On February 29, 2012, the House of Commons
Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the
Status of Persons with Disabilities
(the Committee) adopted two motions in order to study two topics concurrently.
The first study examines the shortage of skilled workers in four occupational
groups: (1) sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM); (2)
Information and Communications Technology (ICT); (3) health care; and (4)
skilled trades. The second study looks at the shortage of low-skilled workers,
particularly in the service industry and the agriculture and aquaculture
sectors.
The Committee held 18 meetings in Ottawa on these
topics. The members of the Committee would like to offer their sincere thanks
to the witnesses who shared their concerns and made recommendations, both in
person and in writing.
Committee members wish to thank those who
hosted the Committee during its travels across Canada. The Committee
participated in round tables and tours in St. John’s, Newfoundland and
Labrador; Sydney and Halifax, Nova Scotia; Montreal, Quebec; Vancouver, British
Columbia; Whitehorse, Yukon; Fort McMurray, Alberta; and
Estevan, Saskatchewan.
The round tables held in these cities and the
tours of the following companies and educational institutions provided the
Committee an understanding of the challenges Canadians are facing:
C & W Industrial in Bay Bulls, Newfoundland and Labrador;
Irving Shipbuilding, in Halifax; TechLink, in Sydney; Vancouver port
facilities; Yukon College, as well as the Alexco Transfer Yard, Golden Predator
Corp. and Access Consulting Group, in Whitehorse; Syncrude Canada in Fort
McMurray; and SaskPower in Estevan.
The two studies were undertaken at the same
time. Some witnesses provided input and proposed solutions that apply to the
shortage of both skilled and low-skilled labour. Therefore, this report
provides an overview of the current situation and proposes recommendations in
both areas. It is divided into three chapters: the first examines the
information available on labour shortages and the labour market and includes
challenges and suggested solutions; the second summarizes the labour shortage
challenges faced by each of the occupational groups studied and includes
specific solutions for each group; and the third outlines general solutions to
these challenges that apply to all occupations. We hope that this report
accurately reflects the statements presented to the Committee as part of these
two studies.
As is the case for many developed countries,
Canada has an aging population, mainly as a result of two factors: increased
life expectancy and the fact that the baby boomer generation (born between 1946
and 1965) is reaching retirement age.
The following generation is not as large, due to a lower birth rate, which
means that the number of “working-age” people (aged 15-64) for every senior
(aged 65 and older) is expected to drop from 4.9 in 2011 to 2.7 in 2031 and
then to 2.3 in 2061. The
most significant aging of the population will occur before 2031.
The aging of the population will have many
consequences, such as slower labour force growth. Furthermore, it will create
an increased demand in certain sectors, such as the health care sector. At the
same time, growth will slow down in other sectors, such as the manufacturing
industry.
Labour shortages occur in an occupation when
the number of new job openings, available as a result of retirement or an
increased demand for people with the skills to fill these positions, is higher
than the number of new job seekers in Canada, either recent graduates or people
with foreign credentials in that field.
Shortages are not occurring in all economic
sectors or in all regions of Canada. The Committee met with some professional
associations and employers that said either that they had not experienced
labour shortages or that they did not anticipate any in the future, including
dentistry.
However, many employers will experience, or
are already experiencing, shortages of certain types of workers. This report
focuses on four groups of occupations that require specialized skills and
usually involve an apprenticeship or a college or university education. The
fifth group of occupations that was studied includes workers in the service
industry and the agriculture and aquaculture sectors. The skills required to
perform their work are acquired through on-the-job training. While occupations
from this fifth group may be generally less likely to experience shortages, shortages could still occur in certain areas, for example, in cities or regions
experiencing rapid growth due to major development projects in the natural
resources sector. In these regions, a shortage of highly skilled workers may be
accompanied by shortages for low-skilled workers as well, for example, in the
retail and restaurant sectors. In areas experiencing rapid growth, housing and
infrastructure shortages are common due to the sudden demand for a large labour
force to work on one or more projects.
Employee skills and the ability of
employers to attract and retain skilled workers will be central to our economic
success over the next decade. [Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters] (CME) has
projected there could be more than 500 major projects across Canada, projects
such as mining, oil and gas extraction, energy development, and shipbuilding,
that represent over half a trillion in new investments over the next decade.
... today there are already hundreds of
thousands of unfilled jobs across Canada in all sectors of the economy. The
inability of companies to match available jobs with available workers has a
huge impact on their ability to innovate and improve competitiveness and to
compete globally. Too often, applicants for available jobs do not have the
necessary skill requirements, meaning jobs go unfilled, projects are not
started, and Canada’s economy suffers. As major projects continue to be
developed, the need for skilled and unskilled workers will only intensify in
those sectors as well as in related sectors in manufacturing and exporting.
Matthew Wilson,
Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters
Many witnesses representing sectors and
occupations in which labour shortages are occurring or are anticipated told the
Committee that it was important to take concrete action to address this issue.
Economic development opportunities must not be lost due to a shortage of workers
or mismatches between the skills in demand by employers and the skills held by
workers.
Canada must be more aggressive in its
immigration efforts. We must move now. We are in competition with many other
countries in order to attract the most talented people in the world. We have
very little time to deal with labour shortages and the lack of
skilled workers.
Perrin Beatty, P.C.
Canadian Chamber of Commerce
Witnesses told Committee members about many
sources of data on labour shortages. Representatives from Human Resources and
Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) provided reference to the Canadian
Occupational Projection System (COPS). COPS calculates occupational projections
nation-wide in the medium term (over a 10-year span) for 140 occupations. The
projections are updated every two years.
These occupations correspond to the
three-digit National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes. For example,
physicians, dentists and veterinarians are classified under NOC 311, which includes
specialist physicians (NOC 3111), general practitioners and family physicians
(NOC 3112), dentists (NOC 3113) and veterinarians (NOC 3114). COPS is currently
using the 2006 version of the NOC. The NOC is updated every five years. The 2011 version was approved on November 21, 2011, and will be implemented
over the next few years.
HRSDC representatives also mentioned the Working
in Canada Website.
The Working in Canada website is the
Government of Canada’s single window, combining jobs and learning and labour
market information such as wages, occupational forecasts, licensing and
certification, skills requirements, and education and training.
This information helps students and workers choose the right fields of study
and find out where their particular skills may be in demand. It also helps
educational institutions make decisions about curriculum development and
admission levels based on anticipated demand in emerging or growing sectors.
Alexis Conrad,
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Statistics Canada representatives stated that
data is available to other departments and the private sector so that they can
establish their own labour shortage projections.
The monthly labour force survey produces
timely information about employment, unemployment, labour force participation,
wages, as well as demographic information. The monthly survey of employment,
payrolls and hours provides detailed industry and earnings information for
payroll employees. There’s also new data on job vacancies, as well as data on
enrolment and graduation.
Tracey Leesti,
Statistics Canada
The data on job vacancies are collected
through two questions that were added to the Business Payrolls Survey in
January 2011. The data are available for sectors of the economy, but not for
individual occupations. A high rate of vacant positions does not necessarily
mean that a shortage exists: some sectors have a higher turnover rate and thus
have a higher number of job vacancies on average. However, an increase in the
rate of vacant positions from one year to the next may indicate a shortage in
that sector.
For the three-month period ending in May 2012, there were 263,000 job vacancies
in Canada, an increase of 20,000 compared with the same period in 2011.
Sector councils bring together business,
labour and educational stakeholders in a specific sector. They develop
projections of future labour supply and demand. A good number of sector council
projections were presented to the Committee.
The Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook
Survey provides data on labour shortages (“Does your firm face any
shortages of labour that restrict your ability to meet demand?”). This
information is not broken down by province, occupation or industry. In May-June
2012, 29% of firms responded “yes” to that question, which is higher than in
2009 and 2010, but lower than the years before the recession.
When it travelled to Western Canada, the
Committee heard from representatives of the Government of Saskatchewan, who
talked about the SaskJobs Website. This tool was created in 1999 as a result of
the Canada-Saskatchewan Labour Market Agreement. Employers post job vacancies
and job seekers can post their curriculum vitae. Job offers are uploaded to
Service Canada’s Job Bank.
Employment Websites and labour market
information (LMI) Websites have also been set up in other provinces. The
premiers of the Atlantic provinces announced on
June 6, 2012, that they were collaborating on the Atlantic Work Force
Partnership to better prepare the labour force for the new skills in
demand.
Professional associations and employer
associations, such as the Mining Association of Canada, the Canadian Nurses
Association and Engineers Canada, also prepare projections on labour force
demand in their sector of the economy or in
their profession.
Private organizations carry out surveys and
prepare data. For example, the Canadian Federation of Independent Business,
which represents small and medium enterprises (SMEs), surveys its members. One
of the survey questions is on main business constraints. In September 2012, 36%
of respondents cited shortages of skilled labour and 17% cited shortages of
un/semi-skilled labour (respondents may select both of these responses). The Conference Board of Canada also prepares the Help-Wanted Index and the
Barometer of Labour Market Tightness.
It is very important that the LMI available
be as precise and complete as possible so that stakeholders are aware of job
openings and the qualifications required. This helps prevent mismatching
between the qualifications in demand by employers and the qualifications held
by job seekers.
LMI is available from many sources, including
provincial databases on subjects such as the number of graduates or human
resources. A number of witnesses identified this local information as a
challenge.
We actually do have some studies that
have been done. They’re just done in points of time. For example, in Ontario
there was a study in 2010 that looked at one year and made projections for
upcoming years. This is happening only in Ontario. However, whenever you apply
for medical residency positions, you apply across the country. This is a
nationwide problem. We need a central or national database so that we can work
in collaboration with the provinces and territories to collate all the
information from the localized studies that are happening in short periods of
time.
Chloé Ward,
Canadian Federation of Medical Students
COPS was criticized several times because its
data are not granular enough.
For example, specialist physicians are in the same category as general
practitioners and veterinarians. If there was a surplus in one area and a
shortage in the other, COPS would not necessarily register a shortage, as the
two effects could cancel each other out.
We employ individuals from a huge number
of [backgrounds]—from environmental lawyers and environmental physicians, all
the way to environmental scientists and engineers. Therefore, to capture that
data [that provides detailed projections by profession] is exceedingly
difficult, and COPS cannot do that.
Grant Trump,
Environmental Careers Organization of Canada
An HRSDC representative informed the
Committee that the lack of disaggregation of the data is due to a sampling
problem (the number of people from a certain occupation that are surveyed to
provide the data). The Department is looking into the possibility of publishing
data for four-digit NOC occupations where sufficient representation exists.
The projections are done for 140
occupations. If we were to go beyond that, we would go to another level of
granularity, bringing us to considering 500 occupations.
When we look at smaller occupations, at
smaller regions, we often run into statistical difficulties because we don’t
have enough information. Going to the next level represents substantial
difficulties for us in producing high-quality information. It limits our
capacity to go down to other levels. That said, our staff is looking at ways to
produce some of that information, but there are certainly some challenges
because of the nature of the data that we get. There is only so far you can go
in disaggregating that information.
Yves Gingras,
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Despite the critics toward COPS, it remains
an independent and publicly available source of projections, and this system
will be used throughout this report, complemented by other sources when
available.
Some witnesses said that data are not
published frequently enough and NOC information is not updated as quickly as it
should be, especially in the ICT sector, which is constantly evolving. In some
cases, the NOC codes are not precise enough for the occupations on the labour
market.
One is these national occupational
classifications that don’t provide sufficient detail. ... do you have a Java
programmer versus a C programmer or what have you? We can’t get that kind of
information. We can’t provide it to people who are making choices, whether
they’re post-secondary institutions that are designing programs, students who
are making career choices, or even employers who want to find out whether there
is a skill shortage area or surplus.
David Ticoll,
Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow’s ICT Skills
Witnesses mentioned similar problems with the
North American Industry Classification System.
Even so, we’re still spread out among a
number of independent categories.
If you’re developing video games and
you’re also doing the publication of video games for packaged goods—the kind
you actually buy at the retail store—you’re in a different classification from
producing them for online delivery, which creates complications in terms of
tracking.
Jason Kee,
Entertainment Software Association of Canada
The majority of witnesses agreed that LMI
must be user-friendly; reach those in need of such information (e.g.,
employers, job seekers, students, parents, teachers, guidance counsellors,
professional associations and other organizations); provide continuity and
currency at the national, provincial/territorial, regional and local levels
where available; and give access to online tools (e.g., Working in Canada).
Witnesses expressed a need for a more consolidated approach to LMI to avoid
duplication. In addition, data collection that complements that gathered by
others, and provides a better and more accurate LMI across Canada is needed.
Third, improve labour market information,
which is neither granular enough nor provided frequently enough. You have
already heard this from other witnesses. And equally important issue is that
the limited information we do have gets to only some of the people who need it.
As I mentioned, we think we need
to do more work and to work with various partners to have a better sense of
what the supply and demand dynamics are, moving forward.
We feel that we don’t have sufficient data to allow us to identify,
specifically, where the needs are.
Alain Beaudoin,
Industry Canada
My penultimate solution is labour market
information. In order to address the skills shortage problem in Canada, we need
to make sure our labour market information is
top-notch.
Christopher Smillie,
Building and Construction Trades Department
Some witnesses talked about the work being
done by sector councils, their partnerships with other councils, industry, as
well as educational institutions. For example, the Saskatchewan Mining
Association worked very closely with the Mining Industry Human Resources
Council to develop LMI which led to a number of new educational programs being
created at the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology and at
the University of Saskatchewan. Students will have the opportunity to
participate in a new mining engineering program and will be more likely to meet
the needs of employers and find employment when they graduate.
The capacity of sector councils to produce
LMI for a specific industry at a local and provincial level is valuable. The
Mining Association of Canada told the Committee that a more concerted approach
is required to best meet the needs of the entire mining sector. Their board of
directors has asked a Human Resources Task Force to determine how the mining
industry can collectively address human resources issues, in light of the
elimination of core funding to sector councils by 2013. Some expressed the hope
that the federal government will continue to work with sector councils to
support industry’s need for quality LMI that will allow employers to attract,
recruit, and retain the next generation of the Canadian workforce.
