A CHAPTER BY DONNA E. WOOD IN ‘THE HARPER RECORD 2008-2015’

NOVEMBER 2015 – CANADA

All developed countries invest in workforce development. These are measures designed to attract and retain talent, solve skills deficiencies, improve the quality of the workplace, and enhance the competitiveness of local firms. They are also meant to incorporate the disadvantaged, integrate immigrants, and help the unemployed find work. Government intervention is necessary to improve market efficiency, pro­mote equal opportunity, and ensure social and geographic mobility among citizens.

As a domain that straddles both social and economic policy, workforce develop­ment is particularly complicated in Canada. This is because our Constitution is am­biguous on whether this is an area of federal or provincial responsibility. Most pro­grams, like postsecondary education and apprenticeship, are clearly under provincial control, but there is less certainty around measures to help the unemployed. Before the Second World War, it was accepted that these kinds of programs were under provincial responsibility. Often the federal government helped financially. After the devastation of the Depression in the 1930s, the federal government and all the provinces agreed, in 1940, to a constitutional amendment transferring significant responsibilities to Ottawa through a national unemployment insurance program.

By the 1990s, Ottawa dominated the policy area through a network of about 500 Canada Employment Centres across the country, delivering both income sup­port and employment services. In 1996, the federal Liberal government offered to transfer responsibility for employment services back to the provinces. Ottawa kept responsibility for income support. It did this by concluding a series of agreements paid for out of money contributed by employers and workers to the employment insurance (EI) fund. Ottawa’s intention was to show “flexible federalism” follow­ing the Quebec referendum on sovereignty.

When the Harper Conservatives came to power in 2006, the job was half done, with devolved labour market development agreements or LMDAs signed in eight jurisdictions. There were co-managed agreements in the remaining five. The new government aspired to have “the best educated, most skilled, and most flexible workforce in the world.” To achieve this goal, not only did the government need to figure out what to do, but the equally important question of who should do it also needed to be worked out.

The chapter looks at the Harper government’s record in workforce development since 2006.

Read the full chapter on Policy Alternatives

SEPTEMBER 2015 – CANADA

The current election campaigning has heard much about the economy and some about jobs. However, very little has been said specifically about how sustainable economy and employment goals will be achieved on the ground in communities across Canada. We are asking political parties to communicate their position on this issue and to commit to ensuring that all people have access to community-based services that support their pursuit of meaningful employment and social inclusion.

Read our Position Paper

AUGUST 2015 – CANADA

The Cannexus16 National Career Development Conference is taking place January 25-27, 2016 at the Shaw Centre in Ottawa. Register by September 9 for the Super Saver rate. Members of supporting organizations benefit from an additional 10% discount during this period.

Cannexus is Canada’s largest bilingual career development conference and will bring together 800 professionals in the field from across education, community organizations, government and the private sector. It is designed to promote the exchange of information and explore innovative approaches in the areas of career counselling and career development.

Delegates will be informed and inspired by four game-changing keynotes:

–  Spencer Niles, Dean & Professor, School of Education, The College of William and Mary
–  Ratna Omidvar, Executive Director, Global Diversity Exchange
–  The Honourable Justice Murray Sinclair, Chair, Truth and Reconcilliation Comission of Canada
–  Wab Kinew, Writer, Journalist, Honourary Truth and Reconcilliation Commission Witness

There will be more than 130 education sessions that will bring you the latest trends in effective counselling and facilitation techniques, labour market information, emerging technology and tools, and working with diverse populations. An Exhibitor Showcase will also highlight a range of beneficial products and services in the field.

You can enhance your conference experience by taking an optional pre-conference workshop. Choose among workshops with four popular presenters and go in-depth on these topics:

–  Courageous Career Development: Helping Practitioners Find the Courage to Be Their Authentic Self, Herky Cutler
–  Hope-Centered Career Development Toolkit, Dr Norman Amundson and Spencer Niles
–  Effective Coaching Skills for Career Counsellors, Richard Knowdell
–  Developing an Employer Engagement Action Plan, Mike Fazio

You can also extend your Cannexus15 learning with our post-conference workshop on Return of the Job Search Zombie: Proven Strategies for Motivating the Unmotivated with the highly regarded Dan Walmsely.

Cannexus is presented by the Canadian Education and Research Institute for Counselling (CERIC) and supported by The Counselling Foundation of Canada with a broad network of supporting organizations.

For more information and to register, visit www.cannexus.ca.

JULY 2015 – CANADA

Labour market ministers from across Canada agreed today to continue to take ambitious action to improve economic opportunities for Canadians. These actions include:

– creating a Labour Market Information Council;
– accelerating harmonization of Red Seal apprenticeship training;
– working with regulators to establish more ambitious timelines for international qualification recognition.

