LMIC's 2023-2024
Annual
Report
Table of Contents
What we accomplished this year
The 2023–2024 fiscal year was characterized by a commitment to exploration and learning at LMIC. We hosted a panel discussion about the experiences of newcomer and immigrant youth in Canada’s labour market and delivered a presentation on labour market trends at the Canadian Economics Association annual conference. We produced 23 reports and articles, were featured in the media eight times, and participated in 16 public engagement activities.
We took pride in our commitment to understanding the experiences and outcomes of under-represented and equity-deserving groups in Canada. Recognizing that it is possible for labour market information (LMI) to be more inclusive, we strive to ensure that our research reflects the diverse experiences of all Canadians, from coast to coast to coast.
Our mission is to empower Canadians to make informed decisions by providing access to quality, relevant, comprehensive information and insights across the pan-Canadian LMI ecosystem. By identifying LMI gaps and uncovering aspects of stigma, prejudice, discrimination and inequitable labour market outcomes among under-represented and equity-deserving groups, we strive to improve the accessibility of labour market information across Canada.
This commitment moves us closer to our goal of providing comprehensive labour market information and insights that respect the diverse perspectives, identities and needs of all people in Canada, ensuring that Canadians have the information they need to succeed in a changing, dynamic world of work.
Our annual report contains a summary of our outputs for the 2023–2024 fiscal year. We’re pleased to share these results.
Our Strategic Objectives
In fiscal year 2023–2024, we set out to achieve six key goals that aligned with those set out in our 2021–2025 Strategic Plan.
Guide LMI systems
Enhance LMI practices
2023-2024 Strategic Objective
Champion LMI access
2023-2024 Strategic Objective
Objective
Foster an innovative LMI ecosystem
We addressed a variety of ongoing and new innovative labour market trends.
Several high-profile themes grabbed our attention, including remote work, AI and the green economy.
LMIC was proactive, fostering discussions by publishing a series of four articles on these innovative issues:
We hosted interactive discussions with an interdisciplinary group of experts to broaden the boundaries of knowledge.
“Meeting of the Minds” is an initiative that brings together an interdisciplinary group of brilliant minds, change-makers and researchers for a conversation dedicated to advancing the frontiers of knowledge and understanding various contemporary issues.
The events serve as a platform to engage in open dialogue, share insights and collectively shape ongoing research projects.
Objective
Collaborate with stakeholders to address LMI priorities
We surveyed LMI stakeholders about their needs.
In partnership with Statistics Canada, we led a feedback-gathering exercise to explore information needs in Canada’s LMI ecosystem.
As a result of the initiative, our report identified a need to increase public awareness of LMI sources and how to access them.
We participated in a project to analyze job polarization in Canada.
We participated in a project for the Joint Research Centre within the European Commission in partnership with the International Labour Organization.
Representatives from various countries and regions are preparing a report using the specified methodology to analyze job polarization in their countries.
LMIC is contributing to the Canadian portion of this project, which will consist of a working paper and related book chapter.
The book is expected by the end of 2024.
Objective
Encourage the adoption of best practices in the generation, analysis and dissemination of LMI
We identified LMI best practices for under-represented groups.
We developed insights into the state of labour market information for under-represented groups, including LGBTQ2S+ individuals, neurodivergent individuals, persons with disabilities, refugees and Black Canadians.
We launched a series of nine reports and articles based on this initiative:
We looked at demographic growth and the employment rates needed to fill job vacancies in Canada.
We aimed to develop insights into the employment rates required to fill vacancies in Canada, and we explored which jobs were at risk of going unfilled due to an aging (soon to retire) workforce.
We launched two articles on this initiative:
Objective
Promote labour market consistency and coherency
We grew our library of resources on the future of work.
In partnership with World Education Services, we continued to curate emerging research on the future of work in our annotated bibliography.
We provided detailed explanations of relevant labour market concepts.
In a series of three articles, we provided detailed explanations of LMI terms and trends. To that end, we also provided insights into emerging terminology.
Through these efforts, we aim to enhance understanding and foster a more cohesive and consistent labour market environment.
Objective
Enable access to LMI across the pan-Canadian ecosystem
The LMIC Data Hub underwent a sustainability assessment.