The real thrust here is for us to
establish credible and reliable information that employers can use to plan
their businesses and ensure that small and large farm operations in all regions
of Canada are well supported to find the talent they need, access those pools
of labour that are very difficult to access, retain that talent along the way,
and ensure that people are well skilled. That’s the role of the sector council,
and that’s what we are endeavouring to do to assist with this very critical
issue of labour shortage for
this industry.
Portia MacDonald-Dewhirst,
Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council
An official from HRSDC responded to comments
made by many witnesses in relation to the sector council program, by reminding
the Committee that the Minister of HRSDC has announced a successor program, the
sectoral intelligence program, which will receive approximately $30 million in
funding. Part of its mandate will be focused on sectoral-based LMI, which
information will eventually be integrated into the Working in Canada Website. A
call for proposals for concept papers, for what is now called
the Sectoral Initiatives Program, was launched in late summer with a deadline
of
October 29, 2012.
Essentially we’ve been working with the
sector councils and other people who have interest in the program to get a
sense of what their priorities are and to make sure that our call for proposals
is consistent with what’s going on in the labour market at the moment….
Also, as you
know, the department did cut the core funding to the sector council program,
but the sector councils do have other sources of revenue. We expect in some
cases they will continue to do some of the work they’re currently doing.
Alexis Conrad,
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada
Some witnesses raised the issue of
undesignated occupations, such as trucking, which did not qualify as a skilled occupation
under the NOC. However, the trucking industry currently faces and will continue
to face labour shortages, as it has the oldest workforce in the nation with a
large proportion of drivers approaching the age of retirement and limited
sources of labour available to the industry.
A witness explained to the Committee that NOC
codes, if revised to take into consideration the experience of truck drivers,
would allow truck drivers to immigrate into Canada and provide another source
of labour supply. As mentioned earlier, the NOC has been revised by Statistics
Canada, and the NOC 2011 has now been the departmental standard since November
2011. Truck drivers are recognized in the new and improved classification. A subgroup
provides a detailed classification of specifically tasked truck drivers (NOC
7411). Supervisors who direct and coordinate the work of truck drivers are
recognized under NOC 7222, a subgroup under “Supervisors, Railway and Motor
Transportation Occupations” (NOC 722).
The Contingent Workforce Solutions suggested
to the Committee that HRSDC could facilitate quarterly round table discussions
between stakeholders to discuss trends in labour and supply and adjust policy
as required. Industry, provincial/territorial agencies, sector councils, educational
institutions, HRSDC and Statistics Canada could establish an action plan that
would include working together to address some of the issues that have been
raised by witnesses during the course of the Committee’s study. The majority of
witnesses agreed that solutions to skills shortages must reflect the labour
market of the 21st century.
The federal government, acting within its
jurisdiction, continues to create more tools and policies that will better
respond to some of these challenges. In July 2011, the Honourable Diane Finley,
Minister of HRSDC, announced that the Government of Canada was taking action to
address skill shortages by developing a more proactive approach that would
gather critical information for job seekers and employers and make it more
readily available through the Working in Canada portal.
Many witnesses stated that the Government of
Canada offers a really good service through the Working in Canada Website and
were pleased with its evolution in the last few years. They would like to see
even more user-friendly tools added to the Website to help employers and job
seekers actually assess the skills needed for a particular occupation.
Officials from HRSDC confirmed that there is continuous research and work being
done to improve the services offered through the Working in Canada Website
(e.g., information about careers and Canada’s labour market, job search, news
and updates).
An expanded service such as the “Working
in Canada” website is positive, but unless connections are made to technical
skills assessment tools, essential skills assessment tools, and available
skills development opportunities, we will miss a valuable opportunity to more
fully support the client.
Jennifer Steeves,
Canadian Automotive Repair and Service
HRSDC expects that new measures and programs
launched in recent years
(e.g., survey questions on job vacancies, the sectoral initiatives program, and
the Working in Canada Website) will lead to better matches between skills in
high demand and the skills of graduates and job seekers. The federal government
must also work with the private sector, provincial/territorial governments and
other stakeholders to share data and ensure that everyone appreciates that
STEM, ICT, health professionals, skilled trades and less-skilled workers will
play an important role in Canada’s future economy. Everyone involved closely
with the issue of skills shortages should be able to make a credible business
case for investing in education and training of employees in these sectors, and
for attracting the talent needed by industry and SMEs. If Canada is to achieve
economic growth and be competitive at a global level, it needs to actively
promote skills training and upgrading and to attract more students, job
seekers, and foreign talent to fill the vacancies in jobs requiring skills that
are in high demand.
Recommendation 1
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada support the creation of a more formal
public-private-academia partnership to be coordinated by the Forum of Labour
Market Ministers with a mission to ensure a better match between the skills of
young graduates and job seekers with those needed by Canadian employers. This
partnership should allow for better sharing of labour market information
already collected by various stakeholders in an attempt to provide more
consistent forecasts in the future.
Recommendation 2
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada continue its efforts toward achieving better and more
user-friendly labour market information, which could in turn be provided to
students, graduates and job seekers, giving them the information they need to
make informed education and career decisions.
Recommendation 3
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada address the lack of awareness of labour market information
products available. A publicity campaign should be launched to educate the
public on how to use labour market information and how it can contribute to
their success on the labour market.
Recommendation 4
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada continue to improve the labour market information and the
delivery of other information available on its Working in Canada Website.
In STEM occupations, we can find professionals
and technical staff in natural and applied sciences working in a wide range of
sectors, including biotechnology, mining, electricity and the oil and gas
sector.
A representative of the biotechnology sector
council, an industry that employs a large number of STEM professionals, told
the Committee that many companies are facing labour shortages.
Through commissioning our own research,
we have conducted the only national studies in Canada that are exclusive to
human resource issues in biotechnology. … Research also indicated that 34.4% of
the companies were currently facing skills shortages, and 32.5% had active
vacant positions to fill.
Robert Henderson,
BioTalent Canada
The Environmental Careers Organization of
Canada, which is the sector council for the environment, estimates that 37% of
employees in this sector are in STEM professions.
One-third of all environmental workers
today are over the age of 45. About 4% of environmental workers are already
beyond retirement age. Some 14% of environmental workers will reach retirement
age in the next 10 years, creating 100,000 vacancies. We have predicted that
this year there will be 40,000 new environmental jobs in Canada.
Grant Trump,
Environmental Careers Organization of Canada
The mining industry, which employs a fair
number of STEM professionals, anticipates that it will need to hire 3,990 STEM
professionals by 2021, of which
1,370 would be geologists, geochemists and geophysicists and 665 would be
mining engineers.
The electricity sector also employs a good
number of engineers and engineering technicians. According to the Electricity
Sector Council, “Canada’s electricity and renewable energy industry will be
recruiting over 45,000 new employees between 2011 and 2016. This is almost half
of the starting workforce and more than twice the number recruited in the last
five years.”
The Canadian Association of Petroleum
Producers, which appeared before the Committee in Fort McMurray, reported that
the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada, which also employs engineers,
geologists and technicians, forecasted that it would need 9,500 new employees
by 2015 and between 50,000 and 130,000 by 2020.
Physical science professionals include
physicists, astronomers, chemists, geoscientists, oceanographers,
meteorologists, climatologists and other scientists.
The COPS analysis of recent market conditions indicated a shortage in these
professions at the beginning of the projection period (2011), but the
projections from 2011 to 2020 show a surplus of new job seekers compared with
the number of new job openings.
COPS data for life science professionals show
that this category is balanced and should remain so for the next few years.
Still according to COPS, in the case of
civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical engineers, the situation at the
beginning of the projection period was balanced, but it is anticipated that the
number of new job seekers will exceed the number of new job openings between
2011 and 2020. The category for other engineers (e.g., petroleum, mining and
geological engineers) recorded a shortage at the beginning of the projection
period, but the number of job seekers was expected to slightly exceed the
number of job openings over the projection period. Engineers Canada made the
following observation.
Many of our engineering labour markets
are characterized at the moment by a surplus of recent graduates with little or
no experience but a shortage of people with five to ten years of experience.
Those people who have specialized, practical experience are in quite short
supply right now in Canada.
Marie Carter,
Engineers Canada
Furthermore, demand is not the same for all
types of engineers. According to a report published by Engineers Canada,
between 2012 and 2018, civil engineers were ranked 4 (out of 5) each year,
indicating a shortage, which chemical engineers and IT engineers received a 3
ranking (less severe shortage).
Architects, urban planners and land surveyors
appeared to be experiencing a shortage at the beginning of the COPS projection
period, but projections show that the situation will be balanced between 2011
and 2020 (very slight shortage).
Mathematicians, statisticians and actuaries
appear to be maintaining a balance right now and will continue to do so for the
next few years, according to COPS.
As for technicians in the STEM fields, all
professional groups were balanced at the beginning of the projection period,
with the exception of technical occupations in physical sciences, which were
experiencing a surplus. Shortages may occur during the projection period for
technical occupations in life sciences, transportation officers and
controllers, and other technical inspectors and regulatory officers.
Without a steady and important rate of
students graduating in the STEM professions, the science and technological
industries will suffer along with the whole economy. Therefore, these
occupations need to be promoted to students, parents, and teachers. Young women
also need to be made aware of these career opportunities because they comprise
well under 20% of enrolments in core technology programs.
The Committee heard
that students lack clarity with regard to the requirements of the industry. One
of the fastest-growing areas in the college system is foundational or remedial
science and math programming and, unfortunately, many high school students are
unaware that further education in sciences or technology will require or
recommend optional science and math credits. Students
are not pursuing further courses in science, sometimes because they have
reached the maximum of credits to graduate and do not see the necessity to
obtain more at the time. Parents are also unaware that this might limit
opportunities for their children. Canada does not train enough scientists or
engineers.
Most worrisome,
we are seeing a decline in enrolment rates at the undergraduate and master’s
levels in our fields compared with a decade ago. Increasingly, Canada is
relying on foreign graduate students to carry out the research that happens in
our universities, research that will result in discovery and innovation.
Isabelle Blain,
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Furthermore, the Committee also heard that
there is a war for talent and experience that brings companies to invest in
making Canadian jobs appealing to qualified foreign STEM professionals and
convincing them to remain in the country.
Witnesses spoke to the Committee about the
lack of general skills found in STEM candidates. There must be opportunities to
develop these skills through educational programs, on-the-job training or co-op
programs. Without such skills, candidates will have serious difficulties
finding employment. Furthermore, a good candidate also needs to have the
business skills required by many employers.
The Committee was told by Engineers Canada
that people who have specialized and practical experience are the ones
currently in short supply in Canada. This is an area where it is difficult to
meet industries’ expectations, as young graduates cannot be
expected to already have such experience.
Issues with the NOC were also addressed. The
pace of the STEM industries is quick and consequently the categories of
occupations included under NOC rapidly become too broad and outdated. The code
lacks precision. The classification system has recently been updated in 2011,
but a lot of work remains to be done.
As well, often they’re very dated. The
closest ones, “computer programmer” and “interactive media developer”, include
developing for CDs, DVDs, and game cartridges. These are forms of media in the
games industry that basically have barely been used for the past 10 years. Clearly some of the codes are still in need of updating.
We’re certainly not adequately captured, and it’s been challenging, to say the
least.
Jason Kee,
Entertainment Software Association of Canada
The Committee was informed that the
perception of STEM professions, science and core technology programs needs to
be turned around to motivate young Canadians to choose these professions.
Students, parents and teachers must be informed that scientific occupations do
not solely include professions as researchers in a lab but can also open doors
to interesting and innovative jobs.
The first thing is that I really do
believe that science learning underpins the talent development needed for the
21st century, and if your report can build a connection with the creative
economy, I think you can go a long way in helping to dispel the myths that
science is not necessarily underpinning much of the talent that is needed: in
fact, it's a creative human activity that leads to our understanding of the
world and it underpins all the critical global issues that we face today, but
many people don't see it. They don't see the horizontal integrator role that
science, technology, engineering, and math play.
Bonnie Schmidt,
Let’s Talk Science
The Committee was told that we need to encourage
and develop the interest of Canada’s youth to pursue career paths in sciences
very early in school. Grants and programs such as PromoScience exist to support
organizations that reach children between the ages of 10 and 12 years old
across the country. To build greater interest in the STEM occupations, more
people need to talk about physics and math and link science to practical
examples, such as the use of a BlackBerry smartphone. Co-operative education is
also helpful for young students to grasp early what a particular job underpins.
The Committee heard about interesting
activities that Communitech developed to help technology companies recruit the
skilled labour needed, such as recruitment events, career fairs and a youth
outreach program designed to encourage greater numbers of students in grades 7
through 12 to pursue studies leading to careers in the STEM disciplines. These
are good examples of what can be done to inform and motivate youth to pursue a
career in STEM.
From our perspective, we would strongly
encourage the federal government and provincial and territorial governments to
continue to focus on supporting strong science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics education at all levels, with special emphasis on the
under-represented groups, while also continuing to work with various
professions to improve the foreign qualifications assessment and recognition
process.
Marie Carter,
Engineers Canada
Recommendation 5
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada continue to fund programs to increase enrolment and
graduation rates in sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Recommendation 6
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada increase collaboration between academia and industries
using sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics professionals, to
ensure that curricula are more relevant and meet the needs of
these industries.
The ICT professions include a number of
occupations in the computer science field, such as software designers and
database analysts. They are employed in nearly every sector of the economy.
According to COPS, both IT professionals and
technicians were balanced at the beginning of the projection period. However, from 2011 to 2020, a surplus is anticipated, particularly for computer
and information systems professionals.
However, these projections can hide shortages
at a local level or in more specialized ICT professions. The Information and
Communications Technology Council (ICTC) published forecasts for the period
from 2011 to 2016 for professionals in digital occupations, broken down by
specific occupation (four-digit NOC code) and by region.
