Colin Busby – Canada Should Strengthen the Safety Net under Workers in Precarious Jobs
From: Colin Busby To: Canada’s Employment Policymakers Date: February 5, 2018 Re: Canada Should Strengthen the Safety Net under Workers in Precarious Jobs In a report for the C.D Howe Institute I investigated trends in jobs with heightened employment risks and offer policy solutions to support insecure workers. The report focused on one type of job classification that […] Hold On – The Canadian Labour Market Has Not Fully Recovered Yet – Globe And Mail Op-ed
The Canadian labour market beat expectations and performed strongly in 2017 based on various indicators, specifically job creation and the unemployment rate. At the same time, however, hourly-wage growth shows no sign that the labour market is approaching maximum employment.
An economy reaches maximum employment when all available workers have jobs except those who are between jobs or are new entrants into the labour market. Usually, this results in stronger wage growth as firms struggle to fill vacant positions.
Canada generated more than 420,000 new jobs in 2017, while the average annual unemployment rate fell to 6.4 per cent – the lowest rate since 2008. More importantly, the vast majority of job gains (93 per cent)…
Risk and Readiness: The Impact of Automation on Provincial Labour Markets
Some provinces, with more economic diversification or a concentration of workers in areas that are not very susceptible to automation, appear to be better situated for technological change than others, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Risk and Readiness: The Impact of Automation on Provincial Labour Markets,” author Rosalie Wyonch […] Parisa Mahboubi – Dissecting Income Inequality
From: Parisa Mahboubi To: Concerned Canadians Date: January 4, 2018 Re: Dissecting Income Inequality Canadians today are richer than ever, but the gap between average and median household wealth has also grown. The main drivers of wealth inequality between Canadian households between 2005 and 2016 have been rising real estate prices and an aging population, according to Statistics Canada’s […] John Richards – Look to B.C. for a Glimmer of Hope in Indigenous Education
From: John Richards To: Canadian Ministers of Education Date: December 21, 2017 Re: Look to B.C. for a Glimmer of Hope in Indigenous Education Statistics Canada recently released its final batch of results from the 2016 census, which included education statistics for Canadians – including Indigenous Canadians. Indigenous education outcomes are perhaps the most important findings, and among those […] Census 2016: Where is the discussion about Indigenous education? – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Recently, Statistics Canada released the final batch of results from the 2016 census. It included education statistics for Canadians – including Indigenous Canadians.
Perhaps Indigenous education outcomes are the most important findings in this final batch, and among Indigenous education outcomes, perhaps the most important are high school completion results among young adults. They provide a snapshot of how Canada’s K-12 school systems are performing. For the record, among non-Indigenous young adults (20-24) in 2016, 92 per cent have at least a high school certificate. (Canada is above the overall OECD average.) Among Métis, 84 per cent have completed high school. Among First Nations young adults living off reserve, 75 per cent…
Canada’s Troubling Downward Trend In Work-force Skills – Globe And Mail Op-ed
Canada faces a troubling trend in the skills levels of its work force. Despite more Canadians obtaining a postsecondary education between 2003 and 2012, literacy and numeracy skills have slid. What gives?
According to OECD international surveys of adult skills in seven participating countries, including the Netherlands, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Italy and the United States, the problem with declining numeracy scores is widespread. But Canada and Norway were the only countries with a drop in literacy skills. For Canada, this is a paradox: We have the largest share of the working-age population with tertiary education among these Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.
Earning a…
Parisa Mahboubi – High Education, Lower Literacy: What to Do?
From: Parisa Mahboubi To: Canada’s ministers of education and skills development Date: November 20, 2017 Re: High Education, Lower Literacy: What to Do? Canada’s workforce has experienced a troubling slide in literacy and numeracy skills, despite higher levels of education and improvements in learning technology. In my report last week I compared results of international surveys from 2003 and […] What Is to Blame for the Widening Racial Earnings Gap? – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
Canada’s labour force has become more diverse, but visible minorities as a whole still struggle to achieve parity in the labour market. Even accounting for differences in individuals’ characteristics, the data show that the slow process of integration for immigrants merits special attention.
More than one-fifth of Canadians are visible minorities – non-Indigenous and “non-Caucasian” in race or non-white in colour – according to the 2016 Census. Visible minorities earned only 81.2 per cent of what non-visible minorities earned in 2015 – a gap that has widened by 2.6 percentage points since 2000.
Education, work experience and occupation play important roles in earning outcomes, but they are not able to fully…
Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation: More Educated, But Less Skilled Canadians
Canada’s workforce has experienced a troubling slide in literacy and numeracy skills, despite higher levels of education and improvements in learning technology, according to a new report from the C.D. Howe Institute. In “Talkin’ ‘Bout My Generation: More Educated, But Less Skilled Canadians,” author Parisa Mahboubi compares results of international surveys from 2003 and 2012 […] Off balance: Canada, the U.S. and labour mobility – Globe and Mail Op-Ed
As it contemplates the possibility of a modernized NAFTA, Canada should seek to improve labour mobility throughout North America to address skill shortages in Canada.
The narrative around the Trump regime focuses on Canada’s increased advantage in attracting skilled international workers. But those same tougher U.S. immigration policies bring a threat: American employers may try to hire more Canadians who can easily cross the border to meet the demand for high skills.
As a result of rapid technological changes, employers’ needs for high-skilled workers grow every year. Since the North American free-trade agreement came into force more than 20 years ago, new occupations have been created. The Canadian market faces a…
Finnie, Mueller, Sweetman – Debunking the Barista Fallacy: A New Way of Measuring Earnings of University Graduates
From: Ross Finnie, Richard E. Mueller, and Arthur Sweetman To: Concerned Canadians Date: October 27, 2017 Re: Debunking the Barista Fallacy: A New Way of Measuring Earnings of University Graduates An extraordinary amount of ink has been spilled in Canada over the value of university degrees. That value is almost always defined in economic terms […]