STATEMENT OF WORK

1.0 Title – Facilitation for One Stakeholder Engagement Event for the Skills for Success (SFS) Program

2.0 Objectives

The Skills for Success (SFS) Program hosts an annual event (formerly SFS Forum, rebranded as SFS Showcase) to engage with provincial and territorial (PT) partners, funding recipient organizations and other internal and external stakeholders to share and discuss outcomes related to SFS-funded projects and related topics. The goal of this session will be to foster engagement among partners and stakeholders to share results, research and best practices related to training and assessment in foundational and transferable skills.

3.0 Background

To meet the current and future needs of the labour market, in 2021, the Government of Canada renewed its skills approach – rebranded as the Skills for Success Model. The Model replaced the influential Essential Skills Framework, which was created over 25 years ago. The labour market has evolved significantly, with an increase in technology, automation and globalization, as well as shifting demographics that have changed the nature of work and the skills required to remain competitive in the workforce. The Skills for Success Model reflects these changes and recognizes that Canada requires skilled workers, inclusive workplaces and lifelong learning to foster an innovative, competitive and inclusive workforce.

The Skills for Success Model includes the skills needed to participate, adapt and thrive in learning, work and life. The approach includes both foundational skills – those skills on which all other skills are built, and transferable skills – the human skills required for effective social interaction. The Model is comprised of nine skills: reading, writing, numeracy, digital skills, problem solving, communication, adaptability, creativity and innovation, and collaboration.

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) invests in the Skills for Success program. ESDC provides funding for projects to:

• Deliver foundational and transferable skills training to 90,000 Canadians;
• Develop foundational and transferable skills assessment and training tools available online to all Canadians at no cost;
• Test, replicate, and scale foundational and transferable skills training approaches; and
• Support research to identify innovative ways to help individuals improve their foundational and transferable skills and increase the adoption of the SFS Model.

Engagement with present and past funding recipients and other stakeholders involved in foundational and transferable skills is an integral part of the SFS Program. A key priority for the SFS Program is to collect information from recipients and other practitioners and funders on what worked, what didn’t work, what needs improvement and what the future holds. The SFS Showcase, for which a contractor is being sought, is an opportunity to disseminate the results and findings more broadly, so that PTs, stakeholders, other federal programs, and the SFS Program can all benefit from them.

For the facilitator’s information, the SFS Program will be organizing separate logistics for this event such as:

• interpretation services via PSPC; and
• AV services with a private company to work with the interpreters and to set up the meeting on Zoom.

4.0 Scope of Work

One facilitated virtual event (SFS Showcase) will be planned, organized and implemented.

The event will be held with funding recipients, provinces and territories (PTs) and other practitioners working in the skills training, labour/employment and/or education space, as well as other federal partners.

The event date is still to be decided, but will be held sometime between November 1, 2025 and March 1, 2026. In preparation for this event, two to four planning meetings with staff the SFS Program and presenters (representatives from organizations and PTs) would be held in Fall 2025.

The Showcase will put a spotlight on active and recently completed projects. The main objectives of this event would be to:

• highlight programming and issues related to foundational and transferable skills;
• provide an opportunity for participants to network and engage in a dialogue to address challenges they encounter;
• identify assessment tools and training resources (their own or others’) available to share with other participants; and
• share lessons learned.

Considerable time for discussion and Q&As will be provided during the Showcase event, with facilitation being particularly important to encourage and guide discussions.

4.1 Tasks

Task	Deliverable
2-4 preparation meetings on format, content and logistics for the event. Meetings with ESDC, presenters, AV company and communication with interpreters as needed	Agenda, format and content for the event
Facilitate the event of approximately 3 hours, including interactive activities such as icebreakers, breakout rooms, and virtual polls	Facilitation of the event
Note-taking during the event	Minutes of the event
Synthesis of information gleaned from the event	One written summary report from the event