If GSCs are to effectively support trainees to develop Canadian-recognized skills and to migrate to Canada, they will require a supportive environment of policy and partnerships

This includes significant collaboration between the Government of Canada, those working to establish GSCs, provincial and territorial governments, industry partners, immigration ecosystem partners, and diaspora community leaders. Through continued partnerships, GSCs can be part of a broader ’Team Canada’ approach to strengthen Canada’s soft power connections, leverage diaspora networks, and open new international trade connections.

As the government primarily responsible for immigration and with the ability to convene all the provinces and territories, the Government of Canada should take a leadership role in supporting the GSC model.

Providing adequate funding and support to set up the GSC model for success

  • Recommendation 1

    The Government of Canada should establish a Global Skilling Fund, allocating $300 million over three years in low-cost loans and contributions for Canadian training institutions looking to establish GSCs.

    The Global Skilling Fund would be an opportunity for strategic investment in the long-term capacity of a scalable program that supports sustainable skills development and adapts to Canada’s evolving labour market needs over time. This targeted fund would provide repayable loans for Canadian education institutions who need support in the start-up costs associated with setting up a Global Skilling Centre abroad. Contributions could be provided to support wraparound learning supports that GSCs deliver including financial literacy, civic engagement education, and digital literacy – to improve GSC graduates’ employability and success in Canada.

    While an established version of the GSC model should provide opportunities for self-funding, the initial creation may require funding support, similar to other public investments in industry-led training like the $250 million Upskilling for Industry Initiative.

    The Global Skilling Fund would be a modest initial investment: Canadian governments spend approximately $12 billion collectively each year to support skills training and employment services, with an additional $35 billion to post-secondary institutions, and more than $1.2 billion in federal support for immigrant settlement services.

  • Recommendation 2

    Export Development Canada should provide GSC operators with financing and risk-management support as they work to export technical and vocational education and training services.

    Export Development Canada (EDC) should provide tailored financial and risk management support to Canadian businesses looking to export technical and vocational training services in the form of GSCs. Offering insurance, financing, or guarantees alongside expert advice would help ensure a smooth transition into international markets.

    EDC should consider education and training services to be a priority export sector due to its strong potential for growth and economic advantages to Canada. EDC should then develop targeted solutions to meet the sector’s needs. GSCs align with EDC’s mission to “develop sustainable trade between Canada and the world, and to enhance Canada’s competitiveness in the international marketplace” and would be strong candidates for support.

  • Recommendation 3

    The Government of Canada, through Global Affairs Canada, should consider leveraging GSCs to invest in human capital development in host countries by supporting GSC trainees that intend to stay in their country of origin.

    Global Affairs Canada currently provides funding to support international skills development and TVET as a form of international development and collaboration. Current Global Skilling Partnerships (GSPs) are typically funded by destination countries through international development aid. In the Canadian context, Global Affairs Canada should consider the GSC model in the context of its TVET funding streams, and seek opportunities for alignment and financial support.

    GSCs could support the goals of Global Affairs Canada by providing high-quality, made-in-Canada training to GSC trainees that intend to stay in their country of origin after graduation and contribute to in-demand sectors. Providing funding to directly cover programming costs for these GSC trainees would be an effective form of TVET development assistance with trusted partners and would help to reduce ‘brain drain’ in GSC recipient countries.

  • Recommendation 4

    The Trade Commissioner Service should provide specialized support services to training institutions that are looking to establish GSCs abroad.

    Given the scale of the GSC opportunity and its importance across the Canadian economy, the Trade Commissioner Service should provide support and expertise to those looking to develop GSC in markets abroad. Support could include helping to navigate jurisdictional post-secondary education policies abroad, including institutional requirements and policies around tuition pricing. It may also include establishing connections with sector experts and potential markets, managing risks, and unlocking additional financing opportunities for GSCs.

Developing immigration pathways that align with the GSC model

Canada’s current immigration system. To capitalize on GSC training and allow trainees to come to Canada, appropriate immigration pathways would be required. These pathways can be developed in two main ways: 1) existing immigration pathways can be streamlined and improved to effectively enable GSC graduates to come to Canada and 2) Canada can pioneer a novel immigration approach by developing GSC-specific immigration pathway.

  • Recommendation 5

    The Government of Canada should explore changes to the Express Entry system to recognize GSC graduates as competitive candidates for immigration.

