This is a wonderful day for the Canadian Labour & Business Centre. We are excited about this opportunity, excited about the opportunity to work with Paul and his team at the CCL. Paul has an extraordinary challenge, to thread together the efforts of so many organizations from right across the country. Paul and I agree that it is a challenge that must be met - Canada has to co-ordinate and maximize the resources and work being done in all aspects of life long learning.

We are also excited about working with the members of our consortium, and our advisory committee. Many of our partners are here today: business, labour, education, training providers, sector councils, community organizations, academics and our sister think tanks. I can’t wait to begin the real work that has to be done, working with such fine people and organizations.

When we first learned about the idea of establishing a new pan-Canadian organization that has become CCL, the business and labour members of CLBC’s Board were very eager to ensure that the new body would place high priority on workplace learning. Labour and business, as the two key workplace partners, were enthusiastic about playing a central role in this area, in partnership with a wide range of other stakeholders. Today, you will be hearing from two champions of workplace learning: Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of CME, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, and David Robertson, Director of Work Organization and Training with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW).

In a rapidly changing world, characterized by globalization, demographic change, rapid introduction of new technology, and international movement of people, Canada’s standard of living is linked to its productivity levels and to the access of its citizens to meaningful and productive work. In turn, both of these are linked to the skills of the current and emerging workforce, and to lifelong learning to enhance those skills.

Our proposal defines the work of this Knowledge Centre broadly as "learning for work". This consists of formal and informal learning undertaken to improve a person’s job performance or career development, to enhance her/his ability to get a job in the first place, or to ensure that he/she is able to transfer skills from one job to another. Such learning may occur at the work site, in a learning setting away from the work site, or on-line.

Examples of the kinds of issues we may address:

• exploring ways to increase the quality and quantity of training;
• making sure that workers get the skills they need, not only for their current job, but to help them throughout their careers;
• establishing the business case for training, in order to convince employers that investments in training affect the bottom line;
• helping immigrants better integrate in the labour force (eg language training);
• coping with skills gaps, mismatches and shortages, where they exist;
• strengthening the transition from school to work;
• using tools like PLAR to ensure that workers’ skills are used effectively.

One way we will tackle some of these issues is by documenting innovative practices, both in Canada and internationally, and sharing this information in a proactive way.

We want to have a real impact, and make a difference. We will work hard at identifying research priorities and indicators, to strengthen and increase the relevance of CCL’s work. And in our knowledge dissemination role, we will be proactive. We will not simply share information, such as innovative practices, our objective will be to change attitudes and behaviour- ultimately to increase the quality and quantity of training in Canada. We want to contribute to the development of a strong learning culture in Canada. And we want future OECD studies to applaud Canada’s efforts as a country that is committed to learning for work.

These are not easy tasks, and there are no easy answers. But I am confident that we are ready to take on these challenges, working with our outstanding consortium partners and the very good people at CCL.