Sustainable Development Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth

Canadian ambition under decent work and economic growth

Canada's ambitions^{Footnote 2} for this goal are to ensure that Canadians have access to quality jobs and contribute to and benefit from sustainable economic growth.

Canada's prosperity will increasingly depend on:

developing innovative policies and programs to help all participants in the Canadian labour market access high-quality sustainable jobs
decent wages and social protections
reducing systemic barriers to employment
creating a culture of innovation, inclusion, skills development and transfer, and lifelong learning

Measuring Progress: The Canadian Indicator Framework

In collaboration with federal departments and agencies, Statistics Canada has developed the Canadian Indicator Framework (CIF) for the Sustainable Development Goals. The CIF includes 76 indicators specific to Canada, which measure progress using a set of nationally relevant, objective and comprehensive indicators. CIF indicators for SDG 8 are:

Unemployment rate
Proportion of employees earning less than 66% of the median hourly wage for permanent full-time employees
Proportion of youth not in education, employment, or training
Proportion of involuntary part-time workers
Gross domestic product per capita
Jobs in the clean technology products sector

What we are doing to support decent work and economic growth in Canada

Canada's interim Sustainable Jobs Plan for 2023 to 2025 includes concrete federal actions to advance economic prosperity and sustainable jobs in every region of the country in the shift to net-zero emissions. In combination with Bill C-50, the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, introduced in June 2023, the plan will put in place a framework to guide federal action to help workers and communities prepare for the clean energy economy. This builds on the Government's broader objective to create decent, well-paying, high-quality jobs that can support workers and their families while advancing a low-carbon future.

The Regional Energy and Resource Tables are a key part of the Government of Canada's efforts to ensure that Canadians reap the economic benefits of climate action. This initiative brings the federal government together with provinces and territories, in collaboration with Indigenous partners - and with the input of key stakeholders - to advance the top economic priorities in the energy and resource sectors in each of Canada's regions. By collectively identifying and advancing the most promising opportunities, both public dollars and private capital can be strategically directed with maximum effect to support economic growth, reconciliation, climate outcomes, diversity and equity, and the creation of sustainable jobs.

The Jobs and Growth Fund is a $700 million federal program to support regional job creation and position local economies for long-term growth. The fund helps job creators and the organizations that support them to:

future-proof their businesses
build resiliency
prepare for growth

The Accelerated Growth Service helps Canadian companies get the help they need to grow their businesses. The service coordinates government support for high growth companies in areas such as:

financing
advisory support
export
innovation services

Each year, the Government of Canada provides over $3 billion for individuals and employers to obtain skills training and employment supports through bilateral labour market transfer agreements with provinces and territories. These include the Labour Market Development Agreements and the Workforce Development Agreements. Over a million individuals and employers benefit from programming funded by these agreements each year.

Future Skills helps Canadians to take advantage of new opportunities, better prepare for jobs of the future and supports employers to have access to a skilled workforce. It focuses on the inclusion of underrepresented and disadvantaged groups, including Black and Indigenous peoples, women and persons with disabilities so everyone has a chance to succeed.

The Lifelong Learning Plan allows to individuals withdraw up to $10,000 in a calendar year from a registered retirement savings plan to finance full-time training or education.

The Youth Employment and Skills Strategy helps young people (aged 15 to 30), particularly those facing barriers to employment, get the information and gain the skills, work experience and abilities they need to make a successful transition into the labour market.

The Student Work Placement Program gives post-secondary students across Canada paid work experience related to their field of study.

To help build the skills Canada needs to achieve its net-zero objectives, over the next 2 years the Business + Higher Education Roundtable will create nearly 6,300 green work-integrated learning experiences for post-secondary students.

The Science Horizons Youth Internship Program supports youth furthest from employment, including women's participation in the environmental and clean technology sectors. This an inclusive youth service program that supports young Canadians with employment and removes barriers for youth with disabilities.

The Indigenous Skills and Employment Training Program is a distinctions-based program designed to help Indigenous people improve their skills and find employment. It provides funding to Indigenous service delivery organizations to build and improve their capacity and deliver culturally-appropriate job training services to First Nations, Inuit, Métis and urban/non-affiliated Indigenous people in their communities.

The Skills and Partnership Fund is a project-based program that funds partnerships between Indigenous organizations and industry employers to provide skills training for Indigenous peoples linked to economic opportunities at the local, regional and national level. By increasing access to training that is demand-driven, the SPF plays a key role in directly linking Indigenous peoples to specific jobs and improving their employment outcomes.

