A by-the-numbers look at social finance and essential skills in Canada

OTTAWA – The federal government is focused on increasing social financing to help pay for essential skills development. Here’s a by-the-numbers look at how much is available for social financing, what the government already spends, and the state of essential skills in the Canadian labour force.

$2.2 billion: Estimated amount available in Canada for impact investing.

$25 million: Amount the federal government spends annually on essential skills training.

$2.7 billion: Amount the federal government transfers to provinces and territories annually to help with skills training.

14: Percentage of workers in Canada who score at the lowest literacy skill levels.

60: Percentage of aboriginal people off-reserve who scored in the lowest two categories on an OECD five-point scale for measuring literacy skills.

1: Canada’s rank among 37 OECD and G20 countries in the percentage of the population age 25-64 with post-secondary education.

(Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, OECD)