In 2023, the LMIC Data Hub—which is co-created and funded through the Future Skills Centre (FSC)—underwent a sustainability assessment by KPMG.
LMIC continues to work in partnership with the FSC and its consortium partners to determine how the Data Hub can best support the entirety of the LMI ecosystem and its stakeholders.
We empowered users to delve into labour market information with trends found in online job postings across Canada.
The Canadian Job Trends Dashboard enables users to explore LMI based on trends found in online job postings nationwide.
Each month, LMIC prepares and distributes a selection of “data nuggets” from the Canadian Job Trends Dashboard and invites users to investigate trends.
Built on the LMIC Data Hub, the Canadian Job Trends Dashboard is a proof-of-concept of how the Data Hub can be leveraged to build front-end tools and enable access to LMI across the pan-Canadian ecosystem.
Objective
Promote and support the use of LMI
We provided access to online job posting trends.
For more than a year now, the Canadian Job Trends Dashboard has given all Canadians access to data on online job postings across the country.
The information found in online job postings can help track trends in occupational demand and work requirements, such as skills, knowledge, tools and technology.
In partnership with Vicinity Jobs, this year, LMIC continued to contribute to this user-friendly design, providing access to more up-to-date data.
We helped career development professionals access and use LMI.
Career development practitioners are a vital conduit through which people in Canada receive contextualized labour market information and guidance. However, many of resources used by practitioners lack high-quality data.
We launched a report explaining the challenges and complexities of accessing and using LMI to generate relevant results for career development practitioners' clients.
Using the same research initiative that informed our previous report, we also launched an article reviewing what we learned about the different ways in which career development professionals share LMI with their clients.
Publications
We produced 23 reports and articles from April 2023 to March 2024.
Perceptions of LMI: Feedback from the Canadian ecosystem
May 2023
A feedback-gathering exercise to explore information needs in Canada’s LMI ecosystem.
Filling gaps in labour market information about refugees in Canada
June 2023
LMIC is embarking on a research initiative on the labour market outcomes of refugees in Canada.
Closing the labour market gap: Approaches to addressing Canada's job vacancies
June 2023
Canada’s working population needs to increase by 4.6% to fill all the available vacancies.
Understanding under-representation in Canada's labour market: An analysis of definitions and approaches
July 2023
How do economists define who is “under-represented” in the labour market? LMIC reviews six approaches.
Intersectionality at work: Why intersectionality matters to labour market information
July 2023
Identities are complex. Here’s how intersectional analysis can improve LMI in Canada.
Demystifying the links between rate hikes, inflation and a tight labour market
July 2023
The Bank of Canada’s latest rate hike aims to tame inflation and stabilize the economy, but many challenges remain.
Canada must control AI technology that gathers and analyzes workplace data
August 2023
The risk posed by bad data and biased predictive models is significant. Private, foreign-controlled companies could be providing an incorrect picture of what’s really happening, and we would have no way of knowing it.
Where to find data on student and apprentice labour market outcomes
August 2023
Statistics Canada has recently introduced a new set of publicly available interactive tools.
Wages, inflation, AI, green economy: The labour issues Canadians are talking about on social media
August 2023
A sentiment analysis of the labour issues people in Canada are discussing now.
LMIC to explore dynamics of remote work in Canada’s labour market
September 2023
LMIC is embarking on a research initiative on the motivations and dynamics of remote work in Canada’s labour market.
What is a “good” job?
November 2023
How we define job quality matters – it impacts individuals, labour markets, and public policy.
LMIC to examine occupations at risk due to an aging workforce
December 2023
The number of Canadian workers approaching retirement age has never been higher.
Navigating labour market information: Challenges faced by career development professionals
January 2024
Career development professionals understand LMI but are challenged by the complexity of accessing and using it to generate relevant results for their clients.
How do career development professionals deliver labour market information to their clients?
January 2024
Organizations that produce and disseminate labour market information must improve how they serve the needs of end users.
A brief history of Black entrepreneurship in Canada
January 2024
Canada is one of the most entrepreneurial nations in the world, and Black Canadians have been entrepreneurs since the country’s earliest days.
What can the data tell us about Black entrepreneurs in Canada?
January 2024
There are more than 60,000 Black business owners in Canada. What can official data tell us about them?
