The following letter was addressed to the Honourable Doug Ford, Chair, Council of the Federation, on July 18, 2025.
Premier Ford,
Canada’s nation-building projects require unity, coordination, and – most importantly – action. The Council of the Federation meeting you will host on July 21-23 in Huntsville is a major milestone to demonstrate ongoing leadership to build a strong, resilient and sovereign Canada.
You and your provincial and territorial counterparts will gather to promote interprovincial-territorial cooperation, build meaningful relations between governments, and lead on the issues that matter most to Canadians.
As Chair of the Council, know this: Canada’s public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics are aligned with your mission and are ready to deliver. Our 129 members from coast to coast to coast, including the 24 public colleges in Ontario, are essential partners in developing the advanced skills, training the workforce, and driving the innovation that will realize nation-building projects and transform a unified national economy.
Our Network, Your Strength
As the voice of the largest network of accessible, hands-on post-secondary education and training across Canada, I urge you and all the First Ministers to engage Canada’s public colleges, institutes, CEGEPs, and polytechnics and leverage the full potential of their nation-building capacity.
Across the country, communities face mounting challenges: labour shortages in critical industries of provincial and national importance, pressure to rapidly build and scale housing and infrastructure projects and accelerate conventional and clean energy production for new markets. These are not local or isolated issues – they are national in scope and demand coordinated solutions with all levels of government working together. In every province and territory, Canada’s public colleges and institutes are strategically positioned to support these priorities and the big projects needed to respond.
In fact, 95% of Canadians live within 50 kilometres of a college campus. That means Canadians can access training and upskilling where they live, that businesses have ready access to high-qualified labour, and that communities benefit from a local workforce that keeps them thriving. In your province, every major infrastructure project – the new hospitals, the transit systems, the highways, and the big industry projects – are within 30 kilometres of a public college. That proximity and access to labour and skills on a timely basis matter more than ever.
Behind every major nation-building initiative is a skilled, agile and mobile workforce—and behind that workforce is a public college or institute. We are here to help you get the job done.
The Big Projects
Right now, Canada has ambitious goals to double down on defence capabilities and readiness, expand domestic manufacturing, and invest heavily in the trade and transport infrastructure that will support critical mineral supply chains and get our energy products to diverse markets. Across the country, our colleges are core partners to meet each of these goals. We train 70% of Canada’s tradespeople and lead the country in industry-partnered, problem-driven research.
For example, we are already training the manufacturing base and skilled workers who will build new military ships, aircraft, and armoured vehicles – Ontario’s public colleges train 40 percent of the provincial workforce in primary and fabricated metals manufacturing. Canada’s public college sector is already collaborating across provincial borders to support military-connected learners – we are working to scale this nationally through coordinated programs, applied research, and training partnerships with the CAF. Another example in mining: colleges train approximately half of Ontario’s workforce and will play an important role in training the next generation of skilled workers to support Canada’s first small modular nuclear reactors and the country’s large-scale nuclear development.
Our colleges are also committed to building with integrity and respect for reconciliation and, as partners, will stand by initiatives that work with and for Indigenous communities. As the most accessible post-secondary institutions for Indigenous learners, our members – including Indigenous Institutes of Education – work alongside First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities to co-develop curriculum, support Indigenous governance and provide culturally grounded education and training. They understand the importance of nation-to-nation dialogue that moves beyond words to sustained collaboration and concrete action.
Building Together
Premier Ford, we cannot achieve your provincial – and Canada’s shared national goals – without the strong talent pipeline that public colleges and institutes provide. We need long-term provincial and federal investment in sector capacity and infrastructure, greater cross-jurisdictional coordination in credential and labour mobility, and a seat at the policy table to build national workforce development strategies aligned with industrial strategies of national and regional importance. As you come together with Council of the Federation leaders focused on advancing a shared future for a strong and resilient country, know that Canada’s strength is its people and the public postsecondary institutions that empower them.
Let’s build boldly, together.
Sincerely,
Pari Johnston
President and CEO
Colleges and Institutes Canada