We estimate that by 2016 approximately
106,000 ICT jobs will need to be filled in Canada, with demand for critical
jobs far exceeding the supply. This figure will be further compounded if we
account for new and emerging ICT sectors.
Namir Anani,
Information and Communications Technology Council
According to ICTC projections, among ICT
professionals, there are more professions with overall shortages than there are
professions with overall surpluses.
The shortages are mainly in the categories of computer and information systems
managers, telecommunication carriers managers, and information systems analysts
and consultants.
The anticipated shortages are not as critical
for technical occupations. Shortages will be most acute for electronics and
electrical engineering technicians and technologists (especially in the
Atlantic provinces and Alberta), and for broadcast technicians (especially in
the Atlantic provinces).
Shortages are also more acute for workers
with an intermediate or high level
of experience.
There is a critical shortage of
available talent at the intermediate, senior, and expert levels across all
disciplines, including programmers, game designers, digital artists, and
animators. Game development is a highly knowledge-intensive, fast-paced, and
team-oriented industry. The hiring, training, and supporting of recent
graduates and junior employees is entirely dependent on the presence of a solid
and experienced core team of senior personnel.
Jason Kee,
Entertainment Software Association of Canada
The Committee heard that the ICT sector is a
major player when it comes to research and development (R&D). In 2011, it
accounted for 34.1% of all private sector R&D. However, their contribution to the Canadian economy may be at risk if the pool
of potential workers cannot keep pace with demand.
Witnesses told the Committee that the lack of
more accurate LMI on emerging ICT jobs creates challenges that prevent the
private sector from moving forward with a clear view of where technologies are
going. In addition to having a healthy supply of ICT talent locally, there
needs to be a commitment to hiring and training graduates who may not have the
“real world” experience or the soft skills sought by virtually all employers in
all sectors of the economy, but who are willing to learn and can make the
transition from the academic world to employment.
Canada can produce the best ICT workers
in the world, but we need to create strong talent and retain as much of it as
possible. Canada’s economic health is tied to the prosperity of the ICT sector,
which encompasses life sciences, digital media, clean tech, defence and
security, and advanced materials. There are close to 10,000 companies,
representing 800,000 Canadian jobs; helping this sector find the talent it
needs to thrive will yield more economic prosperity for Canadians.
Avvey Peters,
Communitech
Canada is also
competing in an increasingly tight labour market with emerging global economies
such as those of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa — the BRICS
countries, as we call them — which are achieving unprecedented economic growth
using new energy, telecommunication, and information technologies.
Our ability to
prepare tomorrow’s workforce and nurture innovative talents in key sectors of
the ICT economy will be vital in ensuring Canada’s competitive advantage in an
increasingly global, connected, and fast-paced environment.
Namir Anani,
Information and Communications Technology Council
The Committee heard again of issues with the
NOC, this time related to ICT occupations. For example, occupations in video
games could be found under five different codes depending on the requirements
of the positions. Many witnesses thought that LMI data collection and
dissemination requires more research.
To help us shed light on supply and
demand of Canadian ICT talent and support our work with provinces and
territories, we hired the firm Nordicity. Between January and March of this
year, Nordicity conducted interviews and an online survey of ICT firms and
associations in key clusters.
While there are
limits to the data collected in Nordicity’s research, respondents identified
current and future talent shortages, especially for media developers,
programmers, and for software and computer engineers. Additionally, it found
that there is a lack of executives with five years or more experience. Survey respondents
also felt that college and university graduates need more “real world” skills,
such as communications, project management, and overall business acumen.
Alain Beaudoin,
Industry Canada
Another critical issue is the off-shoring of
jobs, which can occur if a company cannot find the right candidates in Canada.
The Committee heard that the lack of access to talent with the technical and
business skills needed by the industry causes major delays, interfering with
the timely completion of time-sensitive projects. The lack of talent, the
off-shoring of jobs, and the potential impact on the growth of the industry in
Canada are matters that concern the members of the Committee.
We’re saying there’s a skills shortage.
In the ICT sector the jobs tend to go where the skills are. If the available
skill pull is not what you need, your jobs are going to migrate out, and that’s
what’s happening. The kids who are coming out aren’t necessarily in the sector
and trained to do the jobs we need done.
Karna Gupta,
Information Technology Association of Canada
Members of the Committee believe that the
Government of Canada should make it appealing and easier for foreign ICT
professionals to choose Canada as their work destination, while doing due
diligence and not jeopardizing the safety and employment of Canadians.
Witnesses told the Committee that highly skilled foreign workers facilitate
knowledge transfer by providing valuable on-the-job training opportunities for
recent graduates and junior employees. For example, the Committee was told that
employers are looking for engineers that have at least five years’ experience.
This is not an easy task and it leaves behind recent graduates of Canadian
colleges and universities. Bringing in an experienced foreign-trained engineer
to share his knowledge with those graduates is a sensible solution, so that
firms have a mix of new apprentices and experienced workers.
In 2010, the
Government of Canada set out a plan to develop a digital economy strategy for
Canada. National consultations were launched on May 10 and the consultation
process ended in July 2010. The analysis of all the data received through the
consultation (more than 2,000) and other sources takes a long time. In July
2011, the Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister of Industry, reaffirmed the
Government of Canada’s commitment to a digital economy strategy. In August
2012, Minister Paradis, in a speech to the Economic Club of Canada, vowed to
launch a strategy by the end of the year.
Speaking at the Canadian Telecom Summit in
2012, Minister Paradis “urged the private sector to act on priority issues,
such as bridging the urban-rural broadband gap and making greater use of
information and communications technology to ensure that Canada is
well-positioned to reap the benefits of the growing digital economy for years.”
The government did not wait, however, to
start building the foundation of its digital economy strategy for SMEs. For
example, in October 2011, it was announced that the Business Development Bank
of Canada would set aside $200 million for loans to help entrepreneurs purchase
ICT products. Another interesting project is the Digital Technology Adoption
Pilot Program, launched in November 2011, which gives SMEs access to advice
from experts on what are the digital technologies that best meet the needs of a
particular business and how it can integrate these new digital technologies
into its business practices. The pilot program was given access to $80 million
over three years; funding is administered by the National Research Council
Canada through its successful Industrial Research Assistance Program.
Recommendation 7
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada, while respecting the jurisdiction of provincial/territorial
governments with regard to education and training, consider establishing a panel,
composed of officials from various governments, industry leaders and their
associations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), academia, policy-makers and other
interested stakeholders. The panel would be given the mandate to find ways over
the next three to five years to help SMEs embrace the technological shifts,
hire information and communications technology (ICT) professionals and
facilitate
their capacity to do business using ICT tools and contribute to Canada’s
economy.
Recommendation 8
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada support action to increase collaboration between the
information and communications technology industry and academia to ensure that
the curricula will be more relevant and meet the needs of the industry and also
be more likely to catch the attention of students. The curricula in Canadian
colleges and university must be flexible, as technology changes so fast that it
is hard to keep the curricula up to date.
Due to the aging population, the health care
sector is expected to increase its share of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
and employment. According to COPS, there is already a shortage in several
occupations in this category, and shortages will occur in the near future, as
well.
Physicians, dentists and veterinarians were
experiencing a shortage at the beginning of the projection period, and the
shortage is projected to continue between 2011 and 2020. However, several
groups mentioned to the Committee that, in certain provinces, more students are
being admitted to faculties of medicine, which could result in a surplus of
physicians. Furthermore, shortages may exist for certain specialties or in
certain areas, especially rural areas, and surpluses may exist for other
specialties or for general practitioners and family physicians.
Over the past five years, the growth in
the number of these professionals has consistently outpaced population growth.
In fact, there were 203 active physicians per 100,000 Canadians in 2010, the
greatest proportion there has ever been in this country. Most of the growth in
the physician workforce is due to an increase in the number of medical
graduates from Canadian faculties of medicine. Since 2003, it has increased by
nearly 60% to more than 2,400 graduates in 2010.
Jean-Marie Berthelot,
Canadian Institute for Health Information
The Ontario Medical Association, in
collaboration with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, made a
projection model that was published in 2010. They showed that even in family
medicine—these are generalists in Ontario—in 2017 they project an oversupply of
family doctors.
Noura Hassan,
Canadian Federation of Medical Students
The Canadian Dental Association contended
that Canada does not have a shortage of dentists.
l’d first like to emphasize that there
is not a shortage of dentists in Canada. Canada is on a par with other OECD
countries in terms of the dentist to population ratio. …
The perception that the dental profession is experiencing a labour market
shortage may arise from the observation that a small minority of Canadians do
not have access to regular dental care.
Robert Sutherland,
Canadian Dental Association
According to COPS, optometrists and
chiropractors were experiencing a shortage at the beginning of the projection
period, but the number of new job openings should correspond almost exactly to
the number of new job seekers between 2011 and 2020.
As for pharmacists, dietitians and
nutritionists, there was a balance at the beginning of the projection period,
but COPS anticipates that the number of job seekers will slightly exceed the
number of job openings between 2011 and 2020.
However, Dietitians of Canada estimates that
there are shortages already and there will continue to be shortages of
dietitians.
We found, one, that all provinces and
territories have vacancies that are difficult to fill, especially in the rural,
remote, and northern communities, and almost half of the dietitian workforce
currently is planning to retire within the next ten years. Dietitian vacancies
are already impacting the quality of health services.
Pat Vanderkkoy,
Dietitians of Canada
Among therapy and assessment professionals
(audiologists and speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, occupational
therapists), there was a shortage of workers at the beginning of the COPS
projection period, but it is anticipated that there will be a slight surplus of
new job seekers between 2011 and 2020.
The Canadian Association of Occupational
Therapists emphasized that there was a shortage in occupational therapy, but
that information was limited.
At this point in time, the measure of
the needs for occupational therapists is flawed. Shortages in occupational
therapy occur in Canada because the current models used to predict health human-resource
needs are insufficient. They insufficiently predict the demand for occupational
therapy services. We are aware, for example, that in some areas of the country,
the number of education seats for occupational therapy programs is not
sufficient to meet the current workforce demands, because of inaccurate human
resource projections.
Claudia von Zweck,
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
There was a shortage of nurse supervisors and
registered nurses at the beginning of the projection period, with severe
shortages projected for 2011 to 2020, according to COPS. This prediction was
supported by the Canadian Nurses Association when it appeared before the
Committee.
Current research puts Canada’s shortage
of registered nurses at approximately
11,000 full-time equivalents. Left unaddressed, that shortage is projected to
reach
60,000 full-time equivalent RNs by 2022, a reality that stands to risk future
health outcomes.
Rachel Bard,
Canadian Nurses Association
Health care technologists and technicians
(e.g., medical radiation technologists, respiratory therapists, medical
laboratory technicians) were experiencing a shortage at the beginning of the
COPS projection period, and a slight surplus of job seekers was anticipated
between 2011 and 2020.
Medical laboratory technologists, while
recognizing the progress made over the last few years, are concerned that there
is an insufficient number of candidates to replace those who will retire in the
next few years.
For over a decade, we have been alerting
decision-makers that the number of seats in medical laboratory technology
programs is simply not sufficient to produce enough new graduates to replace
those who will leave the workforce. The domestic supply is simply too low.
Since 2000, governments have taken steps
to address the shortage by opening new education programs and increasing
capacity in others. This is a positive development, but the retirements coming
simply will not equal the number of new graduates.
Christine Nielsen,
Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science
Technical occupations in dental health care
(hygienists, denturists) were in balance at the beginning of the COPS
projection period and should maintain a balance from
2011 to 2020 (very slight shortage).
Technical occupations in health care (e.g.,
massage therapists, paramedical occupations) were in balance at the beginning
of the projection period, but the number of job openings is expected to exceed
the number of job seekers, creating a cumulative shortage of nearly 6,000
positions between 2011 and 2020, for an occupational group that had
approximately 125,000 positions in 2010.
Lastly, assisting occupations in support of
health services (e.g., patient service associates, dental assistants) were
experiencing a shortage at the beginning of the COPS projection period; the
number of job openings was projected to surpass the number of
job seekers by approximately 7,000 positions for an occupational group that had
316,000 employees in 2010.
Physicians are a highly skilled section of
the Canadian workforce. The care they provide is in high demand across the
country, particularly in rural areas and small towns in remote locations. The
reality today is that nearly five million Canadians do not have family
physicians. More than one third of all Canadian physicians are over the age of
55 and many will retire soon. Most physicians’ practices are full and they are
not accepting
new patients.
The context in which professionals work in
the field of health has also changed over the years. For example, younger
professionals are looking for work-family balance.
Most physicians also face an increasing demand for their time due to the aging
population, which experiences more chronic diseases. The complexity of cases is
increasing as are the expectations of physicians and time spent with patients
has been increasing.
The Committee heard that we need to reassess
the mix and distribution of physicians and specialists, especially in rural
regions. Although 21.4% of the general population lives outside of cities, only
9.4% of physicians are located in rural communities. Specialists are severely
under-represented, with only 2.4% of them practicing in rural areas; 15.7% of
family physicians also practice in those rural regions.
In the domain of occupational therapy, the
Committee heard that shortages occur because the current system implemented to
predict health human-resources’ needs is insufficient. Another issue is that
the number of education seats for occupational therapy programs is not
sufficient to meet the current workforce demands because of inaccurate human resources’
projections. However, this decision to increase or decrease the number of seats
in a particular program is a provincial and territorial issue. Witnesses also
told the Committee that there are not enough positions available in colleges in
the nursing programs to meet the number of students’ applications.
At Algonquin College in the fall of 2011
there were 1,010 applications for practical nursing positions. There were 126
available positions. This is an occupation where you can get employment tomorrow,
yet approximately only one in nine was able to get in. These are qualified
students, by the way; they’re not the ones who didn’t qualify. In medical
radiation technology, which is another very important field with a huge demand,
there were 781 applications for 25 seats. So we have a
capacity issue. We’re under-investing. That’s a big message for you to think
about.
