Canada’s job market is transforming, and strategies for workplace injury recovery and return to work need to keep pace. On September 11, 2025, WCB-Alberta hosted Reimagining Employment: Strategies for a Dynamic Job Market, a hybrid event that brought together WCB jurisdictions from across the country and service providers to address shared challenges and spark innovative solutions.

Economic shifts, evolving labour markets, and individual barriers have added new layers of complexity to return to work and vocational planning. Factors such as an aging workforce, automation, GIG employment, and changing expectations demand fresh approaches. Recognizing these realities, Canadian jurisdictions came together to exchange knowledge, identify barriers, and collaborate on strategies to improve vocational outcomes for injured workers.

The event featured a keynote by Jay Kiew, a change navigation strategist and innovation leader, who explored how to lead return-to-work innovation in an era of digital transformation. Kiew encouraged jurisdictions to shift their focus from best practices to “next practices,” emphasizing that what got us here won’t get us there. He challenged participants to disrupt today while designing for tomorrow, and to embrace curiosity – noting that if we don’t wonder about the best, we can’t design for the better. These ideas helped frame the day’s discussions with a forward‑looking, innovation‑driven mindset. Breakout sessions followed, focusing on defining employability in a changing labour market, leveraging emerging technologies and exploring creative reskilling and upskilling strategies.

Key objectives of the day included:

  • Knowledge exchange: Sharing jurisdictional insights on barriers and innovative practices.
  • Collaboration: Building interprovincial connections to strengthen future partnerships.
  • Ideation: Generating actionable ideas and policy directions to adapt to evolving job markets.
  • Documentation: Capturing learnings and strategies for ongoing reference.

Discussions ranged from tapping into emerging labour markets and integrating digital literacy into training programs to using data-driven approaches for forecasting future job roles. These conversations underscored a shared commitment among participating Boards and service providers to improving outcomes for workers – helping them secure meaningful employment and regain earning potential close to pre-accident levels.

This event marked an important step toward interjurisdictional collaboration, reinforcing that while challenges are shared, so too are opportunities. Participants expressed strong interest in continuing the dialogue, and WCB-Alberta is exploring options for ongoing collaboration and future knowledge‑sharing activities. By working together, WCB jurisdictions are shaping a more agile, inclusive, and innovative approach to employment in Canada’s dynamic labour landscape.