Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion - 2021

Economic recovery

Prior to COVID 19, the Canadian labour market was performing well. Although Canada and other developed countries were experiencing slow economic growth (annual GDP growth at 2%, lower than historic trends), the labour market was creating new jobs at an impressive pace and the unemployment rate was near an all time low. At the same time, many employers were reporting shortages of skilled workers.

In less than 8 weeks, COVID 19 shifted Canada’s economy and labour market dramatically from a position of strength to weakness. By April 2020, 3 million Canadians had lost their jobs and another 2.5 million saw their work hours significantly reduced. Canada’s GDP saw its largest contraction in recent history, leaving few industries unscathed. Small businesses were hit particularly hard with over 40% of them reporting losing more than 20% of their revenue compared to the previous year.

Close contact businesses, such as retail, restaurants, and performing arts, witnessed even more severe revenue losses. These industries employ women, young people and racialized persons in greater proportion than the rest of the economy. As a result, those Canadians who faced labour market barriers before the pandemic have been more severely impacted.

Despite this major contraction, the Canadian economy has shown resilience and economic forecasts for continued growth are promising. As of September 2021, employment was back to pre pandemic levels (19.1 million). However, there were still 1.4 million Canadians who were unemployed, an increase of 276,000 relative to pre pandemic levels. Economic uncertainty is still a concern as Canada is facing many potential challenges, including a new wave of COVID 19 currently driven by the Delta variant, supply chain disruptions to production and consumption of goods in Canada and shifting consumer demand, for instance increased use of e commerce, which requires enterprises to revise their business models.

The unusual nature of this current economic slowdown, driven by public health restrictions on economic activity rather than broader macroeconomic forces, means that a full recovery in many sectors will likely occur more quickly than would be typical. Canada could quickly pivot in the short term from elevated unemployment levels to low unemployment and labour shortages in many sectors and industries.

In fact, the labour market is already rapidly tightening in some sectors, and employers are finding it challenging to hire workers. Some of these challenges can be attributed to the fact that the economy is still in a period of adjustment, as a number of sectors reopened during the summer, and the process of matching available jobs with qualified workers is not an immediate one. Furthermore, recovery is likely to occur in an uneven manner across regions, and also across sectors. For example, hospitality, tourism and the arts continue to be constrained by public health measures. Finally, Canadians facing pre pandemic barriers and in precarious or impacted sectors risk falling further behind during the recovery period.

Changing nature of work and skills

Many of the trends that were putting pressure on the labour market prior to the pandemic (for example, technology, globalization and climate change) are likely to either continue or accelerate. The pandemic has hastened the trend towards automation, as many employers found themselves with reduced and unpredictable access to workers. The risk of automation related job transformation in Canada is higher for several groups of the population, including low skilled workers (individuals without post secondary credentials) and older workers, who are over represented in roles that are routine in nature and vulnerable to automation.

Certain populations, such as Indigenous peoples, are at greater risk of being left further behind in the future labour market. Nearly two thirds of jobs held by Indigenous workers are facing a skills overhaul, as data, robotics and advanced technologies drive transformational change in sectors that many Indigenous peoples depend on for work (for example, construction, retail and agriculture). The global shift towards low carbon economies will also mean that certain roles are either eliminated, changed, or created as new opportunities in clean energy emerge.

The trend towards jobs requiring higher skills is projected to continue in the future. From 2019 to 2028, about 75% of employment growth is expected to be in high skill occupations. Growth in high skilled employment has outpaced growth in low skilled employment in the industrialized world over the past 30 years. Moreover, 45% of Canadians do not have the literacy and numeracy skill levels required to perform well in the majority of jobs.

New approaches to skills development and adult upskilling or reskilling could facilitate employee retention and are often better linked to the demands of the workplace. A broad range of advanced skills will be needed to foster a dynamic economic recovery and ensure a more resilient and globally competitive economy over the longer term.

