Education, Skills and Labour Market - Op Eds

A core message in former federal finance minister Bill Morneau’s 2022 book, Where To from Here?, is that Canada needs faster economic growth, which requires higher business investment. If Canadian living standards fail to keep pace with those abroad, ever fewer talented people will choose Canada as a place to live and work. The latest numbers make heeding his warning even more urgent.

In his book, Morneau cites figures from the C.D. Howe Institute showing that business investment per available worker — spending on new capital divided by the labour force — has been lower in Canada than in other OECD countries, especially the United States. He laments that raising investment to spur faster growth is not a priority for the…

Since Canada’s return to pre-pandemic employment levels in November 2021, the labour market has added another 600,000-plus jobs. But employment in some industries still isn’t back to pre-pandemic levels. Why the uneven recovery?

The overall recovery in jobs was rapid, with total employment reaching 19,770,300 by December 2022 — 3.3 per cent above its pre-pandemic level (February 2020). But in five broad industries jobs are still down. These are: accommodation and food services, which is still 126,900 jobs short of its pre-pandemic employment; “other services” excluding public administration (52,700 short); business, building and other support services (48,500 short); agriculture (37,200 short) and…

While many have challenged the pace of the Bank of Canada’s interest-rate hikes, their likelihood of success and the extent to which further increases are merited, it has already become clear that, regardless, a recession is imminent. And while it remains to be seen how deep and how long that recession will be, there is no question it will hurt some more than others.

Will governments be there to pick up the pieces and manage the consequences of higher interest rates? If so, how, and in what ways can they help, given their rather precarious fiscal position, with Ottawa carrying $1.1-trillion in debt?

Among the many things that concern us are the distributional impacts of the looming downturn – some groups are…

Two years ago, during a pandemic-induced recession, the unemployment rate was in double-digits and nearly three million workers lost their jobs. Yet for the job market, it seems like ages ago. Canada’s job numbers have bounced back, and with national unemployment rates hovering at all-time lows, we are suddenly confronted (again) with labour and skills shortages.

The inability of employers to find workers with the right skills to fill record-high vacancies is dampening Canada’s economic growth and competitiveness. It also affects health care access and contributes to inflationary pressure, disrupting supply chains and, more broadly, limiting our ability to make headway in raising living standards and in transitioning to a lower…

It all seems so straightforward and evident: why not cover vulnerable “gig” workers, an often-marginalized group in the economy, who were hit so hard by the pandemic, under EI? In June, a parliamentary committee recommended that Employment and Social Development Canada conduct consultations on ways to provide self-employed persons, including those in the gig economy, with access to regular Employment Insurance benefits. ESDC has responded and formal consultations along these lines are forthcoming. They need to include a sober, detailed analysis of the problems involved.

The first item on the agenda ought to be a clear and agreed definition of gig work, which is critical to insuring potential income losses. A recent survey…