Skills for Competitiveness Country Report for Canada

Anil Verma skills.oecd: building the right skills and turning them into better jobs and better lives This study conducted an investigation of how regions can move to a higher-skill, higher value-added equilibrium in Canada, drawing on Ontario as a case study example. 1 Given the complexities of measuring such a shift this investigation examined the issue from different perspectives. It examined aggregate labour market data in order to map skills supply and demand at the level of employment insurance (EI) regions. This analysis is supplemented with an overview of institutions and policies that facilitate the shift to higher skills and higher value-added production in Ontario. Two geographical regions (Niagara and the Kitchener-Waterloo regions) and three industries within Ontario (food processing, hotels, food retailing) were examined in greater detail. The institutional framework in Ontario for a shift towards a high value-added economy includes the federally-funded Sector Councils. In the Government of Ontario the following play a key role in increasing supply and demand for high skills: Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Ministry of Economic Development and other region-specific and industry-specific (e.g., Ministry of Northern Development, Mines and Forestry; Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs) ministries including the Ministry of Research and Innovation. The " local " dimension to policy interventions comes from quasi-government bodies, industry (or employer) associations, non-profit community organisations, labour unions, etc. At the local level, Ontario's policy infrastructure includes workforce planning boards, regional governments, regional industry associations, and non-profit organisations. Most of the Provincial funding spent on training is for " downside " adjustment, i.e., to rehabilitate workers displaced by merger, closure, tech change or other disruptions. Monies spent on upgrading skills of current employees, so-called " upside " training, is much more limited in scope and in quantity. The policy issue for Canada is to consider how employers could be incentivised to invest more in the skills of their workforce. Our case studies illustrate a few examples of employers who have adopted a policy of investing in the skills of their employees through formal and on-the-job training. Many employer groups especially at the national and industry level, such as the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters and Canadian Food Processors among many others, support firms in becoming more competitive by investing in more value-added work and employee skills. Many region-or industry-specific university and college programmes in Ontario were established after being proposed by an educational institution with …