Two new AI Workforce Readiness studies explore the evolving landscape for post-secondary students and the current workforce.
Are Canadian post-secondary institutions and industries ready for the age of AI and the future of work? To help answer this, the AI Workforce Readiness Program (AIWR), powered by Amii with $5M in support from Google.org, is announcing the publication of two comprehensive research studies that engaged directly with the leaders shaping these environments to understand the real path ahead for Canadian students and workers.
Commissioned alongside our channel partners at Signal49 Research and the Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER), these studies address our current Canadian AI moment and provide a foundational resource for the evolving AI landscape. These reports are ready with actionable insights that can be immediately implemented and considered by post-secondary institutions (PSIs) and industry leaders alike.
Grounded in Evidence, Driven by Action
Launched last year at Upper Bound, the AIWR program holds accessibility as a core pillar. We believe providing open-source resources is essential to driving meaningful impact. By sharing this research freely with our post-secondary consortium members and the wider public, we are grounding our initiatives in evidence rather than speculation.
From day one, the AIWR program set out to bridge the gap between post-secondary education and industry needs. This research serves as our roadmap to making that vision real.
How the research guides our work
Insights-Led, Impact Focused
BHER: This report draws on in-depth interviews with Canadian employers across multiple sectors to understand how AI is changing workforce skills needs. The research tracked how organizations are managing the transition to AI-augmented roles and what specific skills are now required. In response to these industry demands, we developed Module 0—a resource designed to give the future workforce the foundational AI literacy skills required to succeed across various sectors.
Signal49 Research: Signal49 Research researchers combined a comprehensive scan of AI-literacy programs and governance models with direct feedback from post-secondary administrators. This evidence-based approach allowed us to explore current literacy levels and identify the systemic barriers to bringing AI into Canadian classrooms. By acting on these findings, we are targeting specific curriculum gaps and supporting faculty engagement through our open-source Curriculum Resource Packages (CRPs).
BHER Research
Understanding AI Workforce Skills Needs
Artificial intelligence is reshaping work, but most organizations in Canada are still figuring out how to use it. According to a new report from the Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER), the challenge is not the technology itself, but a gap in how organizations adopt and apply AI in practice. While adoption remains experimental, a clear pattern is emerging: AI is not changing who organizations hire; it’s changing what they expect workers to do.
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Employers increasingly need two types of capability to navigate this shift
Adoption Drivers: Talent who can identify use cases, select tools, and enable experimentation.
Effective Users: Workers who can use AI effectively by integrating it into workflows, evaluating outputs, and delivering results.
Across both groups, demand is shifting toward human and applied skills—including critical thinking, judgement, adaptability, and communication. Rather than replacing these abilities, AI is making them more important than ever.
Signal 49 Research
Preparing an AI-Ready Workforce
With demand for AI-proficient workers rising across sectors, Canadian post-secondary institutions (PSIs) play an increasingly important role in equipping graduates with the skills they need. Yet, delivering AI literacy at scale across diverse disciplines and programs is a complex task. How ready are Canadian PSIs to meet this challenge and contribute to building an AI-ready workforce?
Key Findings from Signal49 Research
An Uneven Landscape: While some institutions have coordinated, campus-wide literacy initiatives, many remain in the early stages, lacking the infrastructure and resources to scale effectively.
Barriers to Progress: Uncertainty around what constitutes AI literacy, combined with faculty reluctance to experiment, often limits student exposure to these essential skills.
Strategy vs. Individual Effort: Student exposure to AI is currently driven more by individual faculty efforts than by a coordinated institutional strategy.
Systemic Fragmentation: Policy development and curriculum approval processes are often described as slow and fragmented, hampering efforts to respond to rapidly evolving workforce demands.
The Opportunity for Inclusion: Barriers to literacy risk widening gaps for learners from under-resourced institutions. However, inclusive models—including open-source resources and low-cost microcredentials—are promising strategies to expand access for all.
With new AI tools emerging quickly, Canada is at an important point. This research moves us past the initial hype so we can understand where we stand—and where we need to go next. By identifying these gaps and opportunities, we're equipping educators, learners and industry leaders with the tools they need to confidently navigate a changing workforce.
About Business + Higher Education Roundtable (BHER)
BHER is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that brings together leaders from Canada’s largest companies and leading post-secondary institutions to build a better social and economic future. BHER works to harness the strengths of both sectors to tackle some of Canada’s biggest skills, talent, innovation, and productivity challenges. https://bher.ca/
About Signal49 Research
Signal49 Research is a non-profit research and strategy lab that provides independent evidence and insight for the next economy. Known for their long-standing education and skills research, the organization focuses on shaping human capital policy and practice. Through rigorous research and collaboration, Signal49 Research helps organizations navigate the changing landscape of work and learning to build a stronger future for all Canadians. https://www.signal49.ca/