Program directory · Employment and Social Development Canada
Skills for Success
- Department
- Employment and Social Development Canada
- Program code
- BGO09 (HRSD)
- Core responsibility
- Learning, Skills Development and Employment
- In Departmental Plans
- 2018-19 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Skills for Success Program helps Canadians improve their foundational and transferable skills. Foundational and transferable skills training helps Canadians develop strong skills, become more resilient to labour market changes and have better employment outcomes. Foundational skills include things like reading, writing and numeracy while transferable skills include problem solving, adaptability and others that are essential to succeeding at any job. The Program funds organizations to design and deliver skills training, to develop assessment and training tools, and to conduct research to identify ways to help individuals improve their skills.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skills for Success | This program | 2018-19 – 2028-29 | $419M |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Indicators added: Number of organizations providing essential skills training and supports. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2020-21 | Indicators dropped: Number of Canadians that have accessed essential skills training or supports; Number of organizations supporting essential skills training and development | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2021-22 | Employees (FTEs) 83, against 47 in 2020-21 (+77%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Indicators added: Number of Canadians taking part in foundational and transferable skills training | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Indicators dropped: Number of organizations providing essential skills training and supports. | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2022-23 | Renamed from “Literacy and Essential Skills” to “Skills for Success”. | GC InfoBase program names by year |
| 2022-23 | Spending $123M, against $28.2M in 2021-22 (+337%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators added: Number of users/program participants, by demographic profile | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: Number of Canadians taking part in foundational and transferable skills training | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Indicators added: Number of assessment tools and training resources | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2024-25 | Spending $40.7M, against $149M in 2023-24 (−73%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned employees (FTEs) 51, against 77 in 2024-25 (−34%). | FTEs (GC InfoBase) |
| 2025-26 | Planned spending $26.7M, against $40.7M in 2024-25 (−34%). | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | ≥ 50 | 2025 | 1,415 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ≥ 32,000 | 2024 | 75,719 The total result includes the number of participants for the Skills for Success Program (72,194) and for the Women’s Employment Readiness Pilot Program (3,525) which was delivered under the Skills for Success Program. The pilot ended March 31, 2024. The actual result was higher than the target as some projects were in early stages of implementation making it difficult to target the number of part… | Met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 10,000 | 2025 | 35,614 Not all participants disclosed their demographic data, so the actual demographic numbers are expected to be higher than what is reported here, and this explains why the data for gender and age does not add up to the total number of participants. Recent immigrants: 1,086 Established immigrants: 521 Refugees: 30 Visible minorities: 3,178 Persons with disabilities: 1,874 Indigenous: 1,395 Women: 6,6… | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-23 | ≥ 10,000 | 2023 | 33,088 | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | ≥ 500 | 2021 | 730 Due to COVID, there have been delays in receiving complete results. Complete results for this indicator will not be confirmed until end of 2021 and may be adjusted in the next Departmental Results Report. | Met |
| 2021-22 | ≥ 500 | 2022 | 803 Skills for Success (SFS) program funds organizations to provide foundational and transferable skills (previously called literacy and essential skills) training and supports, and to update their essential skills programming to reflect the new SFS model. The SFS program funded 33 organizations, and they reported working in collaboration with 389 employers, 256 service providers, and 125 other proje… | Met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 8,000 – 12,000 | 2019 | 26,149 The target was exceeded due to the number of online Essential Skills tools (e.g. ES curricula, training supports, and assessment tools) that were downloaded from the ESDC website. | Not met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 12,000 | 2020 | — Not available at the time of publishing. | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 500 – 700 | 2019 | 567 | Met |
| 2019-20 | ≥ 500 | 2020 | — Not available at the time of publishing. | No result reported |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 50 | 2027 | — | Planned |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 6,000 | 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 | $22.4M | $27.7M |
| 2019-20 | $22.1M | $27.3M |
| 2020-21 | $22M | $22.7M |
| 2021-22 | $22.2M | $28.2M |
| 2022-23 | $167M | $123M |
| 2023-24 | $162M | $149M |
| 2024-25 | $26.5M | $40.7M |
| 2025-26 | $26.7M | — |
| 2026-27 | $24.3M | — |
| 2027-28 | $24.3M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $24.3M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 51 | 39 |
| 2019-20 | 52 | 47 |
| 2020-21 | 52 | 47 |
| 2021-22 | 52 | 83 |
| 2022-23 | 87 | 93 |
| 2023-24 | 74 | 90 |
| 2024-25 | 52 | 77 |
| 2025-26 | 51 | — |
| 2026-27 | 47 | — |
| 2027-28 | 47* | — |
| 2028-29 | 47* | — |
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 | $22,358,803 | $22,358,803 | $22,358,803 | ||||||||
| 2019-20 plan | $22,055,650 | $22,055,650 | $22,055,650 | ||||||||
| 2020-21 plan | $22,039,570 | $22,039,570 | $25,539,570 | ||||||||
| 2021-22 plan | $22,244,506 | $25,750,959 | $25,750,959 | ||||||||
| 2022-23 plan | $166,900,963 | $149,311,988 | $25,690,701 | ||||||||
| 2023-24 plan | $162,241,128 | $25,740,858 | $25,740,858 | ||||||||
| 2024-25 plan | $26,547,114 | $26,615,355 | $24,587,751 | ||||||||
| 2025-26 plan | $26,694,823 | $24,666,947 | $24,666,947 | ||||||||
| 2026-27 plan | $24,335,881 | $24,325,582 | $24,310,235 | ||||||||
| Actual | $27,726,172 | $27,342,919 | $22,677,092 | $28,220,488 | $123,434,985 | $148,546,203 | $40,735,910 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