James Knight,
Association of Canadian Community Colleges
Under the Constitution Act, 1867, the
provincial level of government is granted the majority of legislative power in
the area of health care. Exclusive provincial responsibility is attributed to
the direct delivery of most medical services, the education of physicians, and
numerous related functions. Consequently, the capacity issue raised by witnesses related to college
programs in nursing as well as in occupational therapy would be a matter of
provincial jurisdiction. Nonetheless, witnesses told the Committee that there
is a need for better provincial planning, which could be facilitated by the
sharing of planning data and LMI which are in the hands of the federal
government.
In the domain of dentistry, the Committee
heard that there are no shortages of dentists in Canada. In 2007, Canada had 58
dentists per 100,000 residents, which is close to the OECD average of 61. Most
Canadians have access to dental care, but sometimes accessibility can be
difficult for a specific group of people most in need of dental care, such as
seniors, low-income segments of the population, people with special needs,
children and Aboriginal peoples.
Similar to other health professions, there is
a distribution issue of dentists in rural communities. The Canadian Institute
for Health Information reported that, although 21% of the population lives in
rural areas, only 11% of dentists reside in rural areas.
The Committee also heard from Dietitians of
Canada. The Committee was informed that only 22% of Canadians have access to
the services of a dietitian. Consequently, there is a shortage. The current
supply of registered dietitians is inadequate to meet the existing demand for
many reasons: the aging population; the prevention of chronic diseases; the high
obesity rate of Canadians; the promotion of healthy eating habits; vacancies
that need to be filled, particularly in remote, rural and northern communities;
and the high rate of retirement. The Committee heard that funding is limited to
support training, particularly in smaller communities. It was also said that
the Canadian Institute for Health Information tracks workforce data of six
health professions but that dietitians are not among them. Consequently, there
is a lack of reliable data about the workforce, and of accurate projections for
future human resources’ needs in this profession.
The Committee heard that we need a better and
more accurate data system that would allow all stakeholders to forecast and
plan efficiently the health human-resources’ demands, including for dietitians,
laboratory technicians and social workers. New graduates need to be matched
with available positions and informed of where the needs are in the country. Investing
in health human resources’ research to understand and optimize the resources
that are currently used in the health care system could also be helpful.
The consequences of this lack of
planning are evident. From 1988 to 2010, the number of post-graduate trainee
positions in geriatric medicine — care of the elderly — was essentially constant
at only 18 physicians, while the number of trainees in pediatric
medicine — childhood illnesses — increased by 58%, in clear contradiction to
the demographic trends.
John Haggie,
Canadian Medical Association
The Committee was also told that there is a
need to look at the participation and the productivity of nurses in the
workforce. A witness from the Canadian Nurses Association told the Committee
that the services that registered nurses can actually supply in a day is affected
by the model of care delivery in place, the composition of health teams, and
how efficiently health teams work together. By adopting different kinds of
models, such as telehealth, or employing nurse practitioners, the existing
supply of nurses can provide patient-centred care more efficiently.
In addition to increasing the productivity of
registered nurses, four policies were proposed by the Canadian Nurses
Association to reduce shortages among registered nurses: reducing their annual
absenteeism rate; increasing their enrolment in entry-to-practice education
programs; improving retention; and reducing attrition rates in
entry-to-practice programs.
The Committee was also informed that, in some
situations, there are models of practices that can lead to the need for fewer
specialists. For example, better prevention through the combined work of
occupational therapists and physiotherapists could decrease the need for
orthopaedic surgeons in some situations.
Lastly, the Committee heard about relying on
immigration to fill some of the skill gaps in health occupations. A witness
told the Committee that the Medical Council of Canada could offer qualifying
examination offshore in a number of languages to make the integration of
international physicians quicker and easier. It should be noted that this issue
was discussed when the Committee embarked on a study of the foreign
qualification recognition process in Canada on September 29, 2011. During that
study, witnesses underscored the importance of starting the foreign
qualification process in the country of origin by issuing more certificates and
licences to internationally trained physicians before they come to Canada so
that they are prepared when they arrive in Canada. Dietitians also mentioned to
the Committee that there is a growing number of internationally educated
dietitians that want to work in Canada and that need bridging programs to be
able to work in Canada.
Recommendation 9
The Committee recommends that the
Canadian Institute for Health Information continue its good work in tracking
and collecting workforce data in health professions, including the dietitians,
laboratory technicians and social workers professions on its list.
Skilled trades include occupations in various
sectors, such as natural resources, construction, manufacturing, but also in
the service industry. According to COPS, at the beginning of the projection
period, there was a surplus of chefs and cooks, and the number of new job
seekers was forecast to exceed the number of new job openings from 2011 to
2020. Butchers and bakers were balanced, but a surplus was anticipated
by 2020.
In the primary industry sector, underground
miners, oil and gas drillers and related workers were in balance and should
remain that way. Logging machinery operators showed a surplus, but a shortage
was anticipated between 2011 and 2020.
Machinists are in a similar situation, with a
surplus at the beginning of the projection period that will become a slight
shortage between 2011 and 2020. Electricians and electrical power line workers
were in balance, but will experience a more significant shortage from 2011 to
2020.
Still according to COPS, many of the
construction trades will experience a surplus between 2011 and 2020, such as
carpenters and cabinetmakers, as well as plumbers, pipefitters and gas fitters.
However, this general surplus may hide shortages in certain regions or in
certain jobs.
According to the Construction Sector Council,
between 2012 and 2020, the construction sector will need 319,000 new workers:
219,000 to replace retiring workers, and 100,000 to fill new openings. The
Council estimates that 163,000 graduates can be recruited, but an additional
156,000 workers will have to be found from other sectors or from outside of
Canada. Certain provinces, such as Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, will
most likely have slower growth in this area.
According to COPS, there may be a slight
shortage of mechanics, whether automotive service technicians, transportation
mechanics other than motor vehicle, or stationary machinery.
The 2009 labour market study noted that
employers were reporting approximately 13,000 unfilled positions and that 37%
of these were for automotive service technicians. Overall, 29% of employers in
the industry have one or more unfilled positions, and this is impacting
business growth.
Jennifer Steeves,
Canadian Automotive Repair and Service Council
Currently, the electricity sector
employs over 108,000 people, the majority of them highly skilled workers. Our
most recent labour market research published this January reports that employers
in the electricity sector will have to recruit over 45,000 new workers ... by
2016. … Advances in technology are also changing the skill profiles of
employees. The available workforce will not meet these labour requirements, and
employers need to look for and attract new recruits. There needs to be an
increasing focus on targeting under-represented groups such as immigrants,
women, and Aboriginal people .... We cannot replace the main infrastructure for
the system without making an equal investment in human resources. Human
resource investment should be seen as equivalent to capital investment and not
as a cost.
Michelle Branigan,
Canadian Electricity Association
It is clear today that skilled trades offer
jobs in construction and a variety of other industrial sectors that contribute
significantly to Canada’s economy. Three out of the oil and gas industry’s top
10 jobs are in the skilled trades, but negative misconceptions are still
prevalent about work in the trades, which is one of the causes preventing
students from choosing a career in that sector. Many witnesses talked about
skills shortages in the trades as being particularly challenging and stated
that shortages could be putting Canada’s economy at risk in the years ahead,
particularly in growing sectors such as the oil and gas industry and the mining
sector.
In fact Ernst and Young every year
publishes the global risks that are impacting the global mining sector, and the
labour shortage is now ranked as the number one risk for mining companies for
both the developed world and the developing world.
Ryan Montpellier,
Mining Industry Human Resources Council
The mining industry is a good example. A
third of its workforce is eligible to retire by 2016. Many of these employees
have been acquiring experience for the last 20 to
30 years. The industry faces major challenges to replace these long-term
employees, and attract job seekers to mining communities, which are for the
most part located in remote and/or rural regions of Canada. Nonetheless, action
has been taken for the last few years to address these challenges by reaching
out to youth from an early age to raise awareness as well as assist job seekers
in obtaining the skills they need to work in the industry, but a lot more needs
to be done.
Some of the difficulties faced by the people
who want to have a career in the skilled trades or those who are currently
working in a skilled trade sont: 1) The pace of technology advancements and
emerging technologies make it complicated for a tradesperson to stay current
while working full-time; 2) On-the-job training is not always available; 3) Many
employers expect their staff to upgrade their skills on their own time. 4) The
need for graduates and other job seekers to be job ready. The job applicant
must demonstrate that he or she possesses the foundational skills such as critical
thinking, the ability to communicate and business skills, which are
particularly important to owner-operated SMEs.
The 2009 labour market update,“Performance
Driven,” ... found that 58% of employers said that new hires were not job
ready. Because of the complexities of vehicle electronic systems and
engine/fuel systems, strong foundational skills in critical thinking/problem
solving are required. Not only do incumbents need to be able to carry out
diagnostics and repairs, they must understand why. So many vehicles
systems are interlinked now that if diagnostic, research and repair decisions
are not made with an understanding of how one element impacts others, it is very
hard to carry out the work properly. Information about new technologies,
current workplace demands, skills demands as well as access to tools and
training to support those preparing the future labour supply would support
their endeavours.
The Committee received a brief from the
Canadian Apprenticeship Forum discussing the importance of finding employers
who are willing to take on apprentices, and of raising their interest by
showing them that they have something to gain from
hiring apprentices.
The Committee heard of innovative solutions
such as sharing an apprentice among a number of SMEs. This kind of innovative
thinking on the part of employers is what Canada needs to respond to the
challenge of skills shortages. Sharing of best practices and forming
partnerships are definitely part of the solution.
Some witnesses also mentioned the issue of
mobility of apprentices in training across the country. Only those who have
received their Red Seal certification can train and work across the country.
This is a complex issue that touches on inter-jurisdictional regulations for
those in training on one end, but that also can be looked at from a different
point of view — that of the standardization of acquired competencies across
provinces
and territories.
On a regional basis, if southern
Ontario’s economy goes south in the steel industry, and I want to go finish my
apprenticeship in the west, I might find out that I have to repeat my second
year of trade school, because they don’t recognize it. They consider it
different, because it’s provincial.
With the Red Seal, once I have it, I’m
good. But as an apprentice, I’m left stranded without much support.
David Suess,
Canadian Apprenticeship Forum
Governments will need to address as many
barriers to apprenticeship as possible as there is a definite need to increase
Canada’s supply of workers in the skilled trades. This is why the Committee has
taken the decision to study the issue of economic opportunities for young
apprentices in more depth in the fall of 2012.
Job seekers train for the skills needed to
get a job within a specific sector of the industry; however, with the emergence
of new complex technologies, lifelong learning is as important as initial
learning. Educators at all levels must connect with employers to ensure the
curricula meet the short- and long-term expectations of those who are hiring
people in the skilled trades. Private sector engagement and a willingness to
hire an apprentice are some of the components to solving skills shortages in
the trades. Witnesses agreed that there is a need to clearly communicate the
business case outlining the benefits of hiring an apprentice. Many witnesses
claimed that industry groups and companies will need federal support if they
are to train more young people in the
skilled trades.
The Committee was told that there is a need
for governments, including the federal government, to participate in round
table discussions to address some of the barriers to apprenticeship. According
to the Canadian Construction Association, supporting apprenticeship training is
one of the most important strategies to tackle labour shortages in the skilled
trades.
Some witnesses raised the issue of the
Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit (AJCTC) being restricted to Red Seal
trades and also being taxable, as the employer must add it back into his
taxable income the year following the year he claimed the credit.
The AJCTC is a non-refundable tax credit equal to 10% of the eligible salaries
and wages payable to eligible apprentices in respect of employment after May 1,
2006. The maximum credit an employer can claim is $2,000 per year for each
eligible apprentice.
Many witnesses have asked for better tax incentives for employers to hire more
apprentices.
The federal government has introduced a
number of measures to assist apprentices. The Apprenticeship Incentive Grant
offers up to $2,000 to financially support the first two years of an
apprentice’s training in a Red Seal trade. The government also offers an
Apprenticeship Completion Grant worth $2,000 after an apprentice has obtained
the journeyperson qualification in a designated Red Seal trade.
The private sector is getting more involved
in finding solutions to skills shortages as they understand that it will aid
their businesses. Companies offer training to improve the skills of existing
workers and to better integrate new employees. They also invest in
technology-driven programs given at post-secondary institutions to ensure that
graduates from these programs will have the necessary skills to immediately
enter the workforce. Where such programs do not already exist, some companies
are investing in the development of partnerships between the private sector and
post-secondary institutions.
Employers in the skilled trades realize that
they must start planning for their future workforce early on. The Committee was
told that when companies plan special projects they must plan for the need to
get the right people on the job at the right time. In the same vein, the
President of the Canadian Construction Association told the Committee that it
has known it would face this tidal wave of retirements some 10 years ago, and
it has not taken measures to attract more people from under-represented groups
such as women, First Nations, Aboriginal peoples and youth. Canadian businesses,
associations and governments cannot afford to repeat this mistake.
Recommendation 10
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada undertake a review of its current tax credits for
apprentices and employers, particularly the Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax
Credit, to ensure that it continues to meet its objectives and outcomes.
Recommendation 11
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada support round table discussions with multi-stakeholder
panels that would be given the liberty to be creative and look at potential
innovative solutions to the problem of skilled trades shortages in specific
industrial sectors. For example, the idea of apprentice sharing among small and
medium enterprises is an innovative idea that could benefit the private sector,
the apprentices themselves and Canada’s economy.
Recommendation 12
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada work in partnership with stakeholders to determine if
there is need to create better incentives for employers to take on even more
apprentices for training, as well as to train and upgrade the skills of their
existing apprentices by providing more on-the-job training, while taking into
consideration the fact that the federal government currently has incentives for
employees to choose apprenticeship training, as well as tax credits to support
small and medium enterprises in hiring new workers.
Some shortages are to be expected in
lower-skilled occupations, especially in regions with rapid economic growth due
to development in the mining or oil and gas industries, or other sectors.