There is strong evidence that investments in training improve work attachment and earnings outcomes, and reduce dependence on government income support, such as Employment Insurance (EI) benefits and social assistance. Canada has 1 of the most educated workforces in the world and is above the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average with respect to participation in adult education and training. However, Canada does not invest as much as peer jurisdictions in training as a share of GDP.

The cost of training or lack of time because of work and family responsibilities impede some Canadians from pursuing learning and training activities and adapting to the changing skill needs of the labour market. Moreover, those who receive the least amount of training tend to be those who face the greatest employment challenges (for example, low paid or low skilled).

Canada’s labour force

In recent decades, a relatively youthful demographic distribution and increased labour force participation (principally driven by more women entering the workforce) have been significant drivers of economic growth. However, Canada, along with many industrialized countries, has an aging population. An increasing number of older Canadians have remained in, or have returned to, the labour force in recent decades. The share of workers aged 55 and over among all workers has doubled over the last 20 years (22.1% of all workers in 2020 compared to 10.4% in 2000). For seniors over 65 years, there has been a rise in labour force participation from 6% in 2000 to 13.8% in 2020. Nevertheless, Canada’s aging population will put downward pressure on labour force participation.

The coming decades will see labour force shortages and skills mismatches combine to act as a drag on productivity and economic growth. Upskilling and reskilling workers, increasing skilled immigration intake, growing the number of new graduates and increasing labour market inclusion of under represented groups, such as persons with disabilities, youth, visible minorities and Indigenous peoples, will be essential to addressing labour shortages and driving growth across the country. Fostering greater labour market inclusion of women continues to represent an opportunity to generate economic growth. In 2019, the labour force participation rate of women (61.3%) was 8.8% less than men (70.1%). This represents 1.4 million women (aged 15 or over) who could potentially join the labour force if their participation rate matched that of men.

Women with young children in the labour force were among those hardest hit by COVID 19. When schools and child care centres closed during the first wave of the pandemic, the employment of women with young children dropped. While employment among these mothers initially showed some recovery towards the end of 2020 with the gradual re opening of the economy, schools and child care centres, employment levels fell again as strict public health measures were re imposed to fight subsequent waves of the pandemic.

As of August 2021, employment recovery of women with young children is still lagging. Employment among women with toddlers or school aged children fell 7% between February and May 2020 compared to a decline of 4% among fathers of children of the same age. Single mothers were even more significantly impacted, with employment among this cohort down 12% from February to June 2020 compared to a 7% decline among single fathers. Despite absorbing 51% of job losses in March and April of 2020, women accounted for just 45% of job gains in May and June as economic activity restarted. The pandemic has pushed women’s participation in the labour force down to its lowest level in 3 decades.

Women’s participation in the labour force seems to be highly influenced by access to affordable, high quality child care. In 2020, the employment rate was the highest in Quebec (77%), which has a low fee, high quality early learning and child care system, but was lower in Alberta (66%), Ontario and British Columbia (67%) and Saskatchewan (68%), where access to high quality and affordable child care is more limited.

The pandemic has also underscored gaps in public income support for many Canadians, including uneven coverage across the country for many part time workers, as well as no coverage for job loss for self employed workers, including gig workers. The EI program was not designed to account for the realities of today’s labour market and workforce, where a significant proportion of Canadians are engaged in non traditional forms of employment and work arrangements.

In 2019, approximately 37% of the Canadian workforce was in non standard forms of employment (for example, temporary, part time or self employed with no employees). Temporary emergency measures such as the Canada Emergency Response Benefit were introduced to support these workers during the pandemic.

Economic and social inclusion

It is likely that recovery from COVID 19 will continue to accentuate gaps and inequalities in employment and education for many Canadians (for example, people from low income communities, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and Black and racialized persons). These barriers act as a drag on economic growth, as well as increase spending on social services and lost tax revenue.

