Studies warn of looming labour woes
Lack of skilled workers predicted

By Eva Hoare / Business Reporter

There will be a shortage of highly skilled workers and those who can perform jobs in the trades over the next few years in Canada, say two separate labour studies released this week.

The shortage will occur despite a moderate decline in Canadian employment growth over the next five years, Scotiabank Economics said Thursday.

Occupations at risk of falling short are health-care employees, university and college instructors and skilled construction workers, the bank said.

Meanwhile, the Fraser Institute found major disparities between labour performance in Canada and the United States. It found that only Alberta was able to compete.

Seven of 10 provinces were outperformed by bordering U.S. states but the Atlantic provinces' record was the worst, the institute study found.

New Brunswick, Newfoundland, British Columbia and Quebec ranked at the bottom of 10 jurisdictions, with Newfoundland falling last, the institute said.

"Most striking are the stark differences between the Atlantic provinces and the Northeastern states," the institute said.

The Scotiabank survey, called Canada's Evolving Jobs Market, found that the shift to positions requiring advanced skills and higher levels of education won't likely cease anytime in the near future.

Job creation in the country is expected to continue at a good rate, around 2.4 per cent annually, which will translate into more than 300,000 jobs per year, the bank survey said.

Nova Scotia's Department of Education is working to alleviate the skills shortage, said Stuart Gourley, senior executive director for the department's skills and learning branch.

The first step is to identify the areas that have "true shortages," he said.

"From our perspective, what we've tried to undertake here is to look at individual sectors and say, 'What skills do we require?' " Mr. Gourley said. His department focuses on those with university skills and beyond.

"Labour market information is one of our major focuses," he said. "We need to know more precisely where the shortages are."

The province has also ramped up its apprenticeship program on two fronts - by increasing the current number of training sessions in the system and through legislation to introduce apprenticeship in the public school system, Mr. Gourley said.

The department says introducing such information and programs as early as Grade 9, which is the beginning of a critical career decision-making phase for students, is highly effective.

Booklets are being sent to Grade 9 students and their parents, since it has been proven that parents have a great deal of influence on their childrens' career paths, Mr. Gourley said.

Meanwhile, the Fraser Institute study blames the lack of a national labour policy for discrepancies in job performance between Canada and the U.S., citing high rates of unionization in this country.

"Since this is the case, all Canadian provinces should reduce public-sector employment and revise the framework of laws affecting labour to reduce unionization rates to more competitive levels," the study said.

The survey said Canadian provinces should improve their labour relations laws to include some type of labour protection policies.

"All Canadian provinces would experience improved labour-market outcomes by affording greater flexibility through reformed labour-relations laws."

The institute also recommends worker-choice laws when it comes to unionization.