    As the main pathway for economic immigration, the Express Entry program, should be modified to better recognize and value GSC graduates. This would help enable the government to use economic immigration to drive economic competitiveness, as identified as an objective in Budget 2025. These changes should include modifications to the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) and to category-based selection, including:

    1. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) for Express Entry should be modified to recognize Canadian training delivered abroad through GSCs as being on par with training physically located in Canada. With the rise of remote learning, the physical location is no longer the best marker of whether training is Canadian. For example, the CRS could be updated so that post-secondary education at a GSC is worth the same number of points as post-secondary education in Canada (i.e., 15 points for a one- or two-year program, 30 points for a three-year or longer program). These adjustments to the existing CRS recognize the utility of GSC training for Canadian labour market integration.
    2. The Express Entry category-based selection should align with GSCs by prioritizing the occupations that GSCs are training individuals for. The Government of Canada and GSC providers should work together to ensure that the candidates they are training are prioritized through relevant immigration streams, including Express Entry’s category-based selection. GSCs are training individuals to meet economic goals in Canada and fill key labour market gaps, which is the purpose of category-based selection. GSCs can indicate to the Government of Canada which NOC codes their training is geared towards and the Government of Canada can ensure they are included in the category-based selection.
    3. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) for Express Entry should return to offering points for applicants with existing job offers in priority sectors with identified shortages. Recognizing job offers would help to ensure that GSC graduates, who have already secured Canadian employment, can be prioritized for immigration to Canada to fill key labour market gaps. To protect against the risk of fraud, job offer points could only be awarded to those with offers in priority sectors with identified shortages.
  • Recommendation 6

    The Government of Canada should continue to provide necessary investments to speed up the processing timelines for economic immigration pathways.

    The Government of Canada is already prioritizing reducing wait times and improving the user experience for individuals looking to immigrate to Canada. The Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is working to leverage technology to support a more efficient immigration system through a streamlined online portal and case management platform.

    To help Canada better compete for global talent, the Government of Canada should continue to work to speed up processing timelines for economic immigration pathways.

    Currently, these pathways have a wait time of six to 13 months. For the immigration system to align well with the GSC model, these timelines should be streamlined so that soon after trainees’ successful graduation, they are able to quickly and smoothly relocate to Canada. Long immigration wait times would inevitably make studying at GSCs – and immigrating to Canada in general – a less compelling option. The Government of Canada should aim for wait times to be a maximum of four months for all economic immigration pathways. In addition to enabling GSCs, this will help the government in its plan to “restore control, clarity, and consistency to the immigration system.”

  • Recommendation 7

    Provincial governments should use a portion oftheir provincial immigrant nominee programs to nominate GSC graduates in order to fill key labour market gaps, and in the long term, consider piloting GSC-aligned immigration streams.

    GSC trainees would be ideal candidates to help fill provincial labour market gaps, and should be considered for provincial immigration nominee programs. Provinces should consider allocating a certain number of their spots for GSC graduates and nominate them as part of their existing PNP streams.

    After successfully nominating GSC graduates as part of existing immigration streams, provinces could consider designing a specific stream for GSC graduates. Streams could be designed to be conditional on GSC trainees having a job offer in Canada and be targeted to key sectors in which the province is facing a labour market gap. Creating these streams would not only help attract graduates who could fill key labour market gaps but also make provinces more attractive destinations for GSC graduates.

  • Recommendation 8

    The Government of Canada should explore launching a two-year pilot ‘Globally Skilled Workers Program’ as an economic permanent residence immigration pathway to select GSC graduates for labour market gaps in priority areas. One per cent of federally selected economic immigration permanent residence spots should be allocated to the pilot (not affecting PNPs or Quebec skilled workers and business streams).

    A ‘Globally Skilled Workers Program’ would be a pilot pathway to permanent residence for GSC trainees who have graduated with relevant training necessary to fill some of Canada’s top labour market needs.

    The expectation is not that GSCs would be a shortcut to permanent residence in Canada; GSC graduates would be a pool of talent with Canadian training in priority areas developed in partnership with Canadian employers, institutions, and governments.

    The first-year allocation of approximately 1,300 participants would ensure this pilot is similar in scale to the initial size of other recent economic immigration pilots (e.g., the Agri-Food Pilot, Atlantic Immigration Pilot, Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot).

    Depending on future immigration levels plans and GSC outcomes, the stream could be scaled. Close measurement and evaluation of the pilot would be necessary to assess outcomes and enable effective scaling.

  • Recommendation 9

    The Government of Canada should work to ensure that trainees at Global Skilling Centres have appropriate access to legal services, settlement supports, and system navigation supports.

    Access to skills training alone is not enough to effectively support international trainees in immigrating to Canada.

    These trainees would benefit from wraparound supports that enable them to prepare for life in Canada and help them with the immigration process. The smoother this process is, the more ready-to-work trainees would be available to strengthen Canada’s labour force.

    The Government of Canada could provide funding to organizations that offer legal services, settlement support, and system navigation support through a stream of the Globally Skilled Workers Program.

    The Government of Canada should also work to reduce any non-financial barriers organizations may face in providing settlement services abroad.

  • Recommendation 10

    Ecosystem partners should coordinate to provide their services at GSCs, including settlement service providers, immigration lawyers, and immigration consultants.

    For-profit service providers (e.g., law firms, immigration consultants) and non-profit organizations (e.g., settlement service providers) could provide their services at GSCs or remotely to trainees at GSCs. These organizations could explore co-location at GSCs, or even with Canadian embassy/consular services or immigration and export promotion offices. Partnerships like these would be crucial to meet employers’ needs and adequately prepare GSC trainees with training and education beyond technical and vocational skills.

Developing strong employer partnerships to support job readiness and pathways to employment

  • Recommendation 11

    Employers should work together with GSC operators to design training programs that are responsive to the current labour markets and provide relevant virtual work-integrated learning opportunities where possible.

