As the deepening trade conflict with bilateral partners tests our exporters, squeezes margins and forces hard choices in boardrooms and on factory floors, the federal government’s focus is on long-term investment and supporting the competitiveness of our industrial base, as it should be.

But there is a key asset of that strategy that must not be treated as an afterthought: people. 

A growing many workers have been caught in the crossfire of tariffs. Across the country, companies are being forced to retool or reimagine what they do and Canadians are discovering that the skills that once ensured them a good job for years will not necessarily guarantee the next one.

This is also where Canada must be bolder. We must invest in helping Canadians get the skills they need to secure good-paying jobs to support their families and our shared economy. It is the skills of Canada’s labour force that will directly determine Canada’s capacity for success.

Without skilled workers, proposed investments in infrastructure and industry risk becoming monuments to missed opportunity.

But the old models of upskilling won’t work and they will not serve Canada’s broader economic interests. Every taxpayer dollar that is invested in skilling workers needs to translate into measurable economic and productivity outputs. 

Modern upskilling must be fast and effective – and delivered at scale. Canada needs a skills strategy that is unprecedented in its capacity to anticipate where workers will be required and execute a skills strategy ahead of the demand for workers. We can prepare workers for those national projects now. 

When displaced workers are given access to rapid, employer-linked training, they don’t just “go back to school.” They move directly into emerging jobs in advanced manufacturing, clean energy, cybersecurity, health technology and more.

When small- and medium-sized businesses can help shape training programs to match the skills they actually require, they can grow and hire locally instead of leaving roles unfilled. And when mid-career workers know there is a pathway to new credentials that recognizes their experience, they are far more likely to transition quickly and continue contributing to our national productivity needs.

The trade conflict has exposed an inconvenient truth: our competitive advantage must be our capacity to adapt faster than our competitors. That adaptability is not abstract – it lives in the skills, confidence and mobility of Canadian workers.

Canada does not have to guess about how to build this capacity. Canada has a proven model that works – and works at scale.

Through Palette Skills’ flagship national initiative, Upskill Canada, we have demonstrated what can happen when the government, employers and training providers collaborate directly to match workers to the real needs of the labour market.

In just three years, Upskill Canada has shown that large-scale, rapid reskilling is not only possible, it is transformative and sustainable. We have:

• Reskilled and upskilled thousands of Canadians – including workers from sectors destabilized by global competition, automation, and trade shocks.
• Delivered more than $500 million in independently validated economic impact  into the Canadian economy.
• Built sustainable and scalable training programs in fields such as clean-tech installation, technical sales, agri-food technology, cybersecurity, and advanced manufacturing – all designed in partnership with employers who hire directly from the programs.
• Proven that workers can move into high-growth industries in weeks or months, not years, with placement rates that rival the best training ecosystems internationally.

Perhaps most importantly: Upskill Canada has given many mid-career Canadians a second wind. Workers who once felt pushed out of the economy are finding new purpose in emerging industries. Employers who once struggled to fill critical roles are expanding faster. Regions once stuck in cycles of decline are showing new signs of economic life.

In our most recent employer survey, 91 per cent of small- and medium-sized businesses reported that working with us not only improved their access to qualified talent – particularly those from non-traditional education or employment backgrounds – it also improved capacity and increased productivity. 

It is real-world evidence that Canada can grow its way through this moment of geopolitical and industrial turbulence – if we treat skills as a national economic asset.

The Carney government has already signaled, through its budget, that it understands the stakes of this moment. It has made important commitments to modernize infrastructure, accelerate the energy transition and support key sectors such as steel and automotive as they reinvent themselves. The next step is to weave skills and training into the very fabric of those investments.

That means ensuring every major infrastructure or industrial initiative includes a clear plan – and dedicated funding – for upskilling and reskilling. It means making it as straightforward for a displaced worker to access high-quality training as it is for a business to apply for a capital grant. It means aligning labour-market data, immigration policy and education systems so that Canadians can see not just where the jobs are today, but where they will be tomorrow.

Most of all, it means treating skills as core to economic policy, not social policy – more of a capital investment than an operating expense. If we get this right, the benefits will extend far beyond those directly affected by trade tensions.  While programs providing modified employment insurance are vital, for many workers it cannot replace the pride they take in having meaningful work.

Over the past three years, Upskill Canada has proven that it is possible to increase productivity by reskilling thousands of Canadian workers. Skills at scale can super-charge the Canadian economy and build the resilience and adaptability that Canada needs in order to thrive and compete. Canada can do this.

The world is changing fast and Canada is undertaking a generational shift in its national priorities. Real progress is within reach if we strengthen the skills of our workforce and invest in the sectors that will move our economy forward.

Mark Beckles is CEO of Palette Skills, which powers  the Upskill Canada initiative. Mark is a former RBC Executive who led RBC Future Launch, investing $500MM to prepare 5.5Million youth for the future of work.