The Indigenous Growth Fund (IGF), was established to enable Indigenous lenders to support more Indigenous entrepreneurs and more ambitious projects. The IGF is managed by the National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association and is accessible to Aboriginal Financial Institutions and Métis Capital Corporations that draw from the IGF to finance Indigenous entrepreneurs' projects.

The Aboriginal Entrepreneurship Program increases access to:

affordable capital for Indigenous entrepreneurs by providing them with equity (non-repayable contributions)
business support services (such as help writing a business plan)
support through the cross-Canada network of Aboriginal Financial Institutions and Métis Capital Corporations that lend to entrepreneurs

As part of Canada's Disability Inclusion Action Plan, the Government is developing an Employment Strategy for Persons with Disabilities to address the systemic barriers to labour market participation faced by persons with disabilities. The Strategy will:

help persons with disabilities find and keep good jobs
help persons with disabilities advance in their careers or become entrepreneurs
support employers as they develop inclusive workplaces, and
aid organizations and individuals who support persons with disabilities in employment

The Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities funds organizations to assist persons with disabilities to prepare for, obtain and maintain employment, and advance in their careers. It supports persons with disabilities in overcoming barriers to participation in the Canadian labour market, and also supports employers to hire and include persons with disabilities.

The Enabling Accessibility Fund (EAF) supports community and workplace-based projects across Canada that improve accessibility, remove barriers, and enable Canadians with disabilities to participate in and contribute to their community and the labour market. It accomplishes this by supporting construction, renovation, or retrofit projects aimed at improving physical accessibility and safety for persons with disabilities in Canadian communities and workplaces. Through funding accessibility projects in communities and workplaces, the EAF is able to support creating job opportunities and inclusive workplaces for persons with disabilities. In recent funding processes, the EAF has invested in specific areas such as projects that make Early Learning and Child Care centres more accessible for people of all abilities, including children, parents, child care providers and early childhood educators. In addition, the program has supported shelters for people experiencing gender-based violence by funding projects that make shelters more accessible for persons with disabilities. By prioritizing these areas, the EAF is better able to support smaller organizations that serve persons with disabilities.

The Skills for Success program promotes inclusive and sustainable economic growth by focusing on those facing barriers to employment, such as newcomers, racialized Canadians, persons with disabilities and Indigenous peoples. The program helps Canadians improve their foundational and transferable skills, to help workers to:

develop stronger skills
become more resilient to labour market changes
have better employment outcomes

The Upskilling for Industry Initiative places employers at the forefront of identifying the skills needs in 6 high-growth sectors, including clean technologies. By fostering partnerships between employers and training providers, the initiative seeks to develop and deliver demand-driven short cycle upskilling to help more than 15,000 Canadians workers, including from underrepresented groups, connect with better career opportunities.

The Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program helps key sectors of the economy (including sectors linked to the low-carbon economy) implement solutions to address their current and emerging workforce needs through a wide range of activities. It funds sectoral projects that focus on a range of industry-driven activities such as training and reskilling workers, helping employers retain and attract a skilled and diverse workforce and other creative solutions to help sectors address labour market needs.

The Black Entrepreneurship Program is a partnership between the Government of Canada, Black-led business organizations, and financial institutions. With an investment of up to $265 million over 4 years, it will help Black Canadian business owners and entrepreneurs grow their businesses and succeed now and into the future.

To strengthen protections for employees in the federally regulated private sector, the Government of Canada has nearly completed the implementation of changes to modernize the Canada Labour Code, that were passed during the 42^nd Parliament of Canada. These changes ensure that employees have a robust and modern set of labour standards, improved work-life balance, and fair treatment and compensation while undertaking precarious work. The 42^nd Parliament of Canada also passed Bill C-65 to amend the Canada Labour Code and Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act to better protect employees from harassment and violence in federal workplaces.

Canada applies Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) across key decision-making processes to ensure that supports and initiatives, regardless of their primary intent, serve to close gaps between groups and ensure that "No One is Left Behind". GBA Plus is Canada's approach to mainstreaming equality. It provides a robust policy instrument to address the complex barriers that stand in the way of inclusive economic growth and to ensuring that all people, regardless of who they are or where they live, have access to decent work opportunities. Embedding fairness and inclusion objectives across all government actions for economic growth and decent work complements targeted initiatives to address challenges shared by groups who continue to be too often excluded from participating in opportunities that economic growth can provide.

