2003 SfC in the News: HR Professional (October/November)

ALL THIS TALK about skilled-labour shortages should come as no surprise to Canadians. Since Confederation, Canada has been unable to supply the necessary human capital for its national workforce. We have a history of recruiting skilled foreign workers to meet our labour market demands. The building of the transcontinental railroad—the world’s longest at its completion—was accomplished in less than five years in 1885 only because of Chinese labour. Skilled European workers largely built our 20th century urban infrastructures—transportation, water and housing.

It is true however, that Canada’s labour market is now undergoing a deep, fundamental demographic shift. Three forces are at work: a growing demand for skill sets to match advancing technologies and meet global competition; a declining birthrate and increasing life expectancy; and a national strategy to rely on newcomers for the skills to replenish the labour pool. It is this last one I want to focus on here, but first some numbers on the problem itself.

From 1991 to 2001, the labour force increased by 1.3 million to 15.6 million workers. Almost half of this growth was in skilled occupations that normally require university qualifications. Two national surveys show that nearly half of small- and medium-sized firms in Canada suffer from a qualified labour shortage, with 250,000 to 300,000 unfilled vacancies. Canada just isn’t producing enough homegrown talent to meet demand.

This is partly because the Canadian fertility rate has been in decline since the early 1960s and currently stands at 1.7 children per female. According to Statistics Canada, we need a fertility rate of 2.1 to simply maintain our population. Canadians are also living longer, resulting in the labour force becoming “greyer.” Projections are for Canada’s population over the age of 45 to increase to 44% from 36% by 2011, at which time older workers (55 to 64) will outnumber youth (15 to 24) entering the labour market. And, while the general population is living longer, workers are retiring earlier. The median age of retirement was 61 years in 1999, down from nearly 65 in 1976.

To meet current and future shortages, government policies encourage immigration of highly skilled workers. Over 18% of all Canadians are immigrants (only Australia has a higher percentage). Canada will accept anywhere from 220,000 to 245,000 newcomers this year, the highest per capita of any industrialized nation, with a target of about 300,000 in years to come. More than 100,000 of Canada’s immigrants, from 180 different countries, come to Ontario annually, with 43% choosing to settle in the Greater Toronto Area. Half of Toronto’s workforce is foreign-born. Given the declining birthrate and retirement of baby boomers, it is estimated that by 2011, 100% of Canada’s net labour force growth will come from immigration.

Yet, the workforce is still shrinking. Why? Because major barriers exist for immigrants in finding work in their regulated professions and trades. For example, according to the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, the unemployment rate of internationally trained professionals is over three times as high as other people in Ontario, and less than one-quarter who were employed work in their field. Some regulatory bodies, such as the engineering and pharmaceutical professions, are reassessing how their regulations apply to workers trained internationally, but change is slow in coming.

What does all this mean for Ontario companies? Since they need this skilled, motivated pool of labour, they must work with professional regulatory bodies, government ministries, politicians and education institutions to take down barriers and allow immigrants to use their skills in the workforce.

Canada was built through immigration and it’s where our future lies. If we are going to continue to grow and compete internationally, a comprehensive policy and the corresponding services must be worked out. Otherwise, the talents of the best and brightest from around the world will go to waste, and businesses will be left holding the short end of the stick.

David Hughes (hughes@skillsforchange.org) is the manager, business development and administration at Skills for Change, a Toronto community agency that provides training and employment-preparation services for internationally trained newcomers to Canada.