The discussions were part of a meeting of the Forum of Labour Market Ministers (FLMM), co-chaired by Sam Hamad, Québec Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Solidarity, and the Honourable Pierre Poilievre, federal Minister of Employment and Social Development.

Read the Press Release

JUNE 2015 – CANADA

This event brings together world leaders who represent ministries of Education, Labor, and Youth, academic institutions and community-based organizations. The 2015 theme, “Building the Talent Pipeline and Providing Youth with Hope for the Future”, focuses on the challenges facing governments, employers, and communities to ensure young people have economically viable futures.

By participating in the symposium, world leaders have the opportunity to engage in powerful, detailed discussions with career guidance policy-analysts to create new policies that will have a major impact on issues such as youth unemployment and the disconnect between education and employment.

The 2015 International Symposium has two specific goals:

–   To engage emerging nations in deeper discussions regarding the role of career guidance in the education and employment sectors and its impact on economic development;
–   To facilitate conversations, awareness, and support for youth workforce development initiatives.

The 2015 International Symposium is hosted by Kuder Inc. in partnership with ICCDPP and will be held June 14-17, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa, USA.

Read the Canada Paper

To read the other country papers and sub-theme syntheses, please visit www.is2015.org

MAY 2015 – CANADA

Career Challenge Reveals Canadians Need and Want Support Finding Career Satisfaction

Today, the Canadian Council for Career Development (CCCD) released their findings for the Career Development Challenge. CCCD found that while participants are eager to be satisfied in their careers, they aren’t sure how to access information and resources that could help them. Career development professionals are well positioned to bridge that gap to ensure Canadians are happy, engaged and fulfilled at any stage of their careers.

Nearly four thousand participants took part in the Challenge which was launched in November during Canada Career Week. The interactive quiz was a free, online tool that anyone could use to learn more about their personal skill and will as both relate to managing their career now and for the future.

Read the full Press Release

See the Infographic Summary

MARCH 2015 – CANADA

The job market is constantly in flux, and the needs and attitudes of Canadians evolve with it. In order to gain a fresh, up-to-date perspective on how Canadians use and access career and employment counselling services, CERIC along with The Counselling Foundation of Canada commissioned a nationwide survey of adult Canadians.

Survey findings reveal who is most likely to access career services: those who define themselves as having a “career,” those who say they have a “job” or students. Findings also explore which types of career professionals Canadians are most likely to meet with, perceived effectiveness and barriers to accessing career services. The online survey of 1,500 Canadians was conducted by Navigator Ltd. in November 2014.

Read the Infographic Summary

Read the Full Report

FEBRUARY 2015 – CANADA

The House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) recently published its study on the renewal of the Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs).

This report is divided into six chapters. The first chapter provides a description of LMDAs and Employment Benefits and Supports Measures (EBSMs) including some statistical data, and a short description of complementary labour market agreements. Based on the testimony, it discusses the renewal process of LMDAs and presents some recommendations for the new generation of agreements. The second chapter focuses on testimony on accountability issues with regard to the current LMDAs and how to improve performance measurement and reporting in the new LMDAs. Based on the testimony, it includes a recommendation to create a new accountability framework. This framework would consist of new monitoring mechanisms including a diversity of stakeholders and the federal/provincial/territorial governments. The third chapter deals with the important topic of labour market information. Based on the testimony of many witnesses, it describes the limits of the current system and makes recommendations to improve the collection and sharing of labour market information.

The fourth chapter presents testimony on expanding eligibility for employment benefits offered under the LMDAs. It presents many aspects of this issue as discussed by witnesses. It asks the question of who should be eligible for employment benefits funded by LMDAs and makes recommendations to expand access to employment benefits. In connexion with that, this chapter also reviews the testimony related to Employment Insurance (EI) eligibility and the duration of the period of receipt of EI benefits. Finally, it presents testimony on the types of training programs, the costs of expanding accessibility to employment benefits and touches on the importance of facilitating interprovincial mobility for workers and persons in training. The fifth chapter presents testimony on the necessity to reach unemployed individuals as soon as possible after the loss of employment to assess their needs and get them involved in training that will lead to meaningful employment. Based on testimony, it suggests better collaboration between the federal/provincial/territorial governments to coordinate and share the information captured by the EI system and provincial/territorial training delivery services. The sixth chapter presents testimony on greater employer engagement in skills development and training that can be accomplished through employers’ contribution to training programs and their participation in labour market forums. In addition, this chapter reviews testimony on some provincial and international best practices in terms of employers’ involvement mechanisms. Finally, it describes some employers’ initiatives currently on the go in different parts of Canada, as well as challenges faced by some employers and solutions and recommendations brought up by witnesses.

Read the full report