There is no skills or labour shortage in Canada’s labour market as the Canadian government has suggested, and wages have stagnated since the recession, according to a new report to Parliament Tuesday (March 25) from the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
The report suggests that “there is little evidence to suggest a national labour shortage exists in Canada, although there appears to be regional and sectoral pockets of labour market tightness. Further, there does not appear to be a more acute national skills mismatch in Canada than prior to the 2008-09 recession, although there may be exceptions in some regions and sectors.”
Referring to the Department of Finance Canada report: The State of the Canadian Labour Market (the ‘Jobs Report’) released with the 2014 federal budget, the PBO wrote; “While this report is a welcome contribution to the national debate on the state of the Canadian labour market, there may be areas for improving the relevance of such analysis for parliamentarians.”
In 2012, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said producing more skilled workers was “the biggest challenge our country faces.”
This past October in the House of Commons Employment Minister Jason Kenney insisted the skills issue is a reality: “Every single industry organization, every business I have met with in this country from coast to coast, says that the number one emerging issue they are facing is one of skills shortages.”
The mandate of the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer is “to provide independent analysis to Parliament on the state of the nation’s finances, the government’s estimates and trends in the Canadian economy; and upon request from a committee or parliamentarian, to estimate the financial cost of any proposal for matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction.”
More information:
Parliamentary Budget Office – Labour Market Assessment 2014 (pdf) – here
Globe and Mail – No skills crisis as Tories claim, budget watchdog says – here
CBC News – Budget watchdog finds little evidence of labour, skills shortages – here
Toronto Star (2012) – Lack of skilled labour threatens Canadian economy, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says – here
Hansard House of Commons Question Period October 22, 2013 – here
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