Invest Vancouver / Invest Talent / Partners

Partners — Building a Coordinated Workforce Development System

Invest Talent is a regionally coordinated, employer-led talent accelerator that depends on strong collaboration across education, workforce, and community partners.

Led by Invest Vancouver, Invest Talent brings partners together to align around employer-validated demand, co-design applied solutions, and strengthen workforce systems that support long-term regional growth.

This is not a traditional funding or procurement program. It is a system-coordination model designed to reduce fragmentation and improve outcomes for employers, learners, and the region.

The value of coordination

Employers define workforce demand but partners make alignment possible.

Education and training providers, workforce intermediaries, and community organizations play a critical role in:

Translating employer demand into effective learning and workforce development initiatives
Reducing duplication across programs and services
Improving access, readiness, and retention for diverse talent
Contributing insight that strengthens system-level learning

Invest Talent creates a shared framework where partners can work together intentionally, rather than responding to fragmented or competing signals.

Partner engagement

Partners engage across the six-step Invest Talent model:

Identify priority sectors and roles using labour market and economic data

Aggregate employer demand to validate scale, timing, and readiness

Signal clear, shared skills needs to training and workforce partners

Co-design applied, role-specific pathways with employers and partners

Deliver targeted pilots or ecosystem interventions

Measure, learn, and scale what works across sectors and regions

Engagement may include:

Participating in Skills Needs Forums to validate employer demand
Collaborating in co-design sessions to shape applied solutions
Aligning delivery, supports, or services to shared priorities
Contributing insight to evaluation and learning

Participation is purposeful and time-limited, designed to respect partner capacity while maximizing collective impact.

Partner roles across the ecosystem

Our ecosystem partners bring distinct expertise, our role is to coordinate, not duplicate, these contributions.

Education and training providers

Support the design and delivery of applied, employer-aligned learning and help translate demand signals into scalable pathways.

Industry associations

Amplify and coordinate employer voice at sector scale by mobilizing members around shared workforce challenges, strengthening demand signals, and providing sector context and insight.

Workforce intermediaries

Coordinate recruitment, career navigation, and employer connections, through partner organizations such as WorkBC centres, MOSAIC, and the YWCA, to reduce friction across the workforce system and support smoother transitions into employment.

Community organizations

Contribute lived-experience insight, support inclusive access, and help address shared barriers to readiness and retention.

Each partner brings distinct expertise; Invest Talent’s role is to coordinate, not duplicate, these contributions.

The value for partners

By participating in Invest Talent, partners benefit from:

Clear, employer-validated demand signals
Reduced guesswork and duplication
Opportunities to co-design and test new approaches
Shared learning that informs future programs and policy
Stronger alignment with regional economic priorities

Get involved

Invest Talent partners are selected based on relevance, readiness, and alignment with employer-validated demand.

Organizations interested in contributing to coordinated, employer-led workforce solutions are invited to connect with the Invest Talent team.

Contact Invest Vancouver

Invest Vancouver acknowledges that the region’s residents live, work, and learn on the shared territories of many Indigenous Peoples, including 10 local First Nations: q̓ic̓əy̓(Katzie), q̓ʷɑ:n̓ƛ̓ən̓ (Kwantlen), kʷikʷəƛ̓əm (Kwikwetlem), máthxwi (Matsqui), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), qiqéyt (Qayqayt), Semiahmoo, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), scəw̓aθən məsteyəxʷ (Tsawwassen) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh).

Invest Vancouver respects the diverse and distinct histories, languages, and cultures of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit.

View Metro Vancouver's translated territorial acknowledgment

This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies. View our privacy statement.