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Future Skills: Help Ensure Canadian Tourism is Globally Competitive

Future Skills Framework LogoAnnounced last fall, the Future Skills Framework project seeks to address the changing nature of work in the tourism sector. Under the three-year, federally funded initiative, Tourism HR Canada is creating a comprehensive and sustainable competency framework for the Canadian tourism economy.

The framework will be a dynamic collection of competencies and essential employability and social skills. Anyone may access it to:

  • Bolster training and development
  • Define career planning pathways
  • Consolidate recruitment and selection criteria
  • Improve credential recognition
  • Outline succession planning
  • Refine performance management practices
  • Delineate occupation profiles

To ensure it reflects the realities of our evolving tourism sector, the Future Skills team has hosted several focus group sessions, with subject matter experts and industry professionals providing valuable insights.

Over the coming year, the team will seek further guidance from tourism stakeholders at sessions to be held across the country—this is your opportunity to share your vision for the future of the sector.

What’s involved?

Over two days, a facilitator guides about 20 participants through discussions and activities to identify and build the key competencies on a given subject area—this could be essential skills, occupation-specific skills, or transferable skills such as leadership. Participants share relevant knowledge, experiences, and thoughts on industry skill needs and gaps as the group works towards agreement on the content of the competencies.

Why participate?

Broad and engaged participation in these focus groups will ensure the competency framework addresses the full range of skills needed to keep our tourism sector competitive and forward-looking. The project will greatly benefit from the expertise of those throughout the various tourism industries: accommodations, food and beverage services, recreation and entertainment, transportation, and travel services. Participants’ experiences in operations, research, training, and application will inform the content of the framework.

Previous participants expressed the value of cross-industry collaboration, networking opportunities, and more fully understanding the profound impact and wide range of uses the competency framework will have.

Sign up or learn more

Details on upcoming sessions—locations, dates, topics—are available by emailing FutureSkills@tourismhr.ca. One upcoming session will be held September 24 and 25 at the Novotel Ottawa. Another session will take place in Whitehorse in October. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

Sign up for Tourism HR Insider for further updates on this project.

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