    GSC curriculums need to be directly informed by labour market demand. Employers should be closely involved in defining the skills and competencies necessary for employee success.

    This could include sharing insights about technical skills gaps as well as workplace expectations and culture. Collaborations between GSC operators and employers could be facilitated with support from sector councils and industry associations.

    Employers could also provide paid and virtual work-integrated learning opportunities to GSC trainees that can be carried out remotely.

    These opportunities would help to better expose trainees to Canadian standards, practices, and expectations, and provide them with some ‘Canadian experience’ that is often highly valued among employers

  • Recommendation 12

    Employers should partner with GSCs to sponsor training and relocation costs.

    Employers would benefit substantially from appropriately skilled immigrant talent working in key industries.

    To increase the capacity of GSCs to train qualified workers, employers could partner with GSCs and provide funding in order to sponsor training spots in areas where they are facing the greatest labour demands.

    In return, employers would get access to a strong pool of qualified individuals who are ready to move to Canada.

    Employers should also support any GSC graduates that they hire with reimbursement for relocation costs and immigration support when they move to Canada.

  • Recommendation 13

    The Government of Canada should lead international employment recruitment missions to leverage GSC talent pools.

    Federal and provincial governments are leading international recruitment missions to attract skilled workers to Canada, including the Destination Canada Mobility Forum and smaller-scale targeted events.

    In future iterations, the Government of Canada should lead international recruitment missions to cities with GSCs.

    That way, governments and employers are able to directly recruit GSC trainees and graduates who are trained in the skillsets most needed by the Canadian economy.

  • The Government of Canada should work with provinces and territories to develop a set of requirements that institutions must meet to be recognized as GSCs.

    Canada needs to renew trust in the Canadian brand of education and training institutions. As a new type of educational institution, GSCs need to be carefully vetted by the Government of Canada in partnership with provincial and territorial governments to build and earn the trust of prospective trainees, the countries where they are hosted, and employers.

    The set of requirements should be developed by the federal government in partnership with provincial and territorial governments that are responsible for post-secondary education and training.

    The requirements could include components related to recruitment practices, governance structures (e.g., formal academic and industry oversight), financial stability, facilities that meet Canadian standards, and minimum thresholds for the number of Canadian faculty and staff.

    Those that meet the requirements would be recognized by the Government of Canada and be eligible for funding.

Drawing on the expertise of newcomer communities to support GSC graduates

  • Newcomer and diaspora community leaders and organizations should be active partners with GSCs in supporting GSC graduates in building social capital in Canada, connecting them with mentorship opportunities and community, and informing them about life in Canada.

    Lack of social capital is frequently cited as a barrier to success when immigrants arrive in a new country.

    Newcomer and diaspora communities hold valuable firsthand knowledge about the challenge of immigrating to Canada and integrating into the labour market.

    Organizations that represent newcomer and diaspora communities, especially those representing workers in key labour markets, should work closely with GSCs to ensure their graduates are well connected to the community once they arrive in Canada.

  • The Government of Canada should convene an advisory table focused on international TVET and labour to explore opportunities to leverage the GSC model.

    The existing gap for technical and vocational skills in Canada’s economic immigration scheme will only be addressed through significant collaboration between federal, provincial/territorial governments, colleges, and other training operators and employers.

    Supporting potential policy solutions — including Global Skilling Centres that are truly pan-Canadian and aligned with federal immigration systems will require convening experts and stakeholders on the national level.

    Members will surface opportunities to collaborate, identify barriers to transformation, and set shared goals and outcomes for greater labour mobility.

    Establishing this kind of Canada-wide advisory table is aligned with the Government of Canada’s approach to addressing labour market challenges.

    Recent efforts have included convening industry stakeholders through the Workforce Alliances as well as recent efforts to improve interprovincial skills mobility, including for TVET-qualified professions.

As Canada’s skills and labour shortages grow across sectors, our country’s need for bold, innovative approaches to workforce development has never been greater

Global competition for talent is intensifying, and other countries are moving quickly to pilot new training and immigration models that attract and capitalize on talent from abroad. Canada must act now to remain competitive.

GSCs bring together proven models in a new and unique way. They combine Canada’s globally respected education and training systems with an international TVET model. By delivering Canadian-recognized training abroad, we can make it more accessible for prospective immigrants to come to Canada, equipped with the skillsets necessary to fill major labour market shortages.

Immigration has always been a defining feature of Canada’s prosperity. Setting up the next generation of immigrants for success will support better outcomes not only for them but Canadian society as a whole.

Introducing the Challenge

Current approaches to correcting labour shortages are not sufficient

Canada’s Skills and Labour Market Gaps

Significant skills and labour shortages threaten Canada’s prosperity

Aligning Global Training with Canadian Immigration

Canada’s identity and success have long been shaped by the contributions of immigrants.

Global Examples of International TVET

Technical and Vocational Education and Training.

Global Skilling Centres

Applying International Insights to the Canadian Context

Recommendations

To effectively support trainees to develop Canadian-recognized skills, we need a supportive environment of policy and partnerships