According to COPS, significant shortages (in
proportion to the current number of positions) are anticipated for cleaners
(light duty cleaners, caretakers and janitors), people employed in the “support
occupations in accommodation, travel and amusement services” category (e.g.,
hotel porters, amusement park attendants), the “other sales and related
occupations” category (e.g., service station attendant, grocery clerk), and
security guards and other elemental service occupations (e.g., tanning salon
attendant, laundry worker).
Less severe shortages are also anticipated
for wholesale trade sales representatives, cashiers and childcare and home
support workers.
COPS does not predict a shortage in occupations
in food and beverage services (e.g., servers, bartenders), but representatives
from the sector told the Committee that shortages are already in effect.
In our most recent restaurant outlook
survey, for the first quarter of 2012, 31% of restaurant respondents said that
a shortage of skilled labour is having a negative effect on their businesses,
and 14% said that a shortage of unskilled labour is having a negative effect on
their businesses.
Joyce Reynolds,
Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association
COPS does not anticipate a shortage for
agriculture and horticulture workers, or for people in fishing, hunting and
trapping occupations. However, some witnesses from these sectors told the
Committee that shortages were already occurring or would occur soon.
We have a significant shortfall — a
“deficit” is what we call it — of farm workers, something around 10%. That’s
twice the national average of all other occupations that we can find. That’s a
significant deficit.
Mervin Wiseman,
Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council
According to the Canadian Aquaculture
Industry Alliance, “The sector is growing and new positions are available every
week across the country. There is currently a shortage of skilled labour in the
farm production and post-production processing side of operations.” The main labour market need appears to be for skilled workers in
this industry.
Lower-skilled occupations in agriculture,
aquaculture and the service industry often involve physically demanding and
repetitive tasks. These occupations are generally paid less well than
occupations requiring post-secondary education.
For these reasons, some witnesses confirmed
that they had difficulty recruiting local workers for these positions. When the
Committee travelled to Western Canada, it heard from a restaurant owner who
confirmed that many of the restaurant’s employees were recruited from the Temporary
Foreign Worker Program (TFW). The same issue came up in the agriculture
industry, where employers often found workers to meet their labour needs mainly
through the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.
Witnesses also mentioned that a significant
number of people do not have the basic skills required to fill jobs, even lower-skilled
positions.
I don’t want to risk oversimplifying
things, but on a scale of one to five, levels one and two are the levels you’re
at when you’re learning to read and you’re gaining your foundational skills.
Once you attain skills and you’re functioning at level three and up, instead of
learning to read, you’re reading to learn. So there is a transition in how you
use those skills and how important they are to you. Requiring skills at level
three is the case not only for the knowledge-based economy but really across
all sectors of industry. Moving into the future, it is ever more evident that
people need to continuously upgrade their skills. The difficult reality we’re
facing as a nation — and I know this is perhaps not news to some of the
committee members — is that 43% of Canadians have literacy levels below level
three. As I just indicated, level three is that kind of cut-off point, such
that if you have skills lower than level three, you have difficulty
functioning..
Lindsay Kennedy,
Canadian Literacy and Learning Network
Ensuring that a larger percentage of
Canadians achieve higher levels of literacy and numeracy could help solve part
of the shortage problem for lower-skilled jobs, as even these positions may
require at least a level one or level two reading level. Basic reading and math
skills are taught in elementary and high school, which fall under provincial
jurisdiction. However, the federal government funds the Adult Learning,
Literacy and Essential Skills Program, which provides subsidies and funding to
various agencies that offer adult education. The anticipated cost of this
program is $21.5 million annually for the next few years.
It is also important to encourage young
people to acquire job experience in these fields so that they learn basic work
skills such as communication, customer relations and teamwork. Throughout the
Committee’s study, many witnesses pointed out that young people often lack
basic skills. Acquiring these skills can make it easier to move on to an
occupation requiring more qualifications, whether in the same company or
elsewhere.
This is especially true for people in groups that are underemployed.
One witness recommended “pilot projects aimed
at linking social programs to low skilled jobs as part of a laddering process
to higher learning, higher earning.”
Recommendation 13
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada review the resources allocated to the Adult Learning,
Literacy and Essential Skills Program to confirm the current levels are
sufficient to raise the basic skill level for adults.
Recommendation 14
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada identify ways to encourage young people to acquire work
experience in occupations with lower skills requirements (while pursuing their
studies), for example, by improving the Canada Summer Jobs program, if
possible. These jobs could also be accompanied by French- or
English-as-a-second-language training programs to provide young immigrants and
other young Canadians with the opportunity to improve their language skills.
The goal of these programs should be both to provide labour for low-skilled
jobs and to provide students with work and language skills that can help them
move into more highly skilled positions.
The Committee was told that youth are not
encouraged to go into the trades and are still told that this is what you do
when you cannot do anything else. As well, many students are apprehensive about
studying in STEM or ICT, or do not have the high school prerequisites necessary
to pursue post-secondary education in these fields. All stakeholders involved
need to raise awareness, tackle myths, clarify career opportunities and get
governments involved if supply is to meet labour market demand.
Negative perceptions about careers in
the trades as options of “last resort” do
not encourage youth — even those with natural tendencies to hands-on, creative
endeavours — to consider a career in the skilled trades.
Unfortunately, I think we’re still
battling negative perceptions of skilled trades. Mothers and fathers, and even
peers to a certain extent, still hold the view that there are not valuable
careers available in the skilled trades and technology areas.
Shaun Thorson,
Skills Canada
Demand for ICT
professionals is changing in very exciting ways, but this news is not getting
to the students, parents, and teachers who need it.
David Ticoll,
Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow’s ICT Skills
The majority of witnesses agreed that there
were lots of myths and misconceptions about job opportunities in STEM, ICT and
skilled trades. Many suggestions were put before the Committee to deal with
this matter, as it has led to skills shortages in these sectors across Canada.
Some believe that more internship and co-op programs offered by industries at
all educational levels will bring more youth and job seekers to choose a career
in these fields. This can only be accomplished if parents, educators, and
guidance counsellors come on board.
In Let’s Talk Science, we’re about
citizenship as well as employment, and it is a cultural attribute that is
embraced there. I believe that when parents are mobilized and understand the value
of science for their kids’ future and when you have a cascading mechanism to
have a vision that will align people’s work, you can get things done
very quickly.
Bonnie Schmidt,
Let’s Talk Science
The private sector has been involved in many
interesting activities to raise awareness among youth of the career
opportunities offered by industry. For example, the Committee heard about the
work done by Research in Motion whereby their staff visit elementary and high
schools to talk to children and youth about the reasons why they should learn
physics and math and how they will miss out on exciting careers if they do not
study these subjects. They give youth a hands-on experience by putting into
practice the use of these academic courses in the making of ICT products.
According to the Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow’s ICT Skills, we should:
Communicate today’s new narrative about
this exciting field. Tech careers now are very different from the boring, geeky
image of yesteryear. They appeal to every taste and interest. A quarter of the
jobs — from analysts to entrepreneurs and CEOs — are as much about business as
technology. Others combine information technology with life science, security,
analytics, marketing, gaming, art and design — you name it. Students, parents,
teachers and the public at large need to hear this new narrative.
One way to change attitudes toward certain
careers is launching exciting, innovative and interactive campaigns to reach
out to youth and job seekers.
The Committee heard from Skills Canada, a national organization created in
1994, which has as its mission to encourage and support a coordinated Canadian
approach to promoting skilled trades and technologies to youth. Each year
competitions are held for the best of the best in a great number of skilled
trades; which is very motivating and rewarding for students who get to test
their talent in an existing and competitive environment.
Another interesting interactive program
offered during the national competitions held by Skills Canada is Try-a-Trade
and Technology Demonstrations where students and youth can literally try their
hands at different small projects related to a specific trade.
This may raise their curiosity in a particular skilled trade that they would
not have thought of before as a potential career.
The federal government also assists young
people, particularly youth at risk, to make informed decisions about their
future through the Youth Employment Strategy.
The Government of Canada spends more than $330 million annually to achieve this
goal.
In addition, Budget 2012 announced an extra
$50 million to be spent over the next two years on a new initiative that
consists of two programs: the Skills Link and Career Focus Programs. Career Focus will provide funding for post-secondary graduates to
gain experience in a career-related occupation that belongs to a group of
occupations that are in high demand. The additional dollars invested will also
help youth who are facing barriers to employment to get job-ready and develop
the skills required to find and retain a job.
Recommendation 15
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada continue to support the development of career awareness
activities for educators, youth, parents, guidance counsellors and the general
public, particularly activities created by the private sector to motivate youth
to choose high demand occupations.
Recommendation 16
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada make labour market information available to high school
guidance counsellors in a way that is relevant to the role they have to play
guiding youth’s future. Understanding clearly the information shared with them,
guidance counsellors can transfer the information to youth and parents and make
sure that they are more aware of future
job opportunities.
Recommendation 17
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada build awareness about the extent of career opportunities
in the sectors discussed in this report. For example, the government can
communicate the value of apprenticeship certification for journeypersons,
businesses, and consumers; and showcase professions and the exciting careers
available in sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics and information and
communications technology to improve the reputation of careers in these fields
and increase the number of people who will choose a career in these growing
sectors of the economy.
Immigration is one of the important solutions
raised by witnesses to address skills and labour shortages. Several of them
nevertheless pointed out that it is important to focus on solutions to
shortages aimed at helping unemployed Canadians find work, since the number of
unemployed workers exceeds the number of available jobs. These solutions,
discussed elsewhere in the report, include having better LMI and providing more
training so that Canadians can learn skills that match the needs of employers.
With five unemployed workers for every
job available, our main problem remains unemployment, pure and simple. This is
not to say, though, that any gap between available jobs and workers who are
qualified to do them is acceptable. It's not. Let me assure you that if
unemployed workers had the means to identify where the jobs were and then had
access to training required to do those jobs, they would jump at the chance.
Quite simply, if we find there is a shortage of workers with the skills
required to fill a specific job, the answer is to train those workers.
Kenneth V. Georgetti,
Canadian Labour Congress
The TFW Program and permanent immigration are
two different streams that can bring talent to Canada to address the skills
shortages.
The ability to welcome TFWs in Canada is
important to the businesses who wish to recruit the best talents as rapidly as
possible in order to remain competitive and continue to grow in Canada. The TFW
program helps fill vacant positions. Employers willing to use this program are
required to show that they made the necessary efforts to fill these vacant
positions with the local workforce. HRSDC provides labour market opinions
(LMOs), approving these demands or not.
Witnesses informed the Committee that there
is a need to obtain LMOs more rapidly and that recent changes implemented by
HRSDC and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to the TFWs program have
created additional barriers to employing foreign workers quickly.
The departments have introduced other
policy changes, including new minimum recruiting requirements, the elimination
of LMO [labour market opinion] extension applications—thus requiring new
recruitment even to extend an existing work permit—much shorter validity
periods for existing LMOs, and a reduction in the length of time for work
permits. At the same time, both departments have become much more stringent in
their review processes.
Jason Kee,
Entertainment Software Association of Canada
In any event, other witnesses said that the
TFWs program is essential and efficient.
Last year, over 24,000 LMOs were
approved for food service jobs. The biggest demand was for food counter
attendants, kitchen helpers, and related occupations. This was followed by
cooks, food service supervisors, and food and beverage servers. If it weren’t
for the temporary foreign worker [TFW] program, some operators would have had
to close their doors. The TFW program has helped our members to stabilize their
businesses and retain their domestic employees because it has reduced the chaos
that resulted from under-staffed restaurants.
Joyce Reynolds,
Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association
The Committee heard that the permanent
immigration system mostly brings the highest level workers on the skills,
education, and job experience ladder. However, high demand jobs in SMEs are
often at the entry level, semi-skilled level or in the trades. Therefore, the
permanent immigration system does not entirely meet the needs of SMEs.
The Government of Canada has created the
Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP). Individuals that apply under the FSWP
are selected as permanent residents based on their ability to become
economically established in Canada. Applicants under the FSWP are assessed
against a number of points on a selection grid and must receive a certain
number of points to qualify for immigration.
In July 2012, CIC implemented a pause to
applications under this program. In particular, this can be explained by the
implementation of the revised FSWP selection criteria and the establishment of
the new Skilled Trades Program under the FSWP.
The purpose of these changes is referred to by CIC as a modernization of the
FSWP selection criteria and an updated distribution of the points of the grid
in order to improve the selection of skilled immigrants. Some of the proposed
changes refer to language requirements, education, the value awarded to
Canadian and foreign work experience and the age of immigrants coming to
Canada.
Immigrants, particularly in the five years
following their arrival in Canada, have a higher unemployment rate (14.2% for
recent immigrants compared to 7.4% for the total population in 2011). The longer immigrants are in Canada, the more their job situation improves,
because they make contacts, improve their language skills, get their
credentials recognized or acquire job experience in Canada.
In certain industries, it is difficult to
employ newcomers because of their lack of experience or knowledge of the
specific position available. Their credentials are also hard to have recognized
in Canada and employers have difficulties assessing their foreign experience.
Different education and training systems may also make comparisons difficult.
Language is also a problem for immigrants with a lack of fluency in English and/or
French. Consequently, some of these factors may lead to skilled immigrants
being unemployed or underemployed in Canada.
The Government of Canada has improved the
foreign credential recognition process, making it faster and more flexible in
order to meet labour market needs. Incidentally, the Committee has tabled a
report on this topic in March 2012 which included several recommendations.
In order to help newcomers’ integration in
the Canadian labour market, the private sector and governments are offering
immigrant bridging programs in partnership with immigrant serving organizations.
New immigrants are helped in their search for jobs and informed about ethics at
work and Canadian culture, among others.
We have an immigration portal on which
we have some 120 occupational profiles, as well as a variety of other tools
that immigrants can use in combination with our ECO Canada
job board. We are Canada’s largest electronic job board. We post approximately
120 new jobs every month on that site.
Grant Trump,
Environmental Careers Organization of Canada
Engineers
Canada presented to the Committee a good example of projects developed to
facilitate the integration of international engineering graduates into the
profession and the Canadian workforce. The international engineering graduate
road map was mentioned as being a one-stop resource to help and support the
international engineering graduates licensing process in Canada. Another example is the project
“From Consideration to Integration”, which was also developed in partnership
with HRSDC to help new immigrants understand the Canadian labour system.
