Microcourses aim to help equip Canadians with job-ready skills at no cost
Why It Matters
Canada’s job market is evolving faster than traditional education can keep up, leaving many workers — especially those entering the workforce or changing careers — without accessible ways to build in-demand skills. Microcourses offer a low-barrier path for Canadians to help them stay competitive and support their communities.
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Canada’s economy is shifting quickly, pushing non-profits, businesses, and entire industries to keep up with the pace of change.
To help workers adapt, RBC is providing support through resources such as RBC Microcourses – microcredentials that provide short, targeted training to help users gain sought-after skills at no cost.
Developed in collaboration with McGill University, Western University, and the University of Guelph, RBC Online Microcourses offer Canadians a faster, more accessible path to job-ready learning.
“We engaged industry leaders across the country, post-secondary leaders and policy thinkers and asked about the shift that Canada needs to see with our education and training system,” said Jackie Pichette, policy lead, skills and higher education at RBC Thought Leadership.
“We heard loud and clear from the industry that transferable skills like entrepreneurship are desperately needed.”
A faster path to job ready skills
Traditional education has an important purpose, said Eric Morse, executive director of Western University’s Morrissette Institute for Entrepreneurship, powered by Ivey, but microcourses can be a fast-track way for workers to meet market demands and for businesses and non-profits to upskill their employees.
Morse is a co-creator of the microcourse program called The Founders Journey. Although available through RBC On Campus, the program is accessible to everyone, not just students.
The Founders Journey focuses on developing entrepreneurship skills – a skill set Morse said is especially important in the non-profit sector, where employees are often expected to innovate and solve problems with limited resources.
“Whether it’s a non-profit or even a larger organization, entrepreneurial thinking is critical. How do I spot opportunity? How do I balance risk, solve problems, and ultimately take action … to try to create something better for the organization or create a new organization?”
The course comprises short modules that combine practical theory with first-hand perspectives from entrepreneurs, making the material accessible to all learners.
“This kind of bite-sized approach to learning is really good for helping people to keep pace with the change that we’re seeing in the world around us,” said Pichette.
“We often hear about not-for-profits and small businesses struggling to get the talent they need. Ensuring that entire teams … have that understanding about how to leverage their limited resources to have a bigger impact, that’s huge.”
Financial skills in a sector under strain
Another offered microcourse is Personal Finance Essentials, developed by McGill University.
The course is designed to help individuals build financial knowledge, which can be especially relevant for workers navigating economic uncertainty, according to Benjamin Croitoru, an associate professor of finance at McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management.
“It’s not just about money, though. It’s about a sense of financial security that can be a huge relief, stress-wise,” said Croitoru.
Non-profit workers often face lower wages, job insecurity, and fewer benefits than workers in other sectors, making financial decision-making critical.
In addition, many non-profit workers are responsible for managing organizational budgets, overseeing grants, or supporting clients with financial decisions – all skills that the microcourse aims to help with.
“The course can also help all Canadians learn how to manage income, navigate debt, plan for housing or retirement, and reduce financial stress, not just workers,” said Croitoru.
“By avoiding [financial planning] problems that are relatively easy to avoid, I think we can really, really help a lot of people.”
Guelph University also offers a microcourse called Foundations in Agricultural Management, focused on building financial and strategic planning skills to support sustainable decision-making in the agriculture sector.
Expanding help beyond young people
These microcourses come at a time when economic pressures are increasing across sectors and demographics.
According to Statistics Canada, newcomers, people with disabilities, and low-income Canadians are more likely to experience housing and food insecurity, and these are the communities that are disproportionately served by non-profits.
Upgrading skills can be a path to better employment to address these challenges.
It’s for this reason that RBC introduced its ambition to equip people with the skills for a thriving future, which is focused on helping communities keep pace with the changing world of work – to drive mobility, innovation and resilience.
This ambition builds on the success and learnings from RBC Future Launch, a $500-million commitment which helped support more than 9 million Canadian youth in preparing for the future of work during its run.
These initiatives are helping to broaden access to learning opportunities and skill development beyond youth – offering resources to help Canadians of all ages find their first job or advance in their careers, according to RBC.
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