Throughout the day, participants in the PEI dialogue made it clear that the issue of "skills needs in the context of an aging workforce" is an important one for the province. They also stressed that any attempt to address this issue should be guided by one clear purpose: improving the conditions and circumstances of Islanders or, as many participants stated, "taking care of our people." In other words, they felt that the ultimate goal of workforce development, economic development and education and training must be to improve the quality of life of all Islanders.
During the dialogue's final plenary, participants expressed an interest in seeing continued communication and collaboration between business and labour. Many asked "How do we stay connected after today so that something will happen? How can we keep the momentum going?" and pointed to the absence of formal structures to enable the continuation of this type of dialogue. On this point, and as mentioned earlier, the province's sector councils were identified as a potential forum for future discussion. Participants also reiterated that future dialogues on skills-related issue, whether or not they occur under the auspices of sector councils, should allow for the involvement of a broad array of stakeholders at a grassroots level (including community groups and representatives of the not for profit sector).