This presentation looks at issues facing employment in Canada including skills gap.

1. GOVERNMENT POLICIES – EDUCATION – SKILLS
DEVELOPMENT - CANADA – MARCH 2017
BY: PAUL YOUNG, CPA, CGA
DATE: MAY 19, 2017

2. PAUL YOUNG - BIO
• CPA, CGA
• Academia (PF1, FA4 and MS2)
• SME – Risk Management
• SME – Close, Consolidate and Reporting
• SME – Public Policy
• SME – Financial Solutions
• SME – Supply Chain Management
Contact information:
Paul_Young_CGA@Hotmail.com

3. AGENDA
 What is Skills GAP?
 Skills GAP and Productivity
 Government Training Programs
 Issues facing Skills Development and Training
 Other resources

4. WHAT IS SKILL GAP?
 The ‘skills gap’ is the phrase used to describe the difference between the skills that employers
want, as shown by their job advertisements, and those that are available from workers looking for
a job.
 Source - http://www.skillsyouneed.com/general/skills-gap.html

5. SKILL GAP AND PRODUCTIVITY
United States:
 Roughly 200 million adults in the U.S. today make up the "digital workforce," where productivity requires skills using a number of digital platforms.
 Amazingly, only one out of ten workers from this group rate themselves as proficient with the digital tools they use, according to video training
company Grovo.
 This skills gap costs the U.S economy a whopping $1.3 trillion every year, and comes at a time when productivity growth is already down over
historical periods. For example, the Wall Street Journal reports that the average U.S. worker's output has risen just 1.3 percent per year during the past
five years, well below the 2.3 percent figure during the 20 years leading up to the economic crisis.
 The infographic below from Grovo outlines the cost of the digital skills gap and which skills are essential for the 21st century workforce.
Canada
 Canadian businesses, particularly small and medium sized ones, are falling behind in adopting new technologies, mainly because they can’t find the
people they would need to implement the changes, the report says. And that could have negative consequences. “If Canada does not address the
talent and skills gap, it could cost the economy billions of dollars in lost productivity, tax revenues, and gross domestic product,” the report states.
 Out of 527,000 students who graduated in Canada in 2015, only 6 per cent — 29,000 — graduated from an IT field, the report found. Canada would
have to graduate around 43,000 IT students per year to keep up with job growth.
Source - http://www.inc.com/graham-winfrey/how-the-digital-skills-gap-is-crippling-productivity.html and http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/03/12/it-
jobs-skills-shortage-canada_n_9440872.html

6. BABY BOOMERS RETIRING AND SKILLS GAP
 Source - http://www.canadianmanufacturing.com/manufacturing/report-retiring-boomers-creating-a-
skills-shortage-193269/
This is according to a new Conference Board of Canada report, Workforce
Planning Practices in Canada, which says that more than half of Canadian
organizations are having difficulties finding workers with critical skills.
The report says that in 2005, it took an average of 40 days to fill vacancies
in the technical and skilled trades. This number has now jumped to 60
days. Likewise, the average cost to fill vacancies in the technical and
skilled trades was $3,000 in 2005, compared to $5,000 in 2016.

7. EDUCATION/SKILL TRAINING
 Job Training Programs - http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/audiences/employers/funding.shtml

8. TEACHING YOUTH TO CODE
 http://techportfolio.net/2017/05/closing-canadas-tech-skills-gap-teach-youth-to-code/
220,000 workers needed: That’s how vast Canada’s tech skills gap could
be by 2020, according to Canadian government and industry experts.
If that gap isn’t closed, many tech companies will be forced to look for
opportunities outside the country, Waveform CEO Kirk Simpson
recently told CBC News.
“If we can find the talent somewhere else, we might open a second
location in the U.S. market or in a European market,” he said. “And those
jobs will not go to Canadians.”

9. FEDERAL BUDGET 2017-2018
 Source – Government of Canada
Issues
• Provinces have policies for apprenticeship that will required modification to support more applicants
• Universities would have to increase classroom space and equipment to support more enrollment in areas like
engineering, math, sciences, IT
• STDC already exist in terms of seed financing. The problem is more money for innovation is that many deals
require bare minimum of $5 to $10M so that would be like 60 deals a year
• There are already innovation funds that both companies and universities/college leverage
• Startup take time to move ideas from incubation to market. FYI – Canada had already been moving to
advance manufacturing, expert farming, clean technology, 3-D printing, Information technology.

10. GOVERNMENT POLICIES / ISSUES
 Trade and FIPA
 Each
 Clean Technology
 Access to raw materials (Lithium, Vanadium, Rare Metals)
 Skill set in areas like metallurgy or sciences or math
 Partnership with large companies
 Advance Manufacturing
 Requires competitive tax rates (Payroll Taxes, Corporate Taxes, R&D credits, etc)
 Access to new markets
 Streamlining of regulations
 Canada lacks the capacity to increase exports
 Ports/rail/roads/Bridges
 Pipelines

11. OTHER RESOURCES
 Skills Gap - http://www.thewhig.com/2016/04/05/job-skills-gap-worsening-study-finds
 Slow Economy - http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/gross-domestic-product-gdp-canada-july-2016
 Wage Growth - http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/wages-and-employment-canada-july-2016
 Housing Costs - http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/real-estate-trends-and-analysis-for-canada-
august-2016
 Youth Unemployment - http://debatepost.com/2016/09/14/canada-continues-importing-unskilled-
immigrant-while-unemployment-rate-climbs-to-7/
 Innovation - https://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/federal-government-programs-to-support-
innovation-and-business
 Career Management/Innovation - http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/2016-employment-outlook-
canada
 Government Spending - http://www.slideshare.net/paulyoungcga/government-policies-healthcare-and-
education-canada