"Ontario faces a serious skills shortage in the years ahead, which threatens the province's prosperity and quality of life," said Dr. Rundle. "The next government must ensure Ontario's workforce is prepared for the impending wave of retirements and for the rapid technological changes affecting all businesses and industries."

The approaching skills shortage threatens a broad range of sectors, from construction to health care to mining, especially as baby boomers retire in the coming years. In manufacturing, for example, it is estimated there will be a shortage of 100,000 skilled workers by the year 2020 due to retirements. Meanwhile, more than 200,000 people in Ontario are currently not working because they don't have the necessary skills for today's workplace.

Currently, 70 per cent of all new jobs require postsecondary credentials, as there is a clear correlation between postsecondary education and training and economic productivity. Yet only half of Ontario's high school graduates go directly to college or university.

"Ontario must develop a comprehensive provincial skills strategy," added Dr. Rundle. The provincial strategy would include the following measures:

• Implement policies and programs to increase postsecondary attainment rates to 75 per cent. This would mean full-time college enrolment must increase by 20 per cent or 30,000 over the next four years to ensure that the province has the skilled workforce it needs to be competitive in the future.
  
  
• Increase the number of employees receiving retraining or new training by 25 per cent.
  
  
• Remove barriers for foreign-trained immigrants. This would include establishing hubs of excellence at Ontario colleges to provide services to internationally-trained individuals, and developing common systems and approaches for recognizing credentials.
  
  
• Make it easier for students to transfer between university and college.
  
  
• Market and promote skills education. To enhance the public's understanding of the career options available in Ontario, the government must invest in a multi-year marketing campaign.
  
  
• Raise investment in Ontario colleges to national average. At the very least, Ontario colleges' operating funds must increase by $400 million by 2011.

(For more details on these measures, please click here to see the accompanying backgrounder).

Ontario must be a place where people know they can find well-paid jobs, and employers know that every employee and new applicant has the necessary skills and knowledge to do the best job possible," said Dr. Rundle. "Our political leaders must be prepared to support meaningful targets for producing greater numbers of college graduates, and for retraining greater numbers of people in the workforce."