Employment Insurance (EI) Reform

Move forward with a stronger and more inclusive EI system that addresses gaps made obvious during COVID 19. Based on the input received from consultations on the future of EI that are currently underway, bring forward a vision for a new and modern EI system that covers all workers, including workers in seasonal employment, and which is simpler and more responsive for both workers and employers.

Move forward on providing adoptive parents an additional 15 weeks of leave.

Establish an EI Career Insurance Benefit, which will be available to people who have worked continuously for the same employer for 5 or more years and are laid off when the business closes.

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In this regard, Budget 2021 committed to permanently extending the maximum duration of EI sickness benefits from 15 to 26 weeks, and the commitment was reiterated in the platform. [Three sentences redacted]

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[Two sentences redacted] As well, while Finance Canada is leading the platform commitment to introduce a new benefit for self employed Canadians, delivered through the tax system, ESDC is contributing related policy work to this initiative.

Matching workers with jobs

Double the Union Training and Innovation program to $50 million a year to support more apprenticeship training opportunities and additional partnerships in the Red Seal trades across Canada, and target more participation from women, Indigenous peoples, newcomers, persons with disabilities, and Black and racialized Canadians.

The Department is already working towards the realization of some of these commitments. A call for proposals under the Apprenticeship Service was launched in August 2021, with projects expected to begin in winter/spring 2022. The Apprenticeship Service is a key initiative under the new Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy (CAS), which aims to harmonize existing ESDC grants and contributions apprenticeship programs under this new streamlined approach.

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Establish a new Apprenticeship Service, which will connect 55,000 first year apprentices in Red Seal trades with opportunities at small and medium sized employers.

The Apprenticeship Service is a key initiative under the new CAS. A call for proposals under the Apprenticeship Service was launched in August 2021, with projects expected to begin in winter/spring 2022. Implementation of this measure is on track and is expected to create new work opportunities for 55,000 first year apprentices over the next 3 years.

Continue working with the provinces and territories to raise wages for personal support workers, including a guaranteed minimum wage of at least $25 per hour, and train up to 50,000 new personal support workers (PSW).

The shortage of PSWs has been a growing issue for several years, particularly in the context of an aging population. The COVID 19 pandemic has exacerbated these challenges.

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ESDC is currently funding a pilot project to test a new recruitment and training model for up to 2,600 PSWs (online training and work placements), and to create national occupation standards for the profession. [One sentence redacted]

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Make it easier for women and vulnerable groups to access training by requiring businesses supported through the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program (SWSP) to include wrap around supports. This could include transportation to and from the training program, computers, food, referral to counselling, housing, and legal support, support in finding child care, and mentoring or coaching.

The SWSP has a flexible design that allows for project expenses for wrap around services, such as accommodation costs, child care costs, transportation costs, and expenses related to specialized services, arrangements or equipment, that support the participation of vulnerable groups. The SWSP supports both workers (for example, training) and employers (for example, employer solutions to attract and retain a diverse workforce) through a wide range of activities.

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Launch a Clean Jobs Training Centre to help workers upgrade or gain new skills to succeed in the net zero future.

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Invest $2 billion in a Futures Fund for Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador to partner with local workers and communities to create jobs.

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Supporting students

Permanently eliminate the federal interest on Canada Student Loans and Canada Apprentice Loans to support young Canadians who choose to invest in post secondary education.

Increase the repayment assistance threshold to $50,000 for Canada Student Loan borrowers who are single.

Expand the number of family doctors and primary health teams in rural communities by increasing by 50% (from $40,000 up to $60,000 over 5 years) the maximum debt relief that family doctors, residents in family medicine, nurse practitioners, or nurses are eligible for under the Canada Student Loans forgiveness program.

Expand the Canada Student Loan Program’s current narrow list of eligible professionals to include the full workforce a community needs to succeed, including adding dentists, pharmacists, dental hygienists, midwives, social workers, psychologists, teachers, and early childhood educators to the Program.

Undertake a review to ensure that communities that are indeed rural are fully eligible under the Canada Student Loans forgiveness program.