We actually have success stories on our
website, which are available to have a look at.
Just before
Christmas, I was at a Professional Engineers Ontario function, and a fellow
came up to me and gave me his card. He said, “I came here as an immigrant. I
got through the licensing program with no problem”— he was a structural
engineer — “and I now own my own business. I’m hiring immigrant engineers, and
if you need to show somebody a success story, I’m it.”
The first time
Hatch called me I suggested they try Ireland, because we have a mutual
recognition agreement with Engineers Ireland, so somebody registered with
Engineers Ireland gets recognized fairly easily in Canada. When he phoned me
yesterday, he said he had managed to mine all of the engineers that he could
out of Ireland, and now he needed to go somewhere else for that.
There are a lot
of success stories out there.
Marie Carter,
Engineers Canada
In addition, the Committee heard about the
investments made by certain groups to improve the integration of immigrants by
the creation of portals or by offering efficient information tools. For
example, the Environmental Careers Organization of Canada has created, in
partnership with certain provinces and local immigration organizations, an
immigrant bridging initiative involving a 180-hour classroom training session
explaining Canadian work norms and ethics with an immigration portal that
offers numerous resources to immigrants.
Recommendation 18
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada continue to organize meetings with stakeholders so that
they can present the changes they would like to make to the Temporary Foreign
Worker Program; and that the government evaluate these proposals and implement
them if they are deemed appropriate.
Recommendation 19
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada examine the possibility of offering better opportunities
for temporary foreign workers to eventually become permanent immigrants.
Recommendation 20
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada review its international recruitment programs and ensure
that it establishes Canada as the destination for talent. It should also
continue to provide incentives to knowledge workers who want to move to Canada.
Recommendation 21
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada act on the March 2012 report by the Standing Committee on
Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with
Disabilities entitled A Framework for Success: Practical Recommendations to
Further Shorten the Foreign Qualification Recognition Process.
At many of the Committee’s meetings, one of
the proposed solutions to meet future labour needs that kept coming up was to
increase the participation and employment rates for certain groups that are
under-represented in the labour market in general or in certain professions in
particular. Some of the anticipated shortages could be fixed by increasing the
overall participation rate in the Canadian economy, if the participation rates
of under-represented groups were increased.
Table 1 compares the participation,
unemployment and employment rates of men and women, taken from data from the
2011 Labour Force Survey, while Table 2 shows these same rates for
Aboriginal peoples and persons with a disability, taken from data from the 2006
Census and the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (these
data are not available in the Labour Force Survey). The participation
rate for women is lower than for men, but the unemployment rate for men is
higher.
Table 1 – Participation Rate and Employment Rate, by Sex,
Canada, 2011
Group |
Participation Rate |
Unemployment Rate |
Employment Rate |
Men
Women |
71.5
62.3 |
7.8
7.0 |
65.9
57.9 |
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour
Force Survey, CANSIM table 282-0002.
Note: The participation rate refers
to the labour force (the number of employed and unemployed individuals) divided
by the population aged 15 or older (non-labour force participants are not
looking for work). The unemployment rate refers to the number of unemployed
individuals divided by the labour force. The employment rate refers to the
number of employed individuals divided by the population aged 15 or older.
The participation rate for Aboriginal people
is not that much lower than the rate for the overall population; however, their
unemployment rate is much higher. Persons with a disability have both a lower
participation rate and a higher unemployment rate
than average.
Table 2 – Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate and
Employment Rate,
Selected Groups, Canada, 2006
Group |
Participation Rate |
Unemployment Rate |
Employment Rate |
Aboriginal identity population
Non-Aboriginal identity population |
63.0
66.9 |
14.8
6.3 |
53.7
62.7 |
Persons with a disability
Persons without a disability |
59.7
80.6 |
10.4
6.8 |
53.5
75.1 |
Source: Statistics Canada, 2006
Census, topic-based tabulations; Statistics Canada, Participation
and Activity Limitation Survey 2006: Labour Force Experience of People with
Disabilities in Canada, Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division.
Another potential labour pool is mature
workers. Figure 1 shows the participation rate of older workers by gender.
From 1976 to the late 1990s, the participation rate of older men dropped due to
an earlier average retirement age. Since then, their participation rate has
increased, given that the average retirement age increased slightly. The
retirement age for older women generally followed the same trend, but their
participation rate increased over the entire period, given the flood of women
entering the labour force in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2011, approximately one in
two people aged 60 to 64 (men and women) were inactive on the labour market,
compared with one in six people aged
50 to 54.
Figure 1 – Participation Rate of Mature Workers, By Sex,
1976 to 2011
Source: Prepared by the authors
using data obtained from Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, CANSIM
Table 282-0002.
Attempting to draw more women or men toward a
profession (e.g., women in IT, men in nursing) may help solving shortages in
particular occupations, but would not solve the overall problem if the
participation rate for all of Canada’s labour force does not increase.
Nevertheless, the Committee was informed that,
although women comprised
47% of the total workforce, they comprised only 13% of the engineering
workforce and about 10% of the licensed professional engineers in the country. In
addition the Committee heard that the plateau of females pursuing engineering
contrasts with the rise of female participation in other previously
male-dominated occupations, such as law and medicine. For example, in the
20-year period from 1986 to 2006, the proportion of women who were lawyers and
doctors increased by almost 17% and about 13.5% respectively, whereas for
engineers it increased by only 6%.
Natural sciences and engineering make up
a very broad field. There is a high proportion of women in biology — about 60%
of the people in that field are women — but when you get to computer science or
engineering, the numbers go down to less than 30%, and sometimes 20%, so even
within our fields, it’s a very varied situation. Overall, the proportion of
women is very low in science and engineering.
Isabelle Blain,
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
To fix the skills gap, the engineering
profession is taking gender-oriented action and is looking more closely to the
under-represented groups in engineering — women and Aboriginal peoples — to
ensure diversity.
More programs need to encourage the
participation of women in science and engineering. For example, the Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada has developed the “Chairs
for women in science and engineering program.”
The goal of the program is to increase the participation of women in science
and engineering, to provide role models and to create better communication and
a network to ensure a regional and national impact on opportunities for women
in science
and engineering.
Even if the culture in certain industries has
changed, there is still more work to be done to attract women. Certain
industries are deploying efforts to offer a good work-life balance to all
employees, but with a special focus on women. The Committee heard that many
large companies establish as a priority work conditions that will appeal to
women.
The Committee heard from the Canadian Council
of Technicians and Technologists, which stated that only 18.3% of women work as
technicians or technologists and that efforts are made to increase interest in
the profession.
The Committee was
also informed that there is almost an equal representation of boys and girls in
grades 1 to 12. However, at the university level, there is an important
gender divide in natural sciences and engineering. More women need to be
attracted in these domains of studies. Some witnesses also told the Committee
that there is a need to focus on boys studying sciences in high school to keep
them interested and decrease their risk of dropping out of these programs. This
explains why some schools no longer have gender-specific programming.
The Committee was also told that
school-to-work programs are great initiatives to promote non-traditional jobs
to women without a gender-specific focus. In those school-to-work programs,
opportunities are given to students so they can see and experience what a job
is really like in a concrete practice setting.
For the
under-represented groups — and I’ll speak to women in trades — again, it’s the
school-to-work. The successful ones are where you’ve engaged — I’ll speak to
women — the young female in their secondary school
years, you’ve given them some opportunity to come in to work and they
understand the job, what they’re getting into, and the commitment ahead of
time.
As an employer,
it gives us a chance to shop before we buy. And they get comfortable with the
job and the environment. I think one of the things is
no matter how hard we try, the work environment is not always the most
conducive to some of the under-represented groups. I know as an employer, it’s
something we focus on a lot. Jobs can be dirty, and when you’re down in the
middle of a shutdown at two o’clock in the morning and you’re covered in
grease, that’s not for everybody. It’s not just a gender issue there.
Davis Suess,
Canadian Apprenticeship Forum
Aboriginal peoples’ labour market outcomes
must be improved without delay to ensure that a whole generation of Aboriginal
youth do not miss out on the opportunities resulting from a lack of skilled
workers on major projects operating near
Aboriginal communities.
The Aboriginal labour force in British
Columbia signifies an available labour pool, with census and statistical data
depicting aboriginal growth rates as the highest in Canada, a source for new
labour market entrants. We deem it critical full consideration be given to the
unique dynamics of preparing the Aboriginal labour force to fill high demand,
technical occupations.
Where First Nations living on reserve are
concerned, the federal government has the responsibility to ensure that
education, employment services, skills development and training truly prepare
youth to be job ready and meet the high demand for skilled trades, technical
occupations and other professions.
We need to scale the effort to ensure
that we’re not leaving anybody behind. Let’s Talk Science starts in a sandbox
with programs for child care centres. We’ve had some really interesting stories
coming out of the aboriginal head start sites on reserve. We’ve been shocked at
the uptake by that community with some of our early science programs for young
children.
Once that interest is sparked early on,
we have to nurture it throughout kindergarden right through to grade 12. We
need to make better connections to jobs all along the way.
The effort won’t be wasted, because jobs in every field benefit from
analytical, curious, and critical thinkers.
Dr Bonnie Schmidt,
Let’s Talk Science
Education plays a paramount role in improving
employment rates; however, far too many Aboriginal students drop out of high
school. In 2006, 34% of Aboriginal peoples between the ages of 25 and
64 had not completed high school, compared to 15% among the general
population. The education gap was even higher for Inuit and First Nations
peoples living on reserves. Among those groups, approximately half of the
adults had not completed their high school education. Despite this, a growing
number of Aboriginal peoples are attending and completing post-secondary
education. In 2006, 14% had trades credentials, 19% had a college diploma and
8% had a university degree.
In Budget 2012, the federal government made
strong commitments to improve educational programs and training for First
Nations. The Economic Action Plan 2012 provides for $275 million over 3 years
to support First Nations education and build and renovate schools on reserves.
This amount includes $100 million over 3 years for the provision of early
literacy programs and other supports and services to enhance the relationship
between First Nations schools and the provincial school systems. In a very
important step forward, the government also committed to work in partnerships
with interested parties to create a First Nations education act and see the
passage of this legislation by September 2014.
However, funding for early learning and
elementary education is only one solution. Aboriginal students must overcome
numerous barriers to post-secondary education. According to a study published
by the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation, some of the barriers they have
to face include inadequate financial resources; poor academic preparation; a
lack of self-confidence and motivation; an absence of role models who have
post-secondary education; a lack of understanding of Aboriginal culture; and
racism. The Committee also heard about the challenges facing young Aboriginal students
who need to leave home, sometimes for the first time, to attend post-secondary
education.
This transition phase is critical, and youth should be fully supported
throughout the whole journey if they are to complete post-secondary education.
The situation is dire, but it can get better
if policies that target education-related activities take into consideration
the whole environment. The issues are complex and the problems must be looked
at holistically. Programming must also consider the regional demand for
enhanced technology, as well as location, language and cultural differences.
Partnerships between various groups are essential in order to overcome the
numerous barriers to post-secondary education faced by Aboriginal peoples.
Some witnesses suggested that the best way to
attract some under-represented groups such as Aboriginal peoples is to devise
strategies to reach out to them in their own communities and provide career
awareness, training, and educational programs. It is particularly important to
connect with people living in remote locations via mobile remote training
stations that allow direct interaction. Online learning tools can also be used,
as we live in a world of global connectedness. However, remote locations must
have access to high-speed Internet before this is possible. Broadband
connectivity is discussed in the Committee’s last report, Skills Development
in Remote Rural Communities in an Era of Fiscal Restraint.
The Government of Canada offers a number of
Aboriginal programs, including the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training
Strategy (ASETS) and the Skills and Partnership Fund (SPF), which are separate
yet complementary programs. ASETS began on April 1, 2010 and will end
in March 2015. It is funded at $1.6 billion over 5 years.
The main goal of ASETS is to ensure that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis
peoples secure meaningful employment in the Canadian labour market.
Most witnesses thought that ASETS was a great
strategy as shown by its successful results: there have been an increasing
number of Aboriginal peoples who have improved their knowledge and found
employment. However, one witness did mention the administrative burden that
ASETS holders have to overcome and that this situation has resulted in more
time filling out forms than helping clients.
Regarding the administrative burden of
the new ASETS, I will simply note that the number of reports requested by HRSDC
and Service Canada throughout the year, the quality of new information to be
provided, the number of amendments to be made, and the number of actions and
decisions to explain and justify ensure the continuous increase in the workload
related to accountability. We wonder if there is no limit to what the federal
government will require in return for the funding provided through ASETS. Worse
still, the latitude given to those who require and validate these reports and
who are responsible for interpreting the requirements as we go along also seems
unlimited.
The irony here
is that all these measures that are meant to ensure the profitability of the
ASETS end up reducing its effectiveness, since the impact of accountability
measures is mostly felt on the front line, in our service points, where the
lack of human resources continues to lead to the difficult choice between
quality services and
administrative duties.
Cheryl McDonald,
First Nations Human Resources Development Commission of Quebec
The SPF shares the same objective as ASETS
and is targeted to the same population. The SPF is a demand-driven,
partnership-based program that offers funding to “projects that encourage
innovation, partnerships and new approaches for delivery of employment services.” It was launched in July 2010 with a budget of $210 million over 5 years. One of
the goals of this fund is the acquisition of skills that lead Aboriginal
workers to access long-term employment. This program is only in its early
years, but it is expected that it will show very good outcomes by 2015.
AANDC offers financial assistance to promote
access to post-secondary education among Inuit and First Nations students
residing on or off reserve. The Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP) and the University College Entrance Preparation Program provide assistance to cover the cost of tuition, books, travel and living
expenses, when applicable. They are the main two programs covering student
costs.
