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Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs

Overview

The Alberta 2030 initiative will transform the adult learning system to focus on providing the high quality education, skills and training needed for Alberta’s future.

Transformational direction

Alberta 2030: Building Skills for Jobs is a transformational vision, direction and new way of working for our province’s higher education system.

The Alberta 2030 initiative will develop a highly skilled and competitive workforce, strengthen innovation and commercialization of research, and forge stronger relationships between employers and post-secondary institutions.

Alberta 2030 is about moving us forward with a world-class post-secondary system that draws and nurtures talent, creates opportunities for business and industry to thrive, and ensures current and future generations have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

Alberta 2030 vision

Alberta’s world-class post-secondary system will equip Albertans with the skills, knowledge and competencies they need to succeed in their lifelong pursuits.

The system will be highly responsive to labour market needs and, through innovative programming and excellence in research, contribute to the betterment of an innovative and prosperous Alberta.

Key goals

  • Grade 1
    Improve access and student experience

    Ensure all Albertans have access to high quality post-secondary opportunities and that the student experience is coordinated and integrated.

  • Grade 2
    Develop skills for jobs

    Ensure every student has the skills, knowledge and competencies to enjoy fulfilling lives and careers and that they have greater transparency around labour market outcomes.

  • Grade 3
    Support innovation and commercialization

    Contribute to Alberta’s innovation capacity by supporting post-secondary research and strengthening its commercialization potential to create new knowledge, develop future skills and diversify the economy.

  • Grade 4
    Strengthen internationalization

    Become a leading destination for top talent to drive the growth of skills, ideas and innovations locally and globally.

  • Grade 5
    Improve sustainability and affordability

    Provide institutions greater flexibility to generate own-source revenue and strengthen student aid.

  • Grade 6
    Strengthen system governance

    Modernize governance of the system to increase collaboration and drive outcomes.

Next steps

The 10-year strategy provides a suite of flagship initiatives, including mechanisms to enable ongoing stakeholder advice and system-wide coordination.

Examples of current and future initiatives to support the goals of Alberta 2030 include:

  • Expand work-integrated learning opportunities and apprenticeship education
  • Establish easily accessible, innovative, and effective learning opportunities, such as new micro-credentials
  • Establish the Research Commercialization Working Group to implement goal 3. The working group will enhance research and innovation and increase commercialization of post-secondary research to drive economic growth and diversification
  • Implement an international marketing strategy to attract top researchers and students from across the world
  • Reduce red tape and provide post-secondary institutions with more flexibility to be entrepreneurial and grow
  • Increase need-based financial aid to ensure all Albertans have the financial support they need to pursue post-secondary education
  • Improve how the higher education system coordinates, plans and implements solutions through:
    • a system-level Minister’s Advisory Council on Higher Education and Skills, which will provide ongoing advice to government
    • working groups that will engage stakeholders to leverage expertise on design and implementation of specific initiatives

How we got here

The Alberta 2030 strategy was developed after extensive consultation with students, post-secondary institutions, employers, industry and other stakeholders throughout 2020.

A guiding coalition helped to oversee the Alberta 2030 initiative and provided diverse perspectives on the issues and options under consideration