Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Workforce Development Agreements
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGO02 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Learning, Skills Development and Employment
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Workforce Development Agreements provide individuals and employers with skills training and employment programs through bilateral agreements with provinces and territories. These agreements support individuals furthest removed from the labour market in finding and keeping employment. This includes specific funding to support persons with disabilities, and a focus on supporting members of underrepresented groups such as Indigenous peoples, youth, older workers, and newcomers to Canada. Provinces and territories work with employers and other stakeholders in their jurisdictions in setting priorities and delivering programs.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2018-19. The data does not record when a program was created; it may be older than its first appearance here, which is limited by the sources (program spending starts in 2010-11, Departmental Plans in 2018-19).
| Program | Relation | Years with data | Actual spending over those years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Workforce Development Agreements | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $7.61B |
No earlier or later program in the same department has a similar name.
Significant changes in scope and budget
Detected from the data: renames between plans, programs it appears to replace, merge with or split into (matched by name), year-over-year changes in spending of at least 25% and $5M, or in employees of at least 20% and 25 FTEs, linked budget measures, and results indicators added or dropped.
| Year | What changed | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2019-20 | Renamed from “Workforce Development Agreements (replacing the Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities, the Canada Job Fund Agreements and the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers)” to “Workforce Development Agreements”. | GC InfoBase program names by year |
| 2019-20 | Spending $956M, against $738M in 2018-19 (+30%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Indicators added: Number of clients benefiting from programs funded by the Workforce Development Agreements | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Indicators dropped: Number of participants benefiting from programs covered under the Workforce Development Agreements | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Spending $2.42B, against $956M in 2019-20 (+153%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Spending $924M, against $2.42B in 2020-21 (−62%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2028-29 | Planned spending $503M, against $725M in 2027-28 (−31%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
Success criteria
The program's indicators from its department's Departmental Results Framework: the target set in each year's plan, and the result reported the following year. Source: GC InfoBase.
Historical: targets against results
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Provinces and territories are not required to set targets for the WDAs. | 2021 | Not available Data for 2019-2020 is not available as WDA was going through reporting transition and available results are incomplete. Complete results will be available in April 2022 and will be reported in the next Departmental Results Report for 2021-2022. | No result reported |
| 2021-22 | — | 2022 | 214,000 There is a 1-year lag in data availability; the results shown reflect the previous years’ result for 2020-2021. Results for fiscal year 2021-2022 will be available in the third quarter of 2022-2023, once data from all provinces and territories is received and validated. As such, results for 2021-2022 will be provided in the 2022-2023 Departmental Results Report. | No result reported |
| 2022-23 | Not applicable | 2023 | 261,893 There is a 1-year lag in data availability; the results shown reflect the previous years’ result for 2021-22. Results for fiscal year 2022-23 will be available in the third quarter of 2022-23, once data from all provinces and territories is received and validated. The Workforce Development Agreements are delivered through the provinces and territories; As such, targets are not required for the WD… | No result reported |
| 2023-24 | Not applicable | 2024 | 264655 There is a 1-year lag in data availability; the results shown reflect the previous years’ result for 2022-23. Results for fiscal year 2023-24 will be available in April 2025 for reporting in the 2024-25 DRR. | No result reported |
| 2024-25 | Not applicable | 2025 | 304,604 Due to a one-year data lag, the 2024-2025 results reflect the previous year’s (2023-2024) data. Since provinces and territories design and deliver the program, no formal targets have been set. | No result reported |
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | — | 2019 | — The Workforce Development Agreements (WDA) include a new Performance Measurement Strategy that is being phased in over the first three years of the agreements. The strategy will be fully implemented by April 1, 2020. Once the strategy is fully implemented, more data about WDA client outcomes will become available. | No result reported |
| 2019-20 | Provinces and territories are not required to set targets for the WDAs | 2020 | Not available. Result not available at the time of publication. Under this agreement, provinces and territories are working towards fully implementing the new performance measurement strategy by 2020-2021. Until that time, provinces and territories provide information on clients served under these agreements in reports provided to Employment and Social Development Canada in the fall of the subsequent fiscal yea… | No result reported |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | Not available | 2027 | — | Planned |
Future goals: targets due after 2026-27
No targets with a later due date.
Spending and employees: planned against actual
Spending
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | $800M | $738M |
| 2019-20 | $875M | $956M |
| 2020-21 | $925M | $2.42B |
| 2021-22 | $925M | $924M |
| 2022-23 | $925M | $924M |
| 2023-24 | $725M | $925M |
| 2024-25 | $725M | $725M |
| 2025-26 | $725M | — |
| 2026-27 | $725M | — |
| 2027-28 | $725M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $503M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 24 | 31 |
| 2019-20 | 24 | 26 |
| 2020-21 | 24 | 21 |
| 2021-22 | 24 | 17 |
| 2022-23 | 24 | 20 |
| 2023-24 | 24 | 21 |
| 2024-25 | 24 | 24 |
| 2025-26 | 24 | — |
| 2026-27 | 21 | — |
| 2027-28 | 21* | — |
| 2028-29 | 21* | — |
Planned spending, plan by plan
Each row is one year's Departmental Plan and its forecast for the next three fiscal years; read a column down to see how the forecast for one year changed. The last row is what was actually spent. Click an amount for its source. Biggest changes in federal spending plans
| Plan | 2018-19 | 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 plan | $799,810,093 | $874,810,092 | $424,810,093 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $874,812,343 | $424,812,343 | $424,812,343 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $924,801,092 | $924,801,092 | $924,801,091 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $924,866,191 | $924,946,787 | $724,946,787 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $924,882,042 | $724,882,042 | $724,882,042 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $724,903,005 | $724,903,005 | $724,903,005 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $725,053,346 | $725,052,802 | $725,021,536 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $725,090,504 | $725,058,890 | $725,058,890 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $724,797,735 | $724,794,413 | $502,789,430 | ||||||||
| Actual | $737,651,130 | $956,419,877 | $2,422,703,789 | $924,014,348 | $924,219,221 | $924,737,853 | $725,160,694 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