Let new parents pause repayment of their federal student loans until their youngest child reaches the age of 5. This would also include new parents who have graduated but still have not finished paying off their loans.

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Support for Canadians with disabilities

As part of the Disability Inclusion Action Plan, reintroduce and implement the Canada Disability Benefit Act, which will create a direct monthly payment, the Canada Disability Benefit for low income Canadians with disabilities ages 18 64.

Bill C 35 (the Canada Disability Benefit Act) was introduced in Parliament on June 22, 2021. Significant work is underway to develop the parameters of the Benefit and to engage with the provinces and territories on interactions with social assistance and disability income support measures.

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Engagement with the disability community, the public and stakeholders is important to determine the key design parameters of the Benefit. [One sentence redacted]

Undertake a comprehensive review of access to the Disability Tax Credit (DTC), CPP Disability (CPPD) and other federal benefits and programs to ensure they are available to people experiencing mental health challenges.

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The CPP statutory definition of disability and related adjudication policy are broad and not based on diagnosis. The combination of medical condition (physical or mental, or both), associated functional limitations, and personal characteristics, such as age, education and transferable skills, is used to determine eligibility and whether an individual is incapable of regularly pursuing any substantially gainful occupation.

Over the past 5 years, the CPPD has undertaken extensive work to facilitate program access for all applicants, including those with mental illness. Accomplishments include the launch of simplified application forms, an online application process leveraging My Service Canada Account, enhanced client engagement to explain eligibility decisions, and the development of evidence based guidance to support eligibility determination involving complex health conditions lacking corroborating objective medical evidence.

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Build on previous investments through the implementation of the first ever Disability Inclusion Action Plan, in consultation with the disability community.

Engagement on the development of the Disability Inclusion Action Plan has already begun, including roundtables with stakeholders and an online survey that was completed by over 8,000 Canadians. Continued engagement with academics, disability organizations, service providers, Indigenous peoples with disabilities and racialized persons with disabilities can provide insight on building back better and creating an inclusive society. [One sentence redacted]

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Make permanent funding to support services that ensure equitable access to reading and other published works for Canadians with print disabilities so that more Canadians are able to fully participate in these activities.

The 2020 Fall Economic Statement provided $10 million over 3 years to support the Centre for Equitable Library Access and the National Network for Equitable Library Service in the production of accessible format reading material. 3 year agreements are in place, however, the declining profile of funding and no ongoing source of funds has been criticized by the disability community. [One sentence redacted]

Proceed with the timely and ambitious implementation of the Accessible Canada Act.

The Accessible Canada Act, which establishes a framework for the proactive identification, removal and prevention of barriers to accessibility within entities subject to federal regulation, came into force on July 11, 2019.

Regulations are needed to operationalize the requirements in the Act and the first set of draft regulations, which deal with planning and reporting requirements and administrative monetary penalties, were published in February 2021. [One sentence redacted]

In addition, new positions created under the Accessible Canada Act are required to be filled in order to enforce various provisions of the Act and related regulations, or to monitor outcomes achieved. Selection processes to fill the positions of Accessibility Commissioner and Chief Accessibility Officer were launched in May 2021 and undertaken over the summer.

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Harmonization of accessibility standards across Canada

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Accessibility Standards Canada, a departmental corporation established under the Accessible Canada Act in 2019, is developing a strategy to engage the provinces and territories in the development of federal accessibility standards. [One sentence redacted]

Skills and immigrant workers

Establish a Trusted Employer system to streamline the application process for Canadian companies hiring temporary foreign workers to fill labour shortages that cannot be filled by Canadian workers.

A Trusted Employer System would recognize employers who have committed to hiring as many Canadians as possible before turning to temporary foreign workers, while meeting program requirements that protect temporary foreign workers from abuse. [Two sentences redacted]

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Grow and improve the Global Talent Stream program by simplifying permit renewals, upholding the 2 week processing time, and establishing an employer hotline, to allow Canadian companies to attract and hire highly skilled workers.

