Program directory · Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada
Talent Development
- Program code
- BNP17 (ISC)
- Core responsibility
- Companies, Investment and Growth
- In Departmental Plans
- 2021-22 – 2026-27 · New since an earlier plan
What it does
The Talent Development Program aims to equip Canadians with the skills and knowledge needed by industry to participate in an innovative economy. This is accomplished through the engagement of various stakeholders; conducting analysis and developing policy advice related to talent development. Additionally, the program delivers funding that: supports the development of skills solutions for industry, supports youth engagement in science, technology, engineering and math; and creates opportunities for skills development through training, and industry-academia collaboration for youth internships. Lastly, the program administers Prime Minister Awards to honour and promote Canada’s most outstanding educators and share their innovative and proven teaching practices. The program delivery is guided by the overarching goals of diversity and inclusion, including gender equality. This program supports the departmental result “Canadian businesses and industries are innovative and growing” under the Companies, Investments and Growth core responsibility.
Source: the department's Program Inventory, via GC InfoBase.
History and lineage
First appears in GC InfoBase's actual spending by program in 2021-22. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Talent Development | Earlier program (name match, high confidence) | 2018-19 – 2022-23 | $432M |
| Talent Development | This program | 2021-22 – 2028-29 | $944M |
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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | Appears to replace Talent Development | Canada Spends name match across plans (an inference) |
| 2022-23 | Spending $262M, against $195M in 2021-22 (+34%). | Actual spending (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators added: Percentage of participants indicating enhanced or improved knowledge, skills and experience; Percentage of participating youth who report increased interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2023-24 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of interns reporting that their internship improved their career prospects; Percentage of STEM nominations to total Prime Minister's Awards for Teaching Excellence award nominations | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Indicators dropped: Percentage of participating youth who report increased interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) careers | Departmental Results Framework (GC InfoBase) |
| 2026-27 | Planned spending $67.5M, against $285M in 2025-26 (−76%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2027-28 | Planned spending $47.2M, against $67.5M in 2026-27 (−30%). | Latest Departmental Plan |
| 2028-29 | Planned spending $22.7M, against $47.2M in 2027-28 (−52%). | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ≥ 82% | 2024 | 80% | Not met |
| 2024-25 | ≥ 85% | 2025 | 84% The result is calculated by dividing the total number of positive survey responses by the total number of survey respondents for each program (BHER, Mitacs, DS4Y, and CFSI), and averaging their results. The variance may be due to late or missing responses from the population served. BHER: 86% (5,593 on 6,471) Mitacs: 84% (2,224 on 2,659) DS4Y: 68% (272 on 400) CFSI: 96.3% (182 on 189) | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023-24 | ≥ 68% | 2024 | 66% Let's Talk Science annual reports are by school year (September to August), not the government fiscal year. | Not met |
| 2024-25 | S/O | 2025 | 62% This indicator is being removed as part of DRF amendments for the 2026-27 year. The program associated with the indicator has moved under a different program (Science and Research Program). | No result reported |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 85% | 2022 | 81% Due to the nature of recipient surveys, actual results fluctuate annually. The result is considered to fall within an acceptable range. | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 85% | 2023 | 84% Although there is a 1% variance, the program, as per agreement with MITACS, considers this result to have met the target for this reporting cycle. | Not met |
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | ≥ 35% | 2022 | 33.7% In 2021-22, the competition launch was delayed due to the election, and the deadline was extended due to a low number of nominations. Since the PM Awards annual competition has to be closed in order to report on nominations, the program technically does not have a result to report in 2021-22, as the 2022 competition closed in April 2022 (FY 2022-23) instead of when it typically would in January (… | Not met |
| 2022-23 | ≥ 15% | 2023 | 41% | Met |
Current: the 2026-27 plan's targets
Bars: result reported. Dashed line: target.
| Report year | Target | Due | Result | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 | ≥ 85% | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | $105M | $195M |
| 2022-23 | $252M | $262M |
| 2023-24 | $348M | $225M |
| 2024-25 | $288M | $262M |
| 2025-26 | $285M | — |
| 2026-27 | $67.5M | — |
| 2027-28 | $47.2M* | — |
| 2028-29 | $22.7M* | — |
Employees (FTEs)
Show the numbers
| Fiscal year | Planned | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 | 22 | 28 |
| 2022-23 | 40 | 39 |
| 2023-24 | 40 | 33 |
| 2024-25 | 26 | 33 |
| 2025-26 | 31 | — |
| 2026-27 | 20 | — |
| 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 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 | 2027-28 | 2028-29 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-22 plan | $105,326,761 | $4,291,875 | $4,291,875 | |||||
| 2022-23 plan | $252,440,267 | $299,167,608 | $280,411,234 | |||||
| 2023-24 plan | $348,386,222 | $314,975,425 | $177,854,246 | |||||
| 2024-25 plan | $287,703,256 | $273,614,069 | $16,278,596 | |||||
| 2025-26 plan | $285,094,105 | $142,530,597 | $128,867,853 | |||||
| 2026-27 plan | $67,503,805 | $47,249,417 | $22,666,362 | |||||
| Actual | $194,908,835 | $262,058,378 | $225,374,636 | $261,540,672 |
Actual spending is from Departmental Results Reports and the Public Accounts, as published in GC InfoBase. FTEs are full-time equivalents.
