coordination between local industry, workforce planners, and educators before new infrastructure or major economic development begins:
“Partnerships between industry and post-secondary institutions can help. For example, work-integrated learning programs, such as the Mining Industry Human Resource Council’s Gearing Up program, offer a combination of on-the-job learning and post-secondary credentials… However, forming such partnerships can be difficult when industry lacks the information, capacity or ability to clearly communicate its needs, and learning institutions fail to communicate the services they may be able to offer.”
The IRPP report reinforces the idea that resilience and equity in regional workforce systems cannot be centrally dictated but should be co-designed with communities. And JSA’s roadmap similarly champions co-design, place-based consultation, and regionally driven planning.