Conversations with Black entrepreneurs: What motivates entrepreneurship?
January 2024
We spoke with 10 Black Canadians about what influenced their decisions to become entrepreneurs.
The great remote work debate: Does it boost or bust productivity? It depends.
March 2024
Is remote work good for workers? Is it good for business?
Women’s economic empowerment and the Canadian labour market
March 2024
What data about labour market participation, wages and entrepreneurship can tell us about Canada’s progress toward economic empowerment for women.
Transgender visibility in Canadian LMI
March 2024
Canada is the first country to collect census data on transgender people, but significant data gaps persist.
Decoding job postings: Improving accessibility for neurodivergent job seekers
March 2024
Improving the quality and accessibility of job postings is one way to reduce employment barriers for neurodivergent people.
Media coverage and public engagement
We were featured in the media eight times from April 2023 to March 2024.
National Newswatch
July 11, 2023
Unraveling the Bond Between Rate Hikes, Inflation, and a Tight Labour Market
Ottawa Citizen
August 2, 2023
Bergamini: Canada must control AI technology that gathers and analyzes workplace data
We participated in and/or led 13 public engagement activities from April 2023 to March 2024.
College Student Success Innovation Centre
May 2, 2023
Virtual Symposium on Skills Translation
Canadian Council for Youth Prosperity and LMIC
May 2, 2023
Labour market outcomes of immigrant youth in Canada
York University School of Continuing Studies
May 3, 2023
Importance of LMI
Canadian Economics Association Conference
June 3, 2023
Labour market tightness: Here to stay?; Tracking Labour Demand Trends: An Examination of Online Job Postings; Recent trends in the real wage distribution in Canada: Evidence from the Labour Force Survey 2009 to 2022
LMIC: Meeting of the minds
June 27, 2023
Women in STEM
Forum of Labour Market Ministers
August 23, 2023
Green Horizons: A Study of the Impact of the Green Economy Transition on Canadian Labour Markets
LMIC: Meeting of the minds
October 25, 2023
The Green Economy
Ted Rogers School of Management
November 7, 2023
Executive Speaker Series
Forum of Labour Market Ministers
January 15, 2024
Members’ Meeting
Career Professionals of Canada
February 21, 2024
Career Development Professionals and Career Services
Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce
March 7, 2024
Navigating Underrepresentation: Insights into Canada’s Labour Market
Government of Alberta's Labour Market Evidence Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade
March 7, 2024
Connecting Skills in Job Postings
Northeastern University
March 22, 2024
Canada’s Labour Market and LMI
Key Metrics
Website
Newsletter
Linked In
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Partnerships and collaboration
LMIC’s partnership ecosystem is the foundation of our work. In 2023–2024, we continued to collaborate with our partners, harnessing their expertise, creativity and reach to add value to the Canadian LMI ecosystem.
We work with the Forum of Labour Market Ministers on the forum’s mandate to address shared labour market issues across Canada. Through our partnerships with the forum—as well as with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), provincial and territorial governments, the Future Skills Centre (FSC), Statistics Canada, and other stakeholders—we worked to facilitate access to valuable labour market information for all people in Canada, with the end goal of building a skilled, adaptable and inclusive workforce.
Looking Ahead
As LMIC enters the fourth year of its five-year strategic plan, the dynamic pace of change observed in recent years and the implications for Canada's labour market are leading us to revisit our organization’s strategic focus. Working with its Board leadership, LMIC staff members have started sharpening LMIC’s focus to better align its resources with more pressing labour market needs and opportunities.
New areas of research focus
Important trends that are shaping Canada’s labour market have emerged: widespread labour and skills shortages, broadening social awareness of the needs of equity-deserving groups, the growing use of AI, and the risk of potential labour or skills shortages due to over-reliance on mature workers, who may soon retire.
Widespread reports of labour and skills shortages combined with economic inflation have revealed the need for a better understanding of how variables like workforce age, job quality, wages, remote work, and the shift to a green economy will affect Canada’s labour market in the near future.
One key change will be a greater emphasis on LMIC’s role as a convenor in the LMI ecosystem. LMIC will strive to facilitate greater collaboration and knowledge dissemination for all key stakeholders and members of the public, with a focus on filling gaps in LMI about under-represented groups.
