HUMA Committee Report

There is little doubt that Canadian policy-makers are about to be challenged by an unstoppable demographic event. In 2011, the baby-boom generation will begin to reach the age of 65. Although some workers in this demographic group have already left the workforce, most will leave the labour force during the next two decades. This event, combined with the long-term decline in Canada’s fertility rate, will contribute to a major slowdown in labour force growth. Within the next ten years, immigration is expected to account for all net labour force growth.

Slower growth in the supply of skills, combined with the continually rising skills needs of the labour market, increases the likelihood that the skills shortages problem currently facing some employers across the country will worsen. To alleviate these labour market imbalances, the Committee recommends a number of measures to increase the participation of under-represented groups in the labour market as well as to increase investments in education and training, a key ingredient to improving Canadian productivity and economic prosperity.

A labour force that possesses the quality and quantity of skills needed in the workplace is a necessary, although insufficient, condition for meeting Canada’s labour market needs in the years ahead. We must also ensure that workers’ skills are recognized, accepted and utilized fully by employers in all regions of the country. We can no longer afford to waste the skills of domestic- and foreign-born workers.

As noted at the outset of our report, addressing the labour market challenges that Canada will face over the next decade and beyond will not be solved today. But we need to move quickly to ensure that better policies are in place to address Canada’s current and future employability challenges. It is our hope that the recommendations presented in this report will contribute to the development of these policies, collectively referred to as an employability strategy, and that these policies will produce a more inclusive, skilled and adaptable workforce to meet Canada’s labour market challenges in the years ahead.

Finally, members of the Committee would like to thank all of the groups and individuals who took the time to submit a brief and/or to testify at one of our many meetings held across the country. Without their thoughtful consideration and expertise, along with their patience in view of several interruptions to our study, our report would not have been possible.