The most recent federal budget has garnered headlines more
for what people say it did not do than for what it does. It has been branded as
anodyne—a do-nothing budget, a place holder while we wait to see what our
neighbours to the south will do. A recent Nanos poll reported in the 17 April
2017 Globe and Mail shows that “Canadians dislike [the] Liberal budget,” more
for not tackling the deficit than for anything it does.
But these pundits have missed a crucial point: this budget
is one of the more politically astute policy budgets in recent memory. This is
because the budget puts in place some transformational changes that support a
crucial platform for innovation: education.
The federal government provides funding for education
through provincial transfer payments, but officially has no say in how
education is managed. The federal government does provide research funding and this
has a link to education. A key facet of providing research funding to
universities and colleges is the training of what are called “Highly Qualified
Personnel”; these are the students that work with professors on research.
Students gain key skills and competencies via research participation, but this
is not considered part of the education mandate—it’s an outcome of research
activity. But students (and graduates more specifically) are important inputs
to our national capacity to innovate.
Students participating in research gain key innovation literacy skills
that make them valuable assets to any industry.
The Budget did have funding (carried forward from the 2016
Budget) in support of “super clusters” in key industrial sectors, including
artificial intelligence. Despite these measures many have decried the lack of
focus on innovation, which is seen as the key way to boost Canadian
productivity and international competitiveness.
What the budget did do however was change some key
instruments related to education, which will have direct and downstream impacts
on our capacity to innovate as a country.
With a focus on Skills, Innovation and Middle Class Jobs the government
has in fact enacted significant efforts to underpin the very platform for
innovation. It is no accident that this is the first chapter in the Budget.
A focus on lifelong learning and retraining for new and
emergent jobs and careers is a significant component of the Budget’s focus on
skills. Changes to Employment Insurance and student loan eligibility marks a
shift in thinking about the role of education and training in people’s lives.
Where once education was seen as a stop prior to launching a career, it is now
an ongoing episodic component of continual learning and adjustment as people
pivot into new roles, jobs and careers over their lifetime. Expanding financial
assistance to a wider demographic, including part-time and mature learners,
coupled with enhancing Canadians’ access to educational supports for retraining
and skills upgrading while still working, significantly modernizes these
programs to bring them in line with the reality that career transitions happen
while people are still working.
Another significant component of Budget 2017 is the allocation
of $90 million over two years to support over 4,600 Indigenous students to
access higher education. This, in addition to supports for Canadians with
disabilities, will help many more people participate meaningfully in the
economy. New supports for
work-integrated learning have the potential to help bridge the worlds of education
and work.
The launch of a new organization to support skills
development and measurement in Canada reflects the importance of preparing
Canadians to meet future labour force needs. This is long overdue; many have
decried the lack of good labour market information for career planning. A
national approach to understanding the regional realities of the labour market—recognizing
that the demand for skills and people can be met with educational supply—will
help companies compete and people plan education and career paths.
With these elements the federal
government has indicated its willingness to provoke some necessary changes in
post secondary education. The result, one hopes, will be a stronger and more
resilient society and economy.
Education is the platform for an innovative society.
Innovation is the foundation for a robust economy. Education, like health, is
provincially controlled, but of national importance. Canada has a federal
minister for health. It is time for Canada to have a federal minister for
education; we are the only OECD country without one. Having one will help
stitch together the patchwork of programs that support citizen participation in
the economy.