Assessing the Effectiveness of Labour Force Participation Strategies [Atlantic Aboriginal Economic Development Integrated Research Program, AAEDIRP]

This study looks at how well Aboriginal labour force participation strategies are working for Aboriginal people in the Atlantic region and how they can be improved. It finds that Aboriginal employment levels still lag considerably behind those of the general Canadian populace. However, rates have been increasing in the last twenty years, particularly since the introduction of employment equity legislation. The findings also show that multiple barriers to Aboriginal employment continue to exist. These include a lack of education and training; systemic racism, exclusion, more than average scrutiny, inappropriate testing, and narrow approaches to what constitutes 'job-related experience' and reluctance among the Aboriginal population to leave their First Nations to work. The barriers to