The federal government, through its Youth
Employment Strategy, offers a program called Skills Link, which is designed to
reach under-represented groups such as Aboriginal youth, recent immigrants, and
young people living in rural and remote areas, people with disabilities, and
youth who have dropped out of high school. Under this program, employers and
organizations can apply for funding to assist them in delivering projects at
the local and regional levels. Until March 31, 2014, the program will have a
specific focus on skills development activities that support the acquisition of
digital skills and/or work experience activities that require the application
of these skills.
AANDC offers the First Nations and Inuit
Skills Link Program, whose goal is to support projects that will help youth
acquire the essential skills to make them job ready and more likely to be
employed. The program also wants to raise awareness among Aboriginal youth of
all the various career options available to them. To promote the benefits of
education, the program supports projects such as “career fairs, co-operative
activities and other school-based work and study opportunities.” For example, the program supports National Science Camps that brings together
First Nations and Inuit youth from across Canada to conduct activities that aim
to foster their interest in science and technology.
Employers play an important role in raising
awareness, skills development, training, as well as hiring and retaining
Aboriginal workers. For example, the Committee heard witnesses describe the
business practices of Cameco in northern Saskatchewan as some of the best
practices in Canada. Witnesses indicated that the investments of Cameco make it
a leader in reaching out to Aboriginal peoples, training and hiring them.
Cameco is the largest industrial employer of Aboriginal peoples in Canada and
has also
done outstanding work in attracting and developing apprentices in the province
of Saskatchewan.
Recommendation 22
The Committee recommends to the
Government of Canada that it continue to work in partnership with Aboriginal
leaders to find innovative ways to reach out to Aboriginal children and youth
to raise their awareness of the benefits of an education and the exciting
career options open to them. As well, it is crucial for Aboriginal young people
to be aware of who are the employers hiring in their region and what skills
they require of their employees.
Recommendation 23
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada support the Aboriginal Skills Employment Training Strategy
agreement holders who wish, in collaboration with Aboriginal communities, to
explore best practices to ensure that the education available to Aboriginal
peoples meets the standards for high demand and technical professions.
Education available on reserve should allow any Aboriginal youth to pursue
education leading them to meet the demand for an apprenticeship, various
skilled trades, or a career in information and communication technologies,
sciences, technology, engineering, mathematics or the health sector.
According to the latest Statistics Canada
Participation and Activity Limitation Survey conducted in 2006, about 4.4
million Canadians reported some form of activity limitation, representing a disability
rate of 14.3% of the total population. Disability rates increase with age and the survey revealed that Canadians aged
65 and over had a disability rate of 43.4% in 2006. As Canada’s population is
aging, we can expect the incidence of disability to continue to rise.
The rate of disability is even higher among
Aboriginal peoples. According to a 2007 federal disability report, it was
estimated that some 30% of Aboriginal peoples have a disability. It is clear that the disability rate among Aboriginal peoples with disabilities
is higher than that of the non-Aboriginal population, and may well be above 30%
today.
ASETS agreement holders have been given the
flexibility to use some of their funding to address barriers to education and
employment faced by Aboriginal students with disabilities. Aboriginal peoples
with disabilities may also access training programs for people with
disabilities offered through HRSDC. There is no denying that persons with
disabilities have lower employment rates and lower incomes compared with
persons without disabilities. Yet many of them want to work either full-time or
part-time, depending on the severity of their disability and the willingness of
employers to hire and support employees with the work accommodation they may
need. Employers may find that, in the end, they needed to invest very little to
gain a loyal and productive employee. The employment rate of people with
disabilities also improves with their level of education. However, many people
with disabilities who have completed a post-secondary education still find it
difficult to enter the workforce.
While dealing with labour gaps directly
affecting persons with disabilities is not BioTalent Canada’s specific mandate,
of those companies surveyed, research indicated that only 21.9% have hired
persons with disabilities. In other words, persons with disabilities
is a labour pool whose full potential is not currently being realized in
Canada’s
bio-economy.
Robert Henderson,
BioTalent Canada
In fact the employment success of disabled
persons is very low. The numbers are not good at all. In fact, they’re
something of an embarrassment. ...
Another problem is the reluctance of
employers to employ disabled people. That is another issue. If we are
graduating more disabled learners, we must work on the employment side. We must
educate employers to the benefits of disabled workers. I think it’s an area
that needs considerable focus.
James Knight,
Association of Canadian Community Colleges
As with other groups under-represented in the
labour force, the federal government offers programs targeted directly at
integrating people with disabilities into the Canadian workforce. It also
offers important income security programs. However, it should be noted that
people with disabilities depend on provincial/territorial governments’ funding
for most of their disability supports and for the delivery of employment
services.
It is estimated that the Government of
Canada, through the Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities,
transferred over $222 million in 2011-2012 to provincial governments for
the delivery of employment benefits and support measures to help people with
disabilities develop the skills needed in today’s workplace, as well as find
and retain employment. The federal government will contribute 50% of the cost
incurred by the provinces as outlined in each bilateral agreement.
In addition, funding is available to assist
with the cost of a post-secondary education. People with disabilities can
receive financial assistance through the Canada Student Loans Program, the
Canada Study Grant for the Accommodation of Students with Permanent
Disabilities, and the Canada Access Grant for Students with Permanent
Disabilities. According to the Canada Student Loans Program Annual Report
2010-2011, students with permanent disabilities received 20,613 grants for
a total of $38.6 million that same year, representing an increase from
2009-2010, when students with permanent disabilities received 18,135 grants
worth a total of $33.8 million.
The Social Development Partnerships Program
Disability component, created in 1998, is a grants and contributions program
with the objective of supporting activities undertaken by non-profit social
agencies that promote the inclusion of people with disabilities as full
citizens in Canadian society. In 2011-2012, the federal government forecasted
spending on the Social Development Partnerships Program as a whole was $22.7
million; disability is only one component of the program.
Skills Link helps various youth populations
facing barriers to employment, including young persons with disabilities, to
develop the necessary skills and work experience they need to participate in
Canada’s labour market. The program offers a range of activities and services
that can be customized to meet an individual’s specific needs and provides more
comprehensive assistance over a longer period of time.
The Opportunities Fund for Persons with
Disabilities (OF) was founded in 1997 with a budget of $30 million under
the responsibility of HRSDC. The OF has been renewed ever since with the same
annual budget of $30 million, of which approximately $4 million goes to
operating costs. The forecasted spending for 2011-2012 according to HRSDC’s
Report on Plans and Priorities will be $26.8 million. Funding is
distributed to regional and national projects that help people with
disabilities prepare for, find and retain employment, or become self-employed.
An agreement for funding cannot last more than three years. National projects are
selected via a call for proposals process. As part of the Economic Action Plan 2012, the government sets out to improve
labour market opportunities for people with disabilities by investing an
additional $30 million over 3 years in the OF. This additional funding will be
targeted at helping persons with disabilities gain experience working with
SMEs, and will highlight the invaluable contribution these workers can make to
businesses and the Canadian economy.
In July 2012, the Honourable Diane Finley,
Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and the Honourable Jim
Flaherty, Minister of Finance, announced that, as part of the government’s
Economic Action Plan 2012, a “Panel on Labour Market Opportunities for Persons
with Disabilities” would be set up to identify some of the private sector
success stories and best practices related to the integration of people with
disabilities into the workforce. The Panel will also look at barriers and
disincentives to full-time or part-time employment of persons with
disabilities. The Panel is set to submit its final report to both the Minister
of Finance and the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development in
December 2012.
Recommendation 24
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada ensure that some grants and contributions be designated to
support projects that prepare people with disabilities for jobs in high demand
with a good living wage and that better meet their skills and the knowledge
gained through post-secondary education.
Recommendation 25
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada review the need to provide an incentive to employers for
reducing barriers to employment for people with disabilities. It should be
taken into consideration that most work accommodation is either low cost or
actually is only a change in the business practices such as flexible work
hours.
Recommendation 26
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada share the conclusions of the Panel on Labour Market
Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities with this committee as soon as
possible after it tables its report to the Minister of Finance and the Minister
of Human Resources and Skills Development.
The majority of witnesses who appeared before
the Committee agreed that the Canadian workforce is facing a major challenge with
an aging population and an increasing number of workers reaching the age of
retirement. In part, the way to respond to these challenges is to create
incentives for mature workers to continue to work either part-time or
full-time, and to assist mature workers who are unemployed to develop the
skills they need to find a job in the current labour market. Thousands of
replacement workers will be required if companies are to replace all retirees
over the next 5 to 10 years; that is in addition to the increased demand for
highly qualified workers following a scenario of continued economic growth and
globalization.
As skills shortages continue to grow in
certain industries, employers must develop retention strategies that offer
mature workers flexible work hours, employee benefits tailored to their needs,
and a system that can capture the knowledge of some workers who may have been
in the industry for a very long time.
In industries where skills, knowledge and
experience are in high demand, mature workers can be mentors, sharing years of
knowledge obtained on the job with young graduates. Mentorships, as stated many
times by witnesses, are important relationships that help young graduates make
the transition from studying to working. Mentorships are a win-win solution;
young graduates gain the experience and the workplace knowledge they so
desperately need to make it in today’s labour market, and mature workers play
on their strengths teaching the next generation, at the same time saving the
company a lot of dollars in training.
The Government of Canada announced in 2011
that it would extend the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers until March 31,
2014, at a cost of $48 million over 2 years. Many older unemployed workers are
looking for work and need assistance adapting to the labour market. It is well
known that many workers who had been working for the same company for 20 to 30
years lost their jobs when major companies shut down in the last
five years. They are now unemployed, and some may not have the foundational and
technological skills needed to seek employment in today’s knowledge economy.
Lastly, is the Targeted Initiative for
Older Workers Program that is delivered through Yukon College’s Whitehorse
campus and six other community campuses. The program provides opportunities for
individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 to develop employment skills and
identify job suitability and goals. Funding for this program is made available
by the Government of Canada and Yukon government’s Community Training Funds.
This program has been very popular in Yukon and there is usually a waiting list
of individuals wanting to participate.
In the Economic Action Plan 2012, the government
indicates that it will extend and expand the ThirdQuarter project at a cost of
$6 million over 3 years. This project was at the outset an initiative led by
the Manitoba Chamber of Commerce and launched in
14 communities. The goal is to help employers connect with experienced workers
age 50 and over. An online forum makes it easier to match supply and demand.
The outcomes of the ThirdQuarter project were very good; 900 mature workers
found employment.
In addition, the federal government made it easier for
older workers to remain in the workplace should they wish to do so. It is
making changes to the Canada Pension Plan and providing flexibility in the Old Age Security program for those who want to
postpone retirement. For example, older workers will be provided with the
option of working longer (up until age 70) and receiving higher annual
benefits.
Recommendation 27
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada create incentives (e.g., flexible work arrangements,
skills development and financial incentives) for older workers wishing to defer
retirement and support work-to-retirement transition programs.
Recommendation 28
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada continue to monitor the impact of phased-in retirement.
Particularly, the federal government should follow closely the evolution of the
Canada Pension Plan changes, which will not be fully implemented until 2016. It
should ensure that these changes support older workers who want to continue to
work.
Recommendation 29
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada raise awareness about promising best practices to retain
mature workers in the workforce including mentorship programs, flexible work
arrangements (e.g., telework and reduced work hours), and flexibility through
changes in the pension system.
One reason that labour shortages occur is
that the number of positions available in a certain occupation and area exceeds
the number of qualified candidates that are available in that region. There may
be qualified candidates in other regions, but they may not necessarily want to
move. Deep regional ties, language differences (e.g., moving from an Anglophone
region to a Francophone region or vice versa), moving costs and service
availability (basic infrastructure, childcare facilities, public transport,
cinemas, etc.) in the destination region are all reasons that restrict labour
mobility.
Another challenge in recruiting people to a
region is that their spouses need job opportunities as well.
When you’re recruiting someone to a
rural community, you’re not just recruiting the clinician; you’re recruiting
the family. Recognizing that it does take a while to produce a fellow of the
Royal College or the College of Family Physicians of Canada, you’re looking at
really attracting the whole family. So you’re looking for employment for the
spouse or their partner, and they want good schools for their children.
Danielle Fréchette,
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Some witnesses mentioned that the lack of
affordable housing and rental properties in rural regions that are experiencing
an economic boom limits labour mobility and prevents positions from being
filled.
The greatest deterrent to attracting
labour to Estevan and many other southeast Saskatchewan communities has been an
ongoing shortage and lack of development of rental housing properties. While
housing starts in Estevan have been leading the
province on a per capita basis, the great majority of development has been in
condominium and single house development.
Michel Cyrenne,
Estevan Chamber of Commerce
A lack of qualification recognition between
provinces can also impede labour mobility. However, since amendments were made
to Chapter 7 of the Agreement on Internal Trade, provinces must recognize
certificates of qualification from another province unless they can prove that
there are significant differences between the certification requirements. This
reduces this kind of problem, especially in regulated occupations.
While the Committee travelled in Eastern
Canada, a witness stated that a lot of transportation costs of moving to
another region to work were not tax deductible.
One witness supported the idea of creating a tax credit for travel and lodging
if a person must work more than 80 km from his or her residence. Another
witness mentioned the importance of offering financial assistance to help
unemployed people, for example seasonal employees, who would be willing to
relocate to a region with more
job opportunities.
One of the things that
our industry has been calling for, and, indeed, this committee recommended, was
to provide either some tax incentives through the Income Tax Act or some
support for relocation expenses through the EI system for workers relocating on
a temporary basis. And as I said earlier, a lot of projects that we will be
doing in the future in the resource sector are going to be in very remote
areas, and we’re going to need a workforce for a temporary time in that area.
Unfortunately, right now there is not a support network to limit or mitigate
the expenses incurred by workers going into areas on a temporary basis, when
they still have a principal residence to maintain at home.
So that’s one area where we think there could be some assistance.
Michael Atkinson,
Canadian Construction Association
Some Committee members believe that these
suggestions should be considered in greater detail. It is also important to
identify the potential cost of the tax credit and what impact it could have on
labour mobility.
