Labour & Skill

Shortage

Philip Whelan, President

Whelan Affiliated Services
 AGENDA
• Is there a labour & skill shortage?
• Why?
• Where?
• Solutions?
 So the Question is…
Does a Labour and Skill Shortage
Really Exist?
-According to Minister Joan Burke (March 2006), “employers from
across many industries, including those in the traditional resource
based industries, are…facing increasing demands for skilled workers to
keep pace with new technologies and to remain competitive…yet they
are having difficulty finding and keeping the skilled workers they
need…this is an issue that many other jurisdictions are facing, both
nationally and globally…”

-By the year 2020, the labour shortage in Canada is expected to reach
950,000 workers

Report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Skills Task Force 2007

Conference Board of Canada 2000
 WHY?
• Greying Workforce
• Fewer Entrants to the
Workforce
• Increase in Activities
• Fewer People
Encouraged into Trades
 GREYING WORKFORCE

• By 2011, nearly 1/5th of baby boomers will

be at least 61 years of age
• Aging workforce is not unique to Canada
but what distinguishes our country is the
relatively large size of the baby boom
generation

CBC News Greying workforce could mean labour shortages: Statistics canada 2003
 FEWER ENTRANTS TO THE
WORKFORCE
• In addition there are fewer youth
entering the labour force.
• In 2001, there was an average of
2.7 job force entrants aged 20-
34 for every person over the age
of 55. Twenty years ago this
ratio was 3.7.
• This combined with declining
birth rates, has pushed age of
Canadian labour force from 37.1
years in 1991 to 39 years in
2001.

Report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Skills Task Force 2007

CBC News Greying workforce could mean labour shortages: Statistics canada 2003
 INCREASE IN ACTIVITIES
– several major industrial projects
– will exert substantial demands on the labour force.
– the projects include: Hibernia, Terra Nova, White Rose, IOC
Mining Operations, Voisey’s Bay, Hebron Project, New Refinery,
Lower Churchill Project…

• other industries, businesses and public and private-sector

institutions will continue to demand skilled workers .
• If there is no increase in size of available labour pool?
• Similarly, there is a national and international demand for skilled
workers

Report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Skills Task Force 2007

 FEWER PEOPLE ENCOURAGED
INTO TRADES
• In Newfoundland and Labrador, as in other provinces, we did not
encourage students to enter the skilled trades are often perceived
as second-choice or even “last-resort” career options with little
potential for advancement.
• Over the years it has been drilled into young people, that a
University education was the best option for securing a rewarding
career upon graduation.

Report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Skills Task Force 2007

 WHERE DO SHORTAGES
EXIST?
• According to Statistics Canada, the potential for worker shortages is
most pronounced in the health care, education and construction
sectors.
– In 2001, nearly one-quarter of specialists in the medical field
were aged 55 and over
– In 1991, there were almost five nurses aged 20-34 for every
nurse aged 55 and over but by 2001 that ratio decreased to two
young nurses for every one 55 or older
– Universities and colleges could also face shortages of
professors. In 2001 almost 29% of professors were 55+ - much
higher than 19% who were that age a decade earlier.
– In construction, similar trends of aging workers and low number
of younger replacements exist for just about all trades and
supervisors..

CBC News Greying workforce could mean labour shortages: Statistics canada 2003
SOLUTIONS?

• Changing Attitudes About the Trades

• Improving Apprenticeship Programs
• Access for Under-Represented
Groups
• Retaining and Recruiting Skilled
Workers
• Assessing and Responding to Industry
Needs
• Immigration
 CHANGING ATTITUDES ABOUT
THE TRADES
• Educating people about the
opportunities available to trades
people

• Increasing access to programs so

that performances can be assessed
and competency ensured through
nontraditional means

• Developing bridges that help

eliminate financial, physical, social
and geographic barriers

Report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Skills Task Force 2007

 IMPROVING APPRENTICESHIP
PROGRAMS
• Many apprentices encounter difficulty logging hours or returning to
school to complete programs because of distance and time away
from employment
• Actions needs be aimed at enhancing access to programs and
ensuring that they can be completed.
• A more seamless transition to apprenticeship programs from high
school
• Alternative delivery means
• Increasing opportunities for work experience
• Enhancing certification of certified journeypersons to meet industry
needs, etc.

Report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Skills Task Force 2007

 ACCESS FOR UNDER-
REPRESENTED GROUPS
• Under-represented or under-utilized
groups constitute a valuable but often
untapped source of skilled labour
• Women,
• Aboriginal people,
• persons with disabilities,
• displaced workers,
• low-skilled
• older workers

• Ensure that these groups have

appropriate access and support to
relevant education and training
opportunities in the skilled trades and
techincal professions
Report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Skills Task Force 2007
 RETAINING AND RECRUITING
SKILLED WORKERS
• Competition exists all across the provinces for skilled workers,
particularly in Alberta where unemployment rates are the lowest in
North America and wages are the highest in Canada

• For Newfoundland and Labrador, to encourage skilled trades and

technical professionals to remain or return to the province actions
must be increased to improve retention incentives and recruitment
and to provide increased opportunities for continuing, full time
employment in the province

Report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Skills Task Force 2007

 ASSESSING AND RESPONDING
TO INDUSTRY NEEDS
• While skill shortages exist in all regions and industries, specific
sectors are facing unique skill challenges due to increased
competition from other provinces, a rapidly aging workforce and
training-related issues

• Development of specific mechanisms to anticipate future demands

and identification of gaps are necessary to ensure that resources
are in place to meet needs when identified.

Report of the Newfoundland and Labrador Skills Task Force 2007

 IMMIGRATION
• Immigrants have made major strides in the Canadian labour force
and will play a larger role in the years ahead

• Immigrants who landed in Canada during the 1990s, and were in the
labour force in 2001, accounted for almost 70% of the total growth of
the labour force over the decade (CBC, 2007).

• According to Statistics Canada “If current immigration rates continue,

it is possible that immigration could account for virtually all labour
force growth by 2011”.

• Federal and provincial governments have introduced measures to

enhance Canadian immigration and labour mobility such as allowing
temporary Canadian visa holders to apply for permanent residency.

Are Immigrants Our Future?

Canadian Visa Bureau 2007