Working (and Learning) Online: Improving Remote Work-integrated Learning Experiences for Students and Employers

Working (and Learning) Online: Improving Remote Work-integrated Learning Experiences for Students and Employers was written by Ken Chatoor, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. Participating remotely in work-integrated learning offers flexibility, but professional development challenges need to be addressed. Work-integrated learning (WIL) blends formal education with practical learning in a relevant workplace setting. There are […]

Teaching Transferable Skills for Labour Market Success: Introducing HEQCO’s Skills Consortium

Having identified essential transferable skills (and how to measure them) in previous work, HEQCO sought to investigate the most effective ways of teaching them. To do so, we partnered with eight PSE institutions to form a Skills Consortium, designed to evaluate programs and interventions related to the acquisition, development and articulation of transferable skills — […]

Exploring Postsecondary Credentials and Labour Market Alignment in Ontario

Exploring Postsecondary Credentials and Labour Market Alignment in Ontario was written by Julia Colyar, Sarah Brumwell and Janice Deakin, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. Exploring Postsecondary Credentials and Labour Market Alignment in Ontario Ontario’s current credentials are meeting the needs of the labour market As the province’s postsecondary credential offerings are expanded, a new […]

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Jackie Pichette, Dua Abdelqader and Mona Eghanian — Unlike cars, microcredentials won’t drive themselves

Microcredentials are a form of focused learning with the potential to respond to both the modern hiring needs of employers and the training needs of adults looking to advance or pivot in the labour market. At HEQCO, we define them as being tied to short learning opportunities that are focused on a discrete set of […]

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Natalie Pilla: How Increased Access to WIL Can Support Ontario’s Post-pandemic Recovery

Work-integrated learning (WIL) — including co-ops, internships and practicums — is widespread in Canada; nearly half of postsecondary students complete WIL as part of their studies. Participation in WIL is associated with higher employment earnings and a higher likelihood of finding full-time work after graduation. Unfortunately, 35% of Canadian postsecondary students have missed out on […]

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Jeffrey Napierala — Are more highly educated workers coming to rural and northern Ontario?

The densely urbanized areas of southern Ontario — particularly the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Ottawa — attract a disproportionate number of people with more advanced educational credentials. This matters because this demographic group provides numerous advantages to communities, such as greater financial resources and key skills needed for modern technologies. While this is real […]

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Ken Chatoor and Victoria Barclay — To address the K-shaped economic recovery, we must also address the K-shaped learning recovery

The long-term economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is worsening inequality in Canada and is a growing concern for citizens and policy-makers. This manifestation of inequality has been referred to as the ‘K-shaped economic recovery,’ a term which describes the bifurcated outcomes that are largely positive for highly educated and high-income earners, and largely negative for lower-income workers with fewer educational credentials.   There […]

Postsecondary Credential Attainment and Labour Market Outcomes for Ontario Students with Disabilities

Postsecondary Credential Attainment and Labour Market Outcomes for Ontario Students with Disabilities was written by Ken Chatoor, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. Students with disabilities do not receive the same benefits from postsecondary education as other students Students with disabilities experience barriers at each stage of their path through postsecondary education (PSE) and into […]

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Making Sense of Microcredentials

Making Sense of Microcredentials was written by Jackie Pichette, Sarah Brumwell, Jessica Rizk and Steven Han, Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario. New HEQCO report brings clarity to the confusing world of microcredentials Making Sense of Microcredentials, a new report from the Higher Education Quality Council of Ontario (HEQCO), provides a clear definition for microcredentials […]