Canada’s growing ambitions to lead in vaccine and biologics manufacturing face a serious bottleneck: a shortage of skilled workers.
According to two new reports from the Canadian Alliance for Skills and Training in Life Sciences (CASTL), the country is on track to face a shortfall of 16,000 biomanufacturing workers by 2029—part of a broader 65,000-person gap across Canada’s expanding bioeconomy.
The studies, developed in partnership with BioTalent Canada and the Future Skills Centre, outline the technical and regulatory competencies in highest demand and offer a concrete plan to close the talent gap before it hampers innovation.
“This is an evidence-based roadmap,” said Penny Walsh-McGuire, CEO of CASTL. “By pinpointing exactly which GMP and technical competencies employers value most, the reports equip industry, educators, and policymakers with the data they need to make timely, targeted investments in our workforce.”
Among the standout findings: more than 80% of employers rank hands-on Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) training as their top hiring priority. Yet, 78% of companies still have to deliver basic GMP instruction to new hires—even those with science degrees—adding cost and months to production timelines.
The sector’s hiring plans reflect the urgency. Three-quarters of companies plan to grow their headcount by 53% within the next three years, with nearly half of new hires expected to be technicians, not PhDs. It’s a shift in the sector’s workforce blueprint, now emphasizing college-educated professionals with practical experience over academic specialization alone.
That shift is reflected in CASTL’s new Biomanufacturing Competency Scorecard—the first national ranking of in-demand skills for the sector. It confirms that employers are looking for talent ready to operate in GMP-regulated environments with strong technical and digital literacy, not just theoretical training.
“There’s a clear opportunity here to align university and college programs with real-world production needs,” said Walsh-McGuire. “By embedding immersive, shop-floor experience into education, we can build a talent pipeline that’s ready to deliver.”
The reports also highlight a missed opportunity in workforce diversity. Only one in three biomanufacturing firms have fully implemented diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies—despite growing evidence that newcomers, underrepresented communities, and internationally trained professionals could help alleviate workforce shortages.
“Canada has untapped talent pools hiding in plain sight,” said Walsh-McGuire. “Expanding recruitment pipelines and inclusive hiring could help solve the labour crunch faster—and build a more resilient sector.”
CASTL operates state-of-the-art GMP-simulated training facilities in Charlottetown, Montreal, and Vancouver, where it delivers hands-on learning backed by the globally recognized NIBRT curriculum. The organization is also supported by adMare BioInnovations and its national academy.
As Canada positions itself as a global biomanufacturing leader, the message is clear: the future hinges not just on scientific discovery, but on the skilled people who can turn science into safe, scalable, and compliant therapies.