The Pay Equity Act, which came into force on August 31, 2021, establishes a proactive pay equity regime for approximately 1.3 million federally-regulated workers. The Pay Equity Act is expected to contribute to reducing the gender wage gap by addressing the portion of the gap that can be attributed to the undervaluation of work traditionally performed by women. The Government of Canada is also implementing pay gap reporting measures for federally regulated private sector employers covered by the Employment Equity Act.

The Social Innovation and Social Finance Strategy supports Canada's 170,000 social purpose organizations (charities, non-profits, social enterprises, co-operatives, businesses with a social mission) as they work to address complex socio-economic challenges Canadians are facing, while contributing to building a sustainable and inclusive economy. Designed through a lens of social equity and inclusion to break down barriers to accessing capital, the Strategy provides these organizations, particularly those led by and serving equity deserving groups, with the tools and resources they need to scale and enhance their social and/or environmental impacts. This will help further the socio-economic impact of a sector that already accounts for more than 10 % of the country's gross domestic product.

Immigration is essential to Canada's long-term economic growth. Through economic immigration pathways, Canada attracts newcomers with the skills needed to respond to labour shortages and help the country remain competitive. The meaningful inclusion of economic migrants, as well as refugees, supports economic and demographic growth, boosts innovation and adds valuable new perspectives to Canadian society. In recognition of this, the Government of Canada continues to set ambitious immigration levels targets. In 2022, Canada welcomed over 437,000 new permanent residents, a record high, of which 59% were economic immigrants and their family members. Canada plans to reach 500,000 permanent residents in 2025.

What Canada is doing to support decent work and economic growth abroad

The International Labour Organization (ILO) plays a central role in implementing the 2030 Agenda, and in particular SDG 8, for which it plays a custodian role. Canada, as an active member of the ILO, plays a key role in contributing to the advancement of the ILO's Decent Work Agenda.

Canada has ratified 9 of the 10 ILO core Conventions (and is actively working towards ratification of the 10^th convention), covering a range of fundamental rights and principles, such as:

the right to organize and collective bargaining
minimum age of employment
non-discrimination
elimination of child labour and forced labour
a safe and healthy working environment

The Government of Canada played a strong leadership role in the development and adoption of the ILO Convention on Violence and Harassment, 2019 (C190) as Chair of the ILO Standard-Setting Committee on Violence and Harassment in the World of Work, at the 2018 and 2019 International Labour Conference. The Government of Canada ratified C190 in January 2023. Canada also provides capacity-building and technical assistance to developing free trade partners to support compliance with international labour standards.

Organized by the ILO, OECD and UN Women, the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC) is a strategic, multi-stakeholder partnership, launched in 2017, that aims to assist UN Member States in achieving the SDGs, particularly target 8.5 that calls for equal pay for work of equal value by 2030. Canada is Chair of the EPIC Steering Committee for a 3-year mandate (2022 to 2024).

The Government of Canada is also taking action to eliminate child labour and forced labour in global supply chains by addressing this issue in trade agreements, including the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which came into force on July 1, 2020. In addition, the Government of Canada committed to introduce legislation to eradicate forced labour from Canadian supply chains and ensure that Canadian businesses operating abroad do not contribute to human rights abuses. The Government of Canada has also committed to strengthen the import prohibition on goods produced using forced labour.

Inclusive growth and development cannot be achieved without the full and equal participation of women as economic actors. Achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls is at the heart of Canada's approach to implementing the 2030 Agenda internationally, including through the Growth That Works for Everyone Action Area for its international assistance. Canada aims to change the underlying factors that affect women's abilities to flourish and live fulfilling lives, because it supports economic growth that benefits everyone. It also believes that when women and girls are given equal opportunities to succeed, they can transform their local economies and generate growth that benefits their families, communities and countries.

Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy recognizes that, for women in developing countries to participate equally in contributing to economic growth, they must also have greater access to and control over assets, as well as labour rights and social protections from precarious work situations. Canada is committed to:

promoting greater financial inclusion for women in its international assistance work
supporting technical and vocational training for women
helping address inequalities with respect to care work to protect the rights of paid, unpaid, and poorly-paid care workers
promote decent working conditions across the care workforce

Under the 2019 to 2024 National Strategy to Combat Human Trafficking, Canada is actively working to counter labour trafficking domestically and internationally. As part of this National Strategy, Canada is implementing an enhanced international engagement approach to better leverage multilateral and bilateral partnerships in addressing this crime. Notably, Canada joined the Alliance 8.7 and joined, as an Observer State, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons, and Related Transnational Crime.

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Date modified:: 2024-05-01

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