The Sectoral Workforce Innovation Fund (SWIF) provides strategic investments to address major skilled labour shortages and workforce challenges in key sectors of the Canadian economy. The Fund supports projects that develop, scale or adopt workforce solutions that respond to industry needs and align with federal missions and industrial strategies.

Projects are encouraged to involve partnerships among multiple employers, industry stakeholders, workers, post-secondary institutions and training organizations. Proposed solutions should produce measurable employment and workforce outcomes and have the potential to be sustained, scaled or transferred beyond the project period.

Funding is available for projects supporting sectors including:

• Housing and construction
• Transportation and supply chains
• Advanced manufacturing
• Energy and electricity
• Mining and minerals
• Care economy
• Defence industrial strategy
• Workforce transition
• Nationally significant major projects

Projects must address at least one of the following objectives:

• Scale up or adopt proven, high-impact workforce initiatives in growing sectors of the economy.
• Build talent pipelines to advance federal missions, industrial strategies and major projects.
• Mobilize industry to co-invest in new skills programs that respond to workforce needs, including emerging technology adoption.

The program emphasizes strategic investments, direct links to employment, scalability, sustainability, partnerships, private-sector co-investment and rapid implementation.

Important applicant requirements:

• Projects proposed by for-profit or not-for-profit organizations cannot represent a single enterprise's interests.
• Eligible initiatives must involve collaboration among multiple stakeholders with common workforce needs or skills gaps.
• Workforce intermediaries, sector councils and convening organizations that can coordinate workforce solutions across sectors or regions are encouraged to participate.
• Colleges, universities and training institutions are generally expected to participate as collaborative delivery partners rather than as standalone project proponents.
• Direct institutional funding to post-secondary or provincial/territorial training institutions is generally ineligible, except for one-time investments to develop new curriculum tailored to an immediate sector need.
• Projects should have national applicability or demonstrate the potential to be scaled nationally. Projects primarily benefiting one province without national applicability are ineligible.

Eligible activities may include:

• Recruitment and retention strategies
• Curriculum development
• Certifications and digital learning platforms
• Job-linked credentials and training
• Labour mobility initiatives
• Workforce programs for equity-seeking groups
• Rapid training initiatives
• Micro-credential development
• Talent pipeline development
• Industry-academia partnerships
• Replication of successful talent pipeline models
• Workforce initiatives supporting major federal projects
• Development of modular, competency-based and portable credentials
• Workforce solutions supporting adoption of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital twinning

Recruitment and training activities must form part of a broader initiative with significant impacts on workers and businesses.

Ineligible projects and activities include:

• Single-company projects without broader sectoral benefit
• Projects primarily benefiting one province without national applicability
• Ongoing operational funding or projects creating federal funding dependencies
• General awareness or information campaigns without direct training or employment linkages
• Research projects without tangible workforce development outcomes
• Projects duplicating existing provincial or territorial programs without demonstrated added value
• Capital infrastructure projects as the primary focus, except where IT platforms are required to scale online training across multiple provinces
• Generic technology training without sector-specific application
• Technology adoption projects without a workforce skills component
• Construction or renovation of buildings
• Research-focused initiatives without direct employment or training outcomes