Addressing the Labour Market Challenges of the 21 st Century

1. Addressing the Labour Market Challenges of the 21st Century Presentation to the Canadian Home Builders Association by Peter Larose, Director General, Workplace Partnerships February 25th, 2009 Québec City, Québec

2. Challenges facing the Canadian labour market • Short-term labour market needs of Canadians and their families: • Support for unemployed workers while they look for work. • Assistance for displaced, long-tenured workers. • Support for training and skills development. • Longer-term challenges must also be considered: • Labour shortages due to ageing workforce. • Shift to knowledge-based economy. • Anticipated skills shortages.

3. Budget 2009 economic stimulus strategy • Economic stimulus strategy focuses on 4 areas: • Helping Canadians and stimulating spending. • Stimulating housing construction. • Immediate action to build infrastructure. • Supporting businesses and communities. • The Canada Skills and Transition strategy will provide a financial injection in a range of initiatives to: • Help Canadians weather today’s economic storm. • Provide them with the necessary training to prosper in tomorrow’s economy.

4. Canada Skills and Transition strategy Three-pronged approach: • Strengthening employment benefits for Canadian workers. • Freezing Employment Insurance (EI) rates for 2009. • Enhancing the availability of training.

5. Efficient Labour Force: reducing barriers to the mobility of Canadians Inclusive Labour Force: increasing the participation of all Canadians in the workforce Skilled Labour Force:enhance opportunities for Canadians to acquire knowledge and skills The Canadian labour market GoC addresses Canada’s labour market needs on all three fronts

6. Apprenticeship and the skilled trades • Despite the current economic slowdown, there is a robust demand for skilled tradespeople to mitigate current and future shortages. • Apprenticeship training leads to a new generation of highly-skilled and highly-mobile journeypersons. • There are challenges for apprenticeship; skilled trade shortages, retirements, completion rates and employer participation. • A proven industry-based method of workplace training that leads to industry defined certification in a skilled trade.

7. Federal measures supporting apprenticeship and the skilled trades • Budget 2009 • The Apprenticeship Completion Grant (ACG) • Budget 2006 • The Apprenticeship Incentive Grant (AIG) • The Apprenticeship Job Creation Tax Credit (AJCTC) • The Tradesperson’s Tools Deduction (TTD) • Budget 2005 • Trades and Apprenticeship Strategy (TAS)

8. Update: National Occupational Classification • Government of Canada is revising the National Occupational Classification (NOC) for Census 2011. • With this process, it is possible to make revisions to the structure of the NOC by changing or adding occupational groups. • The CHBA has identified a number of new and existing occupations which will be studied by HRSDC/STC to determine if revisions or new groups are viable.

9. Red Seal Program • Established in 1958 as a federal-provincial/territorial (F-P/T) partnership and is managed through Canadian Council of Directors of Apprenticeship (CCDA). • Industry-driven program. • Red Seal trades are recognized as a standard of excellence.

10. Current challenges for the Red Seal Program • Increased provincial and industry demands. • Increased reliance on the Red Seal Program. • Requirement to deliver on AIT commitments. • Persistent skills shortages in some trades and regions. • More trades interested in becoming Red Seal certified.

11. Peter’s Point of view: future of the Red Seal Program • Greater national industry engagement in the Red Seal Program and apprenticeship in general. • Better oversight by senior officials and industry. • Being more responsive to current labour market. • Greater accountability and transparency to the public. • Performance measures, service standards and public reporting. • Transparent criteria for designation of new Red Seal trades.

12. Key messages • Apprenticeship and the skilled trades are important. • Greater national level involvement from industry and P/Ts is essential to strengthen the Red Seal Program.