eCampusOntario Microcredentials: Getting People Into Programs and Into Jobs - Project Insights Report

Oct 3, 2026

Upload by Blitz

eCampusOntario’s microcredential portal, launched in 2021, tackles labour-market skills mismatches by offering short, industry-relevant learning programs. The initiative targets skill gaps in manufacturing, healthcare, and IT, supported by OSAP financial assistance. With Future Skills Centre funding and Conference Board of Canada data, courses are tagged to intended skills and mapped to best-fit occupations. Portal upgrades enable job-title input, customized recommendations, and labour-market information, improving engagement, inclusivity, referrals, and click-through rates.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages5

Reading Time13 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

The Issue

What We Investigated

What We’re Learning

Project Insights Report eCampusOntario Microcredentials: Getting People Into Programs and Into Jobs PARTNERS eCampusOntario LOCATIONS Ontario INVESTMENT $267 ,660 PUBLISHED May 2024 CONTRIBUTORS Liora Pelunsky, Tony Bonen, Anne-Lore Fraikin Executive Summary Launched in 2021 , eCampusOntario’s microcredential portal addresses skills mismatches in the labour market by offering short, industry-relevant learning programs. It has attracted over 40 ,000 unique users. The program targets skill gaps in key sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and IT, providing ﬂexible and accessible education options supported by ﬁnancial assistance through the Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) . This initiative, which reﬂects a shift toward microcredentials in education, is aimed at workforce development by aligning educational offerings with market demand. With funding from the Future Skills Centre and data from the Conference Board of Canada (CBoC) , eCampusOntario was able to tag many of its courses with the skills they were intended to develop, and then map those courses to occupations to which they were best suited. The eCampusOntario portal was subsequently improved to allow users to enter a job title and receive customized program recommendations, as well as labour market information about the role provided. The portal improvements led to better program recommendations, increased user engagement, and enhanced inclusivity and accessibility. After implementation, the portal also experienced an increase in program referrals to post-secondary institutions and an increase in click-through rates. KEY INSIGHTS In the ﬁrst four months that the new portal was active, eCampusOntario experienced a 32% increase in the number of inquiries it provided to PSIs, and a 4% increase in click throughs to PSIs. The mapping of in-demand skills onto speciﬁc courses increased understanding of which skills are developed by which programs allowing for more targeted interventions to address skill shortages. The program demonstrates potential for expansion into additional sectors within Ontario, suggesting the importance of maintaining strong partnerships and ongoing collaboration between funders and the eCampus Ontario team for sustainability and project expansion. The Issue eCampus Ontario, a provincially funded not-for-proﬁt organization, is leading the advancement of online learning at Ontario’s 53 public post-secondary institutions through cutting-edge innovation and technology. In 2021 , it launched a microcredential portal designed to provide short, customizable training programs to meet evolving labour market demands for skills upgrading and reskilling. Speciﬁcally targeting skills gaps in key sectors such as manufacturing, healthcare, and IT, the portal offers ﬂexible and accessible training pathways, complemented by ﬁnancial support from the Ontario Student Assistance Program. The eCampus Ontario project focused on enhancing its microcredential portal to better address labour market needs through targeted education programs. To increase its impact, the initiative integrated critical labour market data to improve program recommendations, addressing user engagement challenges, and strengthening inclusivity and accessibility measures. What We Investigated The initiative, part of Ontario’s strategy to facilitate upskilling and reskilling, involved integrating standardized occupation and skills data along with labour market information, particularly in the manufacturing, healthcare, social assistance, and information and communication industries. With the goal of improving personalized program recommendations based on users’ job titles, the project sought to address the knowledge gap identiﬁed in user behaviour —extensive browsing with little followthrough to post-secondary institutions. Utilizing consultations with industry partners, occupational data from OpportuNext, and collaboration with pos

FAQs

What problem does eCampusOntario’s microcredential portal address?

It addresses skills mismatches in the labour market by offering short, industry-relevant programs that support upskilling and reskilling.

How does the portal improve recommendations for users?

It integrates labour market information and tags courses to specific skills, then maps those courses to occupations. Users can enter a job title to receive customized program recommendations and role labour-market information.

What improvements did the updated portal produce after implementation?

The updated portal increased inquiries to post-secondary institutions, improved click-through rates, and enhanced inclusivity and accessibility, supported by stronger user engagement and referral growth.

Oct 3, 2026

Upload by Blitz