Who Is Still Standing in Line? Addressing a Mismatch of Skills and Jobs in the Canadian Labour Market

Abstract

The Canadian labour market suffered a severe blow during the last recession, with more than 430,000 persons losing their jobs and the unemployment rate reaching levels unseen since the latter half of the 1990s.

Subsequently, the labour market has shown great resilience, and there are now 900,000 more Canadians employed since the beginning of the recovery. Important weaknesses remain, however: long-term and youth unemployment still stand at obstinately high levels – despite a recent growth in job vacancies.

This E-Brief argues the best way to further support the Canadian labour market would be through policies that enhance labour mobility and emphasize skills training to help ensure unemployed Canadians have the right skill sets to integrate into the workforce.

Keywords: Unemployment, Economic Growth and Innovation

JEL Classification: E24, E63, J0, J6