February 12, 2002

Our government launched today Canada’s innovation strategy with the release of two complementary papers titled Achieving Excellence: Investing in People, Knowledge and Opportunity and Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians.

This marks another significant step towards fulfilling the commitment made in the 2001 Speech from the Throne to equip Canadians with the cutting edge skills and learning they will need to prosper and realize their unique potential, and to brand Canada as one of the most innovative nations in the world.

Canada’s innovation strategy rests on the principle that in the knowledge economy, prosperity depends on innovation which, in turn, depends on the investments that we make in the creativity and talents of our people.

This is why we must invest not only in technology and innovation but also support an environment of inclusion, in which all Canadians are equipped with the tools they need to fully participate in our economy and society.

The papers propose a series of national goals and milestones that will mark our progress over the next decade. We will be working closely with the provinces and territories, business, labour, scholars, Aboriginal leaders, the voluntary sector and individual Canadians to develop the innovation strategy that will allow us to reach our goals.

Over the coming months, our government will be holding consultations across Canada. We urge Canadians to read the discussion papers and to participate in the consultation process. They can also visit www.innovationstrategy.gc.ca and submit their comments online.

Skills and Learning

Our government believes that people are Canada’s greatest resource and that Canadians – their skills, talents, knowledge and creativity – are the key to our future success.

The knowledge-based economy means an ever-increasing demand for a well-educated and skilled workforce in all parts of the Canadian economy. We know that our country is already facing skills shortages in a range of occupations. This trend will only worsen with the demographic crunch we see as babyboomers retire.

As a result, if we are to meet the skills and labour force demands for the next decades, we must develop a national agenda. This is precisely what Knowledge Matters: Skills and Learning for Canadians proposes to do through a series of goals and milestones that include:

Giving our children and youth the best possible start in life by improving children’s level of achievement in mathematics, science and reading; increasing computer and Internet literacy; improving children’s literacy; and increasing the rate of bilingualism among high school graduates.

Ensuring that all qualified Canadians have access to high-quality post-secondary education by giving high-school graduates better opportunities to participate in post-secondary education; increasing the proportion of adults with post-secondary credentials; increasing the number of apprentices completing a certification program; and increasing admission of Masters and PhD students.

Ensuring that Canada’s current and emerging workforce is more highly skilled and adaptable by increasing the number of adult learners; seeing businesses increase their investments in training; and improving the literacy level of adult Canadians.

Ensuring Canada continues to attract highly skilled immigrants and helps them achieve their full potential in Canadian society and labour market by increasing the proportion of adult immigrants with a post-secondary education; and reducing the income gap between immigrant and Canadian-born workers of comparable skills and education.