Indigenous employment and skills strategies in Canada

With the rising economic importance of human resources and skills, employment and training agencies are now often expected to play a more important role in local strategies to support new job creation, facilitate restructuring and increase productivity. The OECD Local Economic and Employment Development (LEED) Programme has developed a series of Reviews on Local Job Creation to examine the contribution of local labour market policy to boosting quality employment and enhancing productivity., This report looks at a range of key labour market, economic and social indicators related to Canada’s growing Indigenous population, which comprises First Nations, Inuit and Metis. In 2016, there were over 1.6 million Indigenous People in Canada, accounting for 4.9 per cent of the total population, which is a significant increase from 3.8 per cent in 2006. The report looks at the implementation of the federal government’s Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Strategy through in-depth analysis across four case study areas, including: (1) the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resources and Development in Winnipeg, Manitoba; (2) Community Futures Treaty Seven in Calgary, Alberta; (3) MAWIW Council in Fredericton, New Brunswick; and (4) Kiikenomaga Kikenjigewen Employment and Training Services (KKETS) in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The report highlights critical success factors to better link Indigenous People to high quality jobs while also providing recommendations regarding future labour market and skills programming for Indigenous People in Canada.