White Paper

To compete in an interconnected and global marketplace, Canadian companies require an increasingly strong and skilled workforce. However, a lack of comprehensive labour market data, particularly on employment trends and skill requirements, makes it difficult to identify and analyze the current state of the Canadian job market. This shortage of data means recent graduates are left to wonder whether they have the skills and qualifications that employers are seeking, while employers question whether it makes sense for them to invest more in building strong relationships with post-secondary institutions. At the same time, governments are left to wonder whether companies are investing sufficiently in employee training. This report, based on a survey of 90 leading Canadian employers, examines recent and future hiring trends, demographic changes, the job market for young Canadians and the skills and attributes that large Canadian firms are looking for when they recruit employees. It is a follow-up to a report on Skills Shortages in Canada, conducted by the Business Council of Canada (formerly the Canadian Council of Chief Executives) throughout the fall of 2013 and released in two parts during the first quarter of 2014. Overall, the survey results indicate that: 1. Large companies are increasingly looking to recruit or develop employees with strong soft skills (also known as non-cognitive skills). These skills are especially important when identifying and developing future leaders; 2. Large companies generally report that new post-secondary graduates are adequately prepared to enter the workforce, but that expectations for graduates are changing rapidly; 3. Collaboration between post-secondary institutions and the private sector is reasonably healthy, although more is needed; 4. Large companies are investing more in workforce learning and development. In many cases this includes the use of new training methods; and 5. Most respondents believe their companies are well-prepared to handle anticipated demographic shifts, in particular the coming wave of retirements among baby boomers.

Renewed economic growth, a booming job market, and the evolving nature of work are transforming the face of the labor market, resulting in changes in the skill needs of American employers, as well as new and different opportunities for American workers. In the United States, investment in skill development is largely frontloaded" during the first 25 years of life. After that public contributions to formal education are substantially smaller and employer training represents the most sizable investment in further developing the skills of the American workforce. Restrictions on the use of Federal funds which may have been appropriate when specific programs were designed to address the labor market challenges of another era may not be optimal for the future reskilling challenges especially those linked to trade and technological change. Additionally there is an information gap between employers workers and educational institutions. While employers presumably know which skills they value in an employee workers themselves and and their response lags behind the changing demand. Lacking incisive dataeducational institutions have less up-to-date knowledge

The Question: How well is Canada prepared to meet future skills requirements in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)? Key Findings: Some Assembly Required: STEM Skills and Canada’s Economic Productivity covers a broad area of issues such as: the relationships among STEM skills and innovation, productivity, and growth; whether Canada has a shortage or surplus of STEM graduates; what future demand for STEM skills in Canada could be; considerations for developing a STEM-literate society; the role of post-secondary education, and immigration and the global market. To conduct their assessment the Expert Panel identified three types of STEM skills. Fundamental skills include reasoning, mathematics, problem solving, and technological literacy. They are important regardless of occupation. These can be learned at an early age. Building on these are, practical skills developed through training in technologies, applied sciences and the trades, and advanced skills that enable engagement in discovery or applied research — including development of new technologies. Supply and demand for STEM skills have been balanced at the national level, over the long-term. However, there is room to improve in the quality and level of STEM skills held by all Canadians. STEM skills are necessary but not sufficient for innovation and productivity growth. A balance of skills must be struck. Leadership, creativity, adaptability, and entrepreneurial ability can help maximize the impact of STEM skills. Long-term economic outcomes matter. A focus on narrowly specialized STEM skills development to meet short-term labour market requirements may have little relevance for meeting long-term skill requirements. It is not possible to definitively determine what skills and knowledge will be required for the jobs of the future. To build capacity and maximize Canada’s potential for innovation, evidence points to the value of early childhood interventions to strengthen fundamental skills. Proactive, long-term strategies to keep a range of economic options open include investments in building fundamental STEM skills while maintaining Canada’s capacity for producing advanced STEM skills. Support for under-represented populations in STEM is important for broadening Canada’s STEM skill supply. STEM skills are global skills. Emigration is more than offset by immigration. Overall, Canada does not appear to be losing skilled individuals.

In 2013, the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET) launched a review of the Atlantic Canada Essential Graduation Learnings, the 1995 framework for curriculum development endorsed by the four Atlantic Provinces. A committee representing each province was formed to ensure the framework, guiding expectations for completion of public education, responded to the changing demands of work and life in the 21st century. A review of literature and research and of national and international documents informed revisions and additions to the 1995 framework. Following departmental consultation and committee collaboration, the updated version of the Atlantic Canada Framework for Essential Graduation Competencieswas finalized in 2015. This document provides a common vision of the competencies--a set of attitudes, skills, and knowledge--beyond foundational literacy and numeracy that prepare learners to engage in a lifetime of transitions and learning. It reflects the regional direction provinces want to take to achieve excellence and provides the flexibility todesign curricula based on provincial priorities and timelines. It is intended to ensure that all Atlantic Canadian students are prepared to seize opportunities and meet the challenges of the future.

This 14th edition of the Learning and Development Outlook has two main objectives: to provide L&D leaders and practitioners with data about the current state of learning programs, practices, and expenditures across Canada; and to provide an analysis of the current state of learning in organizations. The report summarizes the results of the Learning and Development Outlook survey sent during the fall of 2016 and winter of 2017. A total of 127 organizations completed the survey. A key finding that emerged from the responses is that organizations with strong learning cultures invest more in their learning and development and are realizing greater returns for their investment. Largely, they are guided by strong leadership that places a high priority on employee engagement and communication.

This study was made possible through financial support and strategic guidance from the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and from Colleges and Institutes Canada (CICan). This study was conducted by Knowledge in Power Consulting Inc., comprised of Blagovesta Maneva-Sleyman, PhD, and Daria Sleiman, BA. Marguerite Donohue, PhD, of Donohue Higher Education Consulting Inc., conducted most of the interviews. We wish to thank member colleges and institutes, Program Advisory Committee members, including employer and industry representatives, as well as former college executives, who completed the survey and participated in the interviews, offered advice, and provided critical insights. Without their cooperation, this study would not have been possible. We thank them all for their valuable contributions. The authors also wish to thank ESDC and CICan for their outstanding support.

The purpose of this project is to scan and review reports from other Local Immigration Partnerships (LIPs) on immigrant settlement and integration, with a focus on the LIPs in Ontario. The project provides research support to the Guelph Welling-LIP Research Team in terms of reviewing priority areas of immigrant settlement and integration, and selecting potential performance indicators that can be used to assess those areas. We highlight some of the common priority areas and key indicators, as well as indicate the differences between the LIPs in terms of how the priority areas have been assessed, from the strategic plans and reports that we have obtained online or through email contact. In particular, the Bow Valley and Halton Region LIPs have specified the use of a Results-Based Accountability approach for the development of an assessment framework of immigrant integration, which works backwards from a vision and expected outcomes (ends) to performance indicators that track progress toward those outcomes (means).

The objective of this report is to examine the costs and benefits of the promotion of pay equity through a comparative analysis of different national models. This does not mean that, in case benefits outweigh costs, this should become the main reason for promoting pay equity. Non-discrimination and equality is a human right, and as such is nonnegotiable. The issue is rather how to promote it more effectively by minimizing the costs and maximizing the benefits.This paper will proceed as follows: in section 1 we will examine the causes of pay discrimination in order to identify the problems that pay equity legislation is intended to resolve. In the light of the wide range of existing legislative models and related outcomes, and in order to better understand the costs and benefits of each model, in section 2 we develop a typology of legislative models aimed at promoting pay equity. The costs and benefits of each model are analyzed in section 3 and divided into two categories: the first is related to the costs and benefits associated with the process, while the second concerns the costs and benefits linked to the results of pay equity measures. The different costs and benefits depend on whether particular practices are in place. These will be reviewed in section 4 which will attempt to identify the œbest practices that help minimize costs and maximize benefits. Lastly, section 5 will consider an approach that is closely linked to the issues before us, namely corporate social responsibility (CSR). We will endeavour to ascertain to what extent CSR effectively encourages employers to respect the principle of equal pay for work of equal value, thereby reinforcing the role of legislation. On the basis of our findings, we will present a series of recommendations intended to enhance the effectiveness of pay equity programs.

South Asians ― persons who can trace their origins to India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh ― are the largest racialized minority group in Canada. The National Household Survey (2011) revealed that 1,567,400 persons reported being of South Asian origin, making up 4% of the total Canadian population (Statistics Canada, 2013). The substantial presence and rapid growth of this minority group make it an important population to understand in terms of their settlement and integration-related experiences. The authors of this paper bring together their unique disciplinary lenses- social work and law - to discuss various factors that contribute to the multiple oppressions experienced by South Asian immigrant women in Canada. The paper also focuses on the particular vulnerability newcomer immigrant women can face in situations of domestic violence.This paper is divided into four sections. The first section reviews the literature on the multiple oppressions experienced by newcomer South Asian women and their vulnerability in relation to domestic violence. In the second section the authors present the case of Tejinder, an immigrant woman whom the first author interviewed during data collection for her doctoral dissertation. In the third section the authors discuss how language, gender, race, class and immigration policy intersect to increase the vulnerability of Tejinder in relation to domestic violence. The paper concludes with recommendations for social work practice and for policy.