Alberta taps industry heads to advise on post-secondary needs
'We must look ahead to the Alberta of the future and ensure that graduates enter the workforce with the training and skills that are relevant,' Kenney said
Article content
Alberta is turning to a group of industry stakeholders to advise the government on how post-secondary programming can meet labour market needs.
Premier Jason Kenney announced Tuesday the formation of the Premier’s Council on Skills, an advisory board targeting sectors with a high demand for workers.
The group will report to Advanced Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides with their feedback informing government policy on post-secondaries.
It’s the latest element of the United Conservative government’s plans to overhaul higher education in Alberta, which places a premium on trades and jobs-focused programs.
“We must look ahead to the Alberta of the future and ensure that graduates enter the workforce with the training and skills that are relevant,” Kenney said.
“We’ve done better in recent years, but there is a big gap in skilled trades workers, in industrial trades for example, that we are about to hit in a hard way, and that really concerns me. That’s why we’re trying to retool the education system.”
Kenney said Alberta’s aging population means a “silver tsunami” of retirements is on the horizon for some vocations, with an inadequate supply of trained workers to fill those gaps.
He railed against university liberal arts programs, which he said had “modest” or “very poor” employment outcomes, and said government funding for universities should align with labour market demands.
That echoes the UCP’s performance-based funding model for post-secondaries, implemented in 2021, which sees funds allocated to Alberta’s public colleges and universities based on measures including post-graduation employment and income rates.
That’s not a huge concern for college and university administrators, said Alberta Post-Secondary Network executive director Bill Werry.
“We’ve done a pretty good job, I think, of making the case to government about the importance of what’s sometimes referred to as soft skills. And we believe that liberal arts programs are a lot of the places where those so-called soft skills get developed,” Werry said.
“We don’t think there’s necessarily a disconnect … We do recognize that sometimes those things come under attack.”
The new 11-person council is chaired by Dennis Perrin, the Alberta and Prairies director of the Christian Labour Association of Canada.
Other appointees include industry leaders in fields such as agriculture, banking, construction, energy and tourism. The council doesn’t include representation from any of Alberta’s 26 publicly funded post-secondary institutions.
In a statement, the Opposition NDP argued representation from those schools is also important in fostering skill development. They called for higher funding for post-secondaries, following tuition hikes and cuts to government grants under the UCP government.
“The council has a mandate to advise on strengthening post-secondary education and should advise the government to reverse the cuts impacting the ability of young Albertans to afford programs that broaden their skills and lead to meaningful employment,” said NDP labour critic Christina Gray.
Werry said post-secondary presidents across the province had been awaiting the advisory council, itself a recommendation of a previous government task force.
“We’re supportive of making sure that our students are successful,” Werry said. “Generally, we’re happy with where this is headed. We look forward somewhere down the road to connecting with folks appointed to the premier’s council and sharing with them the things we’re currently doing.”
Tuesday’s announcement follows an $84.6-million investment from the UCP this spring to add seats for high-demand programs at six Calgary post-secondaries, in fields such as health care, aviation and quantum computing.
Twitter: @jasonfherring
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.