Several witnesses mentioned that students who
come from rural regions that are experiencing labour shortages are more likely
to return to these regions once they have completed their studies. Furthermore,
Aboriginal peoples account for a large percentage of those living in rural
areas, and they are an underemployed group that would be very open to staying
in rural regions or in Northern Canada. Some witnesses also mentioned that, if
students receive their education in these areas rather than in big cities, they
are more likely to stay in the region when their studies are over. Of course,
the location of public educational institutions falls to the provinces, but
part of the solution may be to consider increasing the presence of educational
institutions in rural and remote regions in order to encourage as many
graduates as possible to stay in the areas experiencing strong economic growth.
Furthermore, members of the Committee would
like to reiterate a recommendation made in a previous study on skills
development in remote rural communities. Companies should be able to rely on
local labour to fill their vacant positions in rural or remote communities
instead of having to recruit candidates from other regions.
Recommendation 30
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada study the anticipated cost of introducing new fiscal
measures that would help people who find jobs far away from where they live, for
example a tax credit for travel and lodging if a person must work more than
80 kilometers from his or her residence, and that it study the potential impact
of such measures on labour mobility and labour shortages.
Recommendation 31
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada provide more labour market information to high school
students in remote communities, such as information on job opportunities in
their regions and on the advantages of obtaining their high school diploma or
pursuing post-secondary education (e.g., apprenticeship programs or college or
university programs). This awareness campaign should employ not only
traditional methods of increasing awareness but also new ways of reaching
youth, for example, a tour of schools and community centres with
representatives from Service Canada or the private sector, or an information
campaign in local media or using social media.
In economic terms, labour productivity
corresponds to the total GDP of a country divided by the total number of hours
worked. There are a number of ways to increase labour productivity, such as
increasing the quantity or quality of physical capital (machines, equipment)
available to each worker; increasing workers’ skills levels through education
and on-the-job training; improving production processes and investing in
innovative products; increasing R & D; implementing better management
methods; and having larger companies that benefit from economies of scale.
Increasing productivity means that fewer workers can produce the same quantity
of goods and services, or that the same number of workers can create economic
growth without needing more workers.
During the Committee meetings, many witnesses
mentioned increased productivity as a way to help address labour shortages.
Productivity gains can be made through
facility design, use of technology, and health delivery innovations. We see
productivity gains with nurse practitioners in Newfoundland and Labrador, who
are supported by teams and telehealth technology while providing care in rural
and remote communities. By doing things differently we can enhance the use of
the existing supply of nurses already working within the system, all the while
providing more patient-centred care. As you can see in our brief, implementing
measures to increase RN productivity by 1% per year would have a dramatic and
immediate effect on the shortage.
Rachel Bard,
Canadian Nurses Association
I think the industry
also needs to take a very good look at what they can do to increase
productivity. This country in the mining sector has lacked in productivity
gains compared to other countries in the world. Any investment to drive
innovation or lead productivity would certainly be welcome. At the end of the
day, we will need to do more with less. People will continue to be a scarce
resource or input into the mining sector.
Ryan Montpelier,
Mining Industry Human Resources Council
Given that productivity is a complex subject
that was not the focus of this study, a more complete study should be carried
out as soon as possible to suggest concrete measures to improve Canadian
productivity.
Recommendation 32
The Committee recommends that one or
more parliamentary committees be tasked with studying the methods currently
available to the federal government and the methods that could be established
to improve productivity in Canada, thereby reducing the anticipated labour
shortages.
Training is key to workers’ productivity and
efficiency in a competitive labour market. Businesses need a qualified and
competent workforce to meet market demands while acquiring the skills to be
constantly productive and in sync with new technologies. The Committee heard
that the companies of today value training and can spend between 3.5% and 5% of
their annual sales in training. Continuous learning has to be seen as an integral
part of a career.
In Canada when students graduate from
high school, college, or university, people often feel that their training or
education is done. This is not a sustainable approach for the jobs of the
future. Continuous learning cannot be seen as a novelty; and must become part
of everyone’s career. The world has changed and we need to change with it.
Perrin Beatty,
P.C.
Canadian Chamber of Commerce
The Committee heard that industries offer
on-the-job training to individuals who are newly employed and who need to
acquire quickly the necessary skills to work in the position offered.
On-the-job training also allows employees to maintain their skills and to
remain competitive with the advancement of technology. It values talent and
allows the industry to keep those talented employees. Mentorship is also
effective between young workers and professionals with more experience, and
even with highly skilled foreign workers who can share their talents and
experience to bolster the knowledge of recent graduates, young employees and
even experienced employees.
Generally, colleges and universities are the
most common institutions providing education and training to the students that
will be part of tomorrow’s workforce.
The Committee heard that almost 2.2 million Canadians between 25 and 64 years
of age do not have a high school diploma, and 40% of adults struggle with low
literacy. Colleges are therefore a great resource to provide upgrading programs
to obtain a high school diploma and to transition to post-secondary education.
Colleges, institutes, polytechnics, and
CEGEPs excel at providing accessible, cost-effective post-secondary education
and lifelong learning—critically important.
They possess a unique ability to nurture the marginalized through to graduation
and employment.
Despite the
sluggish economy, upwards of 90% of college students find employment within six
months of graduation. We are very good at placing our graduates into the
economy and into solid jobs.
James Knight,
Association of Canadian Community Colleges
Co-operative programs were also mentioned to
the Committee as being very beneficial, as they allow individuals to get a
“school-at-work” experience with a better grasp and understanding of what a
particular job entails. They also permit to reach out to young people who need
to meet the skills profiles that the companies are looking for. Universities and
colleges are collaborating with the private sector to offer co-operative
experiences to students making them understand the requirements of the job
while actually working at it.
From our point of view, we believe there
should be more internship and co-op programs initiated by the industry. A
closer focus on attracting that talent early in the game, even at the high
school level, and attracting them into the ICT domain is going to be key
going forward.
Namir Anani,
Information and Communications Technology Council
The Committee also heard that there is a need
for employers to be informed and to understand new technologies in order to
anticipate the demands of the labour market and the future skills required.
Employers’ expectations and requirements could then be communicated to
educators and training institutions in order to develop the necessary skills to
students.
When I talk about labour market
information, I include technology, because people’s
skills have to respond to technology, and people have to have those good,
strong foundations.
Jennifer Steeves,
Canadian Automotive Repair and Service
Some witnesses encouraged the Government of
Canada to provide additional financial incentives through tax credits.
Still, we would argue, incentives for
employers to provide workplace training, including a tax credit for employers
who train, would be very helpful. Increase in the support for training in the
employment insurance system, including work sharing while working and extending
benefit for workers who are in training, and continued and restored support for
organizations that provide support and encouragement for the development and
the expansion of workplace training, such as the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum.
Kenneth V. Georgetti,
Canadian Labour Congress
In addition, the Committee was informed that
the Government of Canada supports the talents of graduates and postgraduate
students through numerous programs offered by the granting councils.
The Industrial R & D Fellowships and the
Industrial Research and Development Internship programs, among others, offer
opportunities to students to gain R & D experience in the private sector.
These experiences also allow the private sector to be aware of the knowledge
and capabilities of talented recent graduates. An HRSDC official also told the
Committee that the Government of Canada transfers almost $2.5 billion each year
under the labour market development agreements and labour market
agreements, and over $218 million to provinces through the labour market
agreements for persons with disabilities. The Government of Canada also announced in Budget 2012 that it would invest an
additional $50 million in the Youth Employment Strategy and $14 million over 2
years in the Industrial Research and Development Internship program.
Recommendation 33
The Committee recognizes that workplace
training is part of the solution to skills and labour shortages, as well as the
development of those foundational skills needed for youth to transition to the
workforce. The Government of Canada should continue to support projects that
aim to improve these necessary skills and explore ways of improving that
support.
Recommendation 34
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada study the possibility and cost of offering more financial
incentives for on-the-job training, for example targeted tax relief for
employers that offer training or by ensuring that the employment insurance
program does not limit eligibility to training to those who have already been
unemployed for a minimum number of weeks.
Recommendation 35
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada review the support available for co-op students in order
to increase opportunities to gain experience in Canadian companies, including
potential targeted tax relief for employers.
Recommendation 36
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada study the possibility of offering financial awards to
assist college graduates in their future studies through a scholarship program
similar to the Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships program.
The Committee seeks a multi-sectoral approach
to address labour shortages. Elements that must be in place for successful
partnerships include effective, reliable and regular communication between
educational institutions, industry, employers, employees’ groups, sector
councils, parent groups and guidance counsellors, and all levels of government.
Obviously, it is very difficult to get all these groups together in one room to
share best practices. However, round table discussions regularly take place, at
which some of these groups share their best practices. It is important to
consider sharing the information gathered at these round tables on a public
online forum.
I don’t know what the answers are, but I
know this problem is of such proportion that we need every order of government,
every sector—private sector and civil society. We need an enormous national
focus on this problem, without which our economy will lose several ranks in
terms of per capita income, and that will happen quickly. The federal
government certainly must be an important player at the table.
James Knight,
Association of Canadian Community Colleges
To go about this, I would like to
suggest we need a national skills strategy ... that involves all levels of
governments, business, the education system across the country and a number of
other stakeholders.
Andrew
Cardozo,
Alliance of Sector Councils
While respecting the fact that the provinces
and territories have the primary role in delivering education and training, it
is essential that all the stakeholders mentioned above work together to find
solutions that would allow for optimal matching between labour supply and
demand. Witnesses told the Committee that the federal government has a national
role in facilitating the sharing of success stories and innovative solutions.
The Committee heard about many best practices
taking place across the country, for example, to encourage young people to
pursue apprenticeship in the skilled trades, STEM, ICT, and health careers, or in
less qualified occupations.
The Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow’s ICT
Skills works at many levels to help youth make the best decision in terms of
their post-secondary studies. The objective of the Coalition is to ensure that
young graduates have the skills that are needed in high demand professions, and
can thus fill some of the skills shortages threatening the economy in certain
industrial sectors.
The focus of CCICT [Canadian Coalition
for Tomorrow’s ICT Skills], as we call it, is Canada’s information and
communications technology skills challenges. Our thought leadership and
programs have achieved significant real-world results, in no small measure due
to our collaborative multi-stakeholder partnerships. Formed in 2008, CCICT
includes 25 financially contributing corporate members—that is, industry
members—plus universities, school boards, industry organizations, and
professional associations, two of which as it happens are sitting with me
today. We all came together to tackle a
skills crisis.
David Ticoll
Canadian Coalition for Tomorrow’s ICT Skills
Witnesses talked about universities working
with the private sector to create co-op experiences, practicums, internships,
and field placements providing students with hands-on experience. These best
practices are made possible in part through funding offered by the Natural
Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
Funding is certainly helping, and over
the years we have changed our focus and have come to better understand the key
role of effective relationships in transferring knowledge, in working across
academia and the private sector. That’s where we’ve been focusing our energies
more recently: developing those relationships and helping those relationships
to happen.
Isabelle Blain
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
The Committee heard about the Helmets to
Hardhats program that was announced in Budget 2011 to help veterans, Canadian
Forces members and reservists access a range of careers in the construction
industry. This initiative is made possible through partnerships between unions,
private and public sector resources. The Government of Canada is contributing
$150,000 to this program.
As a final point, it is worth mentioning
again the important partnership between the federal government and Aboriginal
peoples. Through ASETS, the federal government works in partnership with
industry, Aboriginal leaders and other stakeholders to support the successful
work of agreement holders. The latter develops and delivers relevant and
successful programming to assist Aboriginal youth and adults who want to pursue
apprenticeship training, technology and health studies, and other educational
programs. Agreement holders help Aboriginal people who are either unemployed or
out of the labour force finally fulfill their employment aspirations.
Recommendation 37
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada put in place a national skills strategy that would involve
provincial/territorial governments, Aboriginal peoples, employers, unions, education
institutions and students’ associations. The purpose of this strategy would be
to ensure a better alignment of the skills of the adult population and those in
demand by employers.
Recommendation 38
The Committee recommends that the
Government of Canada continue to facilitate public-private partnerships and the
sharing of best practices to find solutions to skills and labour shortages in
high demand occupations and identify barriers to filling low-skilled jobs.
Prior to the 2008-2009 recession, labour
shortages were already being felt, especially in the Western provinces. The
recession eased this pressure, but already shortages are reappearing in certain
regions and sectors. Given the aging population, labour and skills shortages
will only increase; however, not all regions and occupational groups will be
affected. While shortages may be less severe in occupations requiring fewer
qualifications, low-skilled occupations are also experiencing shortages,
especially in regions with strong and rapid economic growth.
The first finding of this study, which was
reiterated by many witnesses, is that no single solution will magically solve
the challenges caused by labour and skills shortages: various complementary
solutions must be identified.
One solution that was mentioned often by the
witnesses who appeared as part of this study was to make all the essential
information on future labour needs available so that educational programs can
be created and modified accordingly and consequently, so that young people can
choose occupations that will be in high demand. This is not possible without
high quality LMI. The holders of this data should work together to avoid
duplication and find ways to improve the quality of the information as well as
the distribution of all LMI products to the people who can benefit the most
from its use.
Another solution the Committee heard
throughout the study was to maximize the untapped potential of individuals in
certain groups of the Canadian population that have a lower participation rate
or a higher unemployment rate than average, such as mature workers, people with
disabilities, Aboriginal peoples and recent immigrants. This could help address
part of the labour and skills shortages.
Other suggestions made by witnesses include
improving the Temporary Foreign Worker Program so that it is better tailored to
occupations in high demand; increasing labour force mobility; increasing
awareness of trades and professions in demand that are not popular with young
people; providing workers with adequate on-the-job training; increasing the
level of basic skills; improving worker productivity; and increasing reliance
on partnerships between various levels of government, companies, educational
institutions, students and workers.
To meet these objectives, the Committee has
prepared a series of recommendations to the federal government that should help
address the challenge of labour shortages and skills shortages so that Canadian
businesses can take advantage of all the economic development opportunities
that come their way.