Since its inception in 2017, the Global Talent Stream has supported nearly 3,500 employers in accessing over 12,800 in demand highly skilled positions to expand their workforce. The program includes a global talent list of in demand technical occupations determined to be in shortage in Canada. Through this program, the Department provides employers with access to a dedicated service delivery team to help them through the application process within 10 business days.

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Currently, employers looking for general information on the Stream or on the broader Temporary Foreign Worker Program can contact Service Canada’s Employer Contact Centre. [One sentence redacted]

Provincial and Territorial Fora

As the federal co chair of the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Forum of Labour Market Ministers, your provincial and territorial counterparts will look forward to engaging with you to advance key files, such as reforming the EI system, as well as aligning skills and training with the labour market needs to ensure that Canada has a skilled, adaptable and inclusive workforce that supports the competitiveness of the economy.

In addition, as Minister Responsible for Disability Inclusion, your provincial and territorial counterparts will look forward to engaging with you on issues, such as supports to persons with disabilities and accessibility, which are discussed under the Forum of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Ministers Responsible for Social Services, co chaired by the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. These files are areas of shared mandate. This is an opportunity to strengthen our relationship and work in close collaboration with our key partners, as well as help shape and influence the agenda going forward.

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ESDC’s information technology (IT) underpins the delivery of financial support to millions of Canadians through programs such as Old Age Security (OAS), Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and Employment Insurance (EI). [Three sentences redacted].

The shift to online services during COVID 19 and the experiences with the commercial sector are driving client expectations for digital services. [Three sentences redacted]

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Canada Recovery Benefits

An important part of the Government of Canada’s response to the COVID 19 pandemic is the suite of Recovery Benefits, including the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB), the Canada Recovery Caregiving Benefit (CRCB), and the Canada Recovery Sickness Benefit (CRSB). These benefits were introduced in recognition that many workers whose jobs were lost due to the pandemic were not eligible for regular Employment Insurance benefits, especially part time workers and the self employed, including gig workers, while others could not work due to extraordinary caregiving responsibilities not covered by EI, or because they were sick or required to self isolate.

The CRB is available for a maximum of 54 weeks, the CRCB for a maximum of 42 weeks, and the CRSB for a maximum of 4 weeks. It should be noted that workers who have exhausted the maximum 50 weeks of EI regular benefits could apply for up to 4 additional weeks of CRB, if they meet the eligibility criteria. The benefits are statutory in nature and are delivered under the authority of the Canada Recovery Benefits Act. You have the overall responsibility for the Canada Recovery Benefits, with the Canada Revenue Agency delivering the benefits.

The Recovery Benefits were scheduled to expire on October 23, 2021. On October 21st, the Government announced the intention to extend the CRSB and CRCB until May 7th, 2022. The proposed extension recognizes that Canada is still in the fourth wave of the pandemic and that the public health requirements to isolate or the need to stay at home to care for children whose school is closed could be in place for the foreseeable future. The Government used existing regulatory authorities under the CRB Act to extend these 2 benefits until November 20, 2021, but legislative amendments will be required to extend them further until May 7th 2022.

By contrast, the CRB was allowed to expire as scheduled. [Three sentences redacted]

[One sentence redacted] The announcement therefore included the Government’s intent to introduce a new Canada Worker Lockdown Benefit (CWLB) to provide temporary income support to Canadians who lose their employment or face significant income reduction due to any future public health lockdowns to control COVID 19.

The new benefit will provide $300 per week to eligible affected workers for the entire duration of a lockdown, and would be effective October 24th, 2021. [Two sentences redacted]

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EI Seasonal Claimant Initiative

Seasonal workers are an important part of Canada’s growing economy. To better support them, the Government of Canada has implemented a time limited initiative to provide up to 5 additional weeks of EI regular benefits to eligible seasonal workers in 13 targeted EI economic regions, which is scheduled to expire in fall 2022. [One sentence redacted]

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