What are Canadian post-secondary institutions saying and doing? Social and emotional skills. Ottawa, ON: Conference Board of Canada.
The report highlights the growing importance of social and emotional skills (SES) to employers, and the slow response of post-secondary institutions (PSIs) to respond to this demand. Employers have shifted from hiring and rewarding employees based largely on their technical skills to incorporating more SES such as creativity and problem-solving. Most post-secondary and employment…Read More
Mapping Canada’s training ecosystem: Much needed and long overdue. IRPP Insight, 34. Montreal, QC: Institute for Research on Public Policy.
The authors argue that Canada needs a comprehensive information system that links the skills acquired through training and education programs to those sought in the job market. This system should have the following interlocking components: 1) a database of training and education programs and providers; 2) a classification system of skills and other job…Read More
Building a common language for skills at work: A global taxonomy. Cologny, Switzerland: WEF.
This report proposes a framework for a global skills taxonomy as part of WEF’s Reskilling Revolution to provide one billion people with improved education, jobs and skills by 2030. The proposed taxonomy draws on the European Skills, Competences and Occupations (ESCO) and American Occupational Information Network (O*NET) frameworks and integrates emerging skills and attitudes.…Read More
An exploration of work–life wellness and remote work during and beyond COVID-19. Canadian Journal of Career Development, 20(1), 46–56.
The paper reviews literature on COVID-19, remote work and work–life wellness. It concludes that the work–life wellness of remote workers may be impacted by a lack of organizational support during the transition to remote work, combined with COVID-19 related stresses. Although remote workers had slightly higher job satisfaction and lower stress compared to traditional…Read More
The COVID-19 pandemic and life satisfaction in Canada. StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada. Catalogue no. 45280001. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada, Government of Canada.
This study compares the life satisfaction of Canadians before and during the COVID‑19 pandemic using population-representative samples from the 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey and the June 2020 Canadian Perspectives Survey Series. It finds that the average life satisfaction among Canadians declined by 1.38 points, from 8.09 on the 0–10 scale in 2018 to…Read More
Vulnerabilities related to COVID-19 among LGBTQ2+ Canadians. StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada. Catalogue no. 45280001. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada, Government of Canada.
As there is not yet a dataset focused on LGBTQ2S+ Canadians during the COVID‑19 pandemic, this article explores the inequalities in income, financial security and housing insecurity between LGBTQ2S+ and non‑LGBTQ2S+ Canadians that existed prior to the pandemic and could be exacerbated by it. These inequalities include LGBTQ2S+ Canadians having lower incomes, which can…Read More
The next wave: Automation and Canada’s labour market. Commentary No. 585. Toronto, ON: C.D. Howe Institute.
Using data from Statistics Canada, the author estimates that only 22% of employment is at high risk from automation. Past research overestimates job loss risk due to automation at 42%. The agriculture, natural resources, utilities and manufacturing sectors are at high risk of automation as compared to health, law, education and government services. The…Read More
Impact of COVID-19 on businesses majority-owned by visible minorities, third quarter of 2020. StatCan COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada. Catalogue no. 45280001. Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
This report analyzes the disparate impact of COVID-19 on businesses that are majority-owned by visible minorities. The findings show that 24.7% of these businesses reported a decrease of 40% or more in revenue in August 2020 compared to revenues in August 2019, compared to 21.1% of all businesses in Canada. In addition, only a…Read More
Canadian women continue to exit the labour force. Toronto, ON: Royal Bank of Canada.
This report highlights that even as more men join the workforce, Canadian women continue to retreat from it due to COVID-19, risking an erosion of skills. This may in turn exacerbate the gender wage gap. According to the report, more than 20,000 women fell out of the labour force between February and October 2020),…Read More
Skills next: Competency frameworks and Canada’s essential skills. Toronto, ON: Public Policy Forum, Ted Rogers School of Management, Diversity Institute, and Future Skills Centre.
In this report, the authors call for a Canadian competency framework for essential skills that covers “soft skills” and other essential skills identified by industry leaders as being key to success. This report summarizes the research on definitions and frameworks. Soft skills help workers navigate career changes, engage in continuous learning and manage change.…Read More