Canada urgently needs reskilling and upskilling programs, says Canadian Chamber of Commerce

(OTTAWA) – November 6, 2020 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Senior Director of Workforce Strategies and Inclusive Growth, Leah Nord, issued the following statement regarding today’s Labour Force Survey numbers.

“Today’s labour force numbers demonstrated that Canada’s recovery is petering out as new restrictions reversed gains in the accommodation and food services sectors and our economy operates below capacity.

Recent legislation to support many of these businesses through rent and wage subsidies will be instrumental in recuperating some of the job losses in the hardest hit sectors. However, today’s numbers also demonstrate that there are more prolonged effects to our labour force as long-term unemployment – individuals unemployed for 27 weeks or longer – has seen the sharpest increase in recorded history.

For all the uncertainty about what to do, we know one thing for sure: the true measure of every recovery is job growth, and everyone recovers when business recovers. Achieving this will require widespread business openings and re-openings as the latest data shows that we are still down 50,000 active businesses from pre-pandemic levels.

It will also require governments to create significant reskilling and upskilling programs for those long-term unemployed Canadians who do not have jobs to go back to. To support career pivots, local and sector level labour market data will be important to determine new, high-demand and sustained employment and skills.

About the Canadian Chamber of Commerce – Because Business Matters

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce helps build the businesses that support our families, our communities and our country. We do this by influencing government policy, by providing essential business services and by connecting businesses to information they can use, to opportunities for growth and to a network of local chambers, businesses, decision-makers and peers from across the country, in every sector of the economy and at all levels of government, as well as internationally. We are unapologetic in our support for business and the vital role it plays in building and sustaining our great nation.

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For more information, please contact:

Mitch Brule
mbrule@chamber.ca