There has been a broad social awakening to the needs, gaps, barriers and wage disparities affecting equity-deserving and under-represented groups. LMIC remains dedicated to growing the evidence base about the labour market outcomes of such groups, with a 2024–2025 focus on refugees and people with neurodiversities.
The emergence and popularization of AI has led to numerous debates regarding innovation and new technologies and their impact on Canadian LMI. AI has been shown to have the potential to transform how LMI is collected and disseminated in Canada if it is properly implemented and regulated. Therefore, it is vital to explore best practices and recommendations by and for the LMI ecosystem and to showcase where innovation is happening. As we look to 2024–2025, we expect to embark on extensive pan-Canadian consultations about the intersection of AI and LMI.
Below is a summary of our research focus areas for the 2024–2025 fiscal year.
2024–2025 Research Focus Areas
Improving Labour Market Information
Newcomers and LMI
LMIC will investigate gaps in the LMI system in Canada, focusing on the unique challenges faced by newcomers, to enhance the accuracy and inclusivity of the information they need to integrate successfully into the Canadian workforce.
Earnings and wages
LMIC will look at improving labour market information by explaining key concepts and analysis related to earnings and wages, with a special focus on explaining how these concepts affect and intersect with under-represented groups.
Labour mobility and the skilled trades
LMIC will examine the needs and gaps in LMI as they relate to labour mobility and the skilled trades.
Emerging Labour Market trends
The aging population
LMIC will examine the age composition of occupations and regions in Canada to develop insights into which ones are at risk of potential labour or skills shortages due to an over-reliance on mature workers (who may soon retire). The report will explain how to use readily available labour market data to learn more about the risk of retirement-induced labour shortages at a granular level.
Connecting skills across online job postings
This initiative will involve conducting seminal and foundational research to fill the data gap on skills shortages and mismatches. It will measure how frequently various skills are named within the same job posting to identify relationships between skills.
Green Economy
LMIC will delve into definitions of the green economy and related concepts, such as sustainable development, green jobs, green skills, and pertinent green economy policies. We will also examine the current landscape and contemplate the potential entry points for labour market information, shedding light on the complexities surrounding this dynamic and evolving facet of the global economy.
Job quality and polarization (in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and European Commission)
LMIC is contributing the Canadian portion of a joint research project between the ILO and European Commission on global shifts in employment.
All countries are using the European Jobs Monitor “jobs” approach (using occupation-sector pairs) to understand the structural changes in employment and wages.
The working paper, “Structural Changes in Canadian Employment from 1997 to 2002,” reviews changes in employment and real wages to reveal a long-term pattern of upgrading from 1997 to 2022, particularly after the 2008 financial crisis. There is also evidence of wage polarization from 2020 to 2022 in Canada. Employment and wage trends by sector, sex and age are explored as well.
THE CHANGING NATURE OF WORK
Neurodiversity
Neurodivergent adults in Canada face a triple challenge of significantly lower employment rates, pervasive unemployment, and shorter job tenures, reflecting a concerning pattern of exclusion and instability in the workforce. Job postings play a pivotal role in shaping the employment landscape for these individuals. This report identifies four barriers in job postings and presents recommendations for making job postings more inclusive of neurodivergent job seekers—and thus, a higher-quality source of LMI.
Job quality in a tight labour market
LMIC will examine the relationship between labour market tightness and job quality, testing the conventional wisdom that workers can leverage tight labour markets and bargaining power to improve job quality. This initiative explores whether the assumed relationship between labour market tightness and job quality is supported by data, such as real wage gains. We will also determine if the findings are generalizable across Canada or exist only in certain labour market segments.
AI and labour market information
This initiative will review how AI, innovation and new technologies affect LMI in Canada. It will include best practices and recommendations by and for the LMI ecosystem and showcase where innovation is happening.
Financials
With the Board of Directors’ approval, Baker Tilly audited the financial statements of the Labour Market Information Council as of March 31, 2024. In Baker Tilly's opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Labour Market Information Council as of March 31, 2024, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the year that ended in accordance with Canadian Accounting Standards for Not-for-Profit Organizations. The full Independent Auditor's Report can be read at the link below to promote transparency and accountability.
Cover illustration by Dorothy Leung for LMIC. All rights reserved.