Federal budget to target mismatch between skilled workers, labour shortages
by The Canadian Press
Government recognizes that serious progress requires close co-operation with provinces, private sector
OTTAWA—Fixing labour shortages and enhancing the skills of workers will be the centrepieces of next week’s federal budget.
But the government also recognizes that serious progress on matching skills with job openings will require close co-operation with provincial governments and the private sector.
Businesses say labour shortages are also a top concern, and they want Ottawa to use Canada’s immigration system to alleviate the pressure.
But recent recommendations from the House of Commons human resources committee suggest the federal government should have a more domestic focus.
The committee recommends improving available labour market information and developing incentives to make it easier for needy employers and skilled employees to find each other.
Ottawa is also re-examining the nature of its $2.5-billion in annual transfers to the provinces for labour market initiatives in the hopes of finding ways to measure how effective the programs are at training and putting people to work.
