North American Workforce Initiative

Canada, Mexico, and the United States have long partnered to compete in the global marketplace. However, the countries have different systems for recognizing skilled trades and funding, administering, and certifying training. In an integrated North America where companies operate across the three countries, this ingrained inefficiency reduces our global competitiveness. A shifting global economy has made the issue increasingly urgent as countries look to re-shore supply chains and, as a result, need to ensure that their workforces have the necessary skills.

While the three countries have different approaches to workforce development, there is an opportunity for trilateral cooperation to ensure that career and technical education (CTE) produces the requisite skills in the right places. Better collaboration and alignment across North America could create a more flexible and better prepared workforce. Specifically, such integration could lead to higher employment rates for opportunity populations, better opportunities for re-skilling, lower training costs, and a more mobile labor force created by industrial investment flows.