Workforce talent recruitment and retention is one of the most urgent issues facing the Atlantic region. In the next decade, the Canadian economy is expected to offer significant opportunities for employment. Those opportunities reflect both Canada’s emergence as a knowledge economy and the impact of retirement from the workforce of the baby boomer generation. An expectation exists that future demand for a skilled labour force will be serviced, in part, by an increasing Indigenous workforce.
Worker Scarcity in Canada and What Businesses Can Do to Respond
Almost 40% of Canadian entrepreneurs are already having difficulty finding the workers they need. And there’s no relief in sight for at least a decade.
As a result, some companies are unable to fill customer orders or even have to refuse them. Quality is suffering and competitiveness is declining.
BDC surveyed more than 1,200 entrepreneurs about how a worker shortage is impacting their business. We found affected firms are 65% more likely to be low-growth businesses.
“Aboriginal women are “leading the way in labour markets,” according to a recent Toronto-Dominion Bank paper that finds they have seen the “largest bounce back” in employment since the 2008-2009 recession, compared with aboriginal men and the non-aboriginal population.”
“‘Working Towards Parity’ is the third and final installment of Canada West’s Aboriginal Human Capital Strategies Initiative (AHCSI), a one-year research initiative designed to communicate the importance of Aboriginal human capital to the western Canadian economy, to increase the availability and quality of information regarding the labour market realities facing Aboriginal Canadians in the West, and to identify successful strategies for improving Aboriginal labour market outcomes.”
“The report is divided into seven main sections. After a brief discussion of the motivation for and the methodology of the report, the second section reviews the importance of education for an improvement in labour market outcomes, income and other social indicators. The next section draws a portrait of the Aboriginal population, and of the possible improvements they need to achieve to reach the level of the non-Aboriginal population.
Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network
Year of publication:
2011
“It is well documented that Aboriginal people generally have lower levels of educational attainment than other groups in Canada, but little is known about the reasons behind this gap. This study is the first of two by the same author investigating the issue in detail.”
"To bring together industry leaders and Aboriginal organizations to share best practices in partnership building and promote further engagement from both communities, the Public Policy Forum organized a national workshop at The Westin in Ottawa on June 4, 2009, with a private reception the evening before.
"This national roundtable series convened leaders from Canada’s natural resources sector, Aboriginal communities and the public sector. The themes and issues discussed are summarized in the attached documents. A number of key themes were reflected in the dialogue, including: Labour Market Development; Community Readiness; Financing and Financial Literacy; Partnerships and Collaboration; Measurements of Success; Best Practices and Case Studies."
"The goal of this report is to investigate the relationship between educational attainment, remoteness, and labour market and economic performance at the reserve level for Aboriginal Canadians. The report uses reserve-level data on average earnings, GDP per capita, labour market indicators and distance to a service centre for 312 reserves. Using descriptive statistics, simple correlation and multiple regression analysis, the report draws conclusion on four important questions.
"Has the labour market situation of Aboriginal people in Canada been improving over the last several years? This paper uses data from the 1996 and 2001 censuses to present comprehensive, factual answers to this question. The paper looks at two main indicators of labour market activity – unemployment and participation rates – past, present and future. It reviews the labour market position of Aboriginal people in comparison to the general population in the provinces and territories, in cities with large Aboriginal populations, and on and off reserve. "
