Question Period Note: LABOUR SHORTAGES

What is the federal government doing to support employers experiencing labour shortages?

• The Government of Canada invested over $2.1 billion in funding through the 2020 Fall Economic Statement and Budget 2021 in federal programs to meet the need for a skilled and job-ready workforce as the economy recovers.
• In addition, each year, the Government of Canada provides $3 billion through bilateral labour market transfers for provinces and territories to provide training and employment supports that reach more than a million individuals a year.
• In 2020, the Government of Canada provided an additional $1.5 billion to provinces and territories to deliver supports to individuals and employers who were affected by the pandemic.

The Government of Canada announced over $2.1 billion in funding through the 2020 Fall Economic Statement and Budget 2021 to meet the need for a skilled and job-ready workforce as the economy recovers.
Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program
Budget 2021 announced $960 million over three years, beginning in 2021-22, for a new Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program. Working primarily with sector associations and employers, funding will help design and deliver training that is relevant to the needs of businesses, especially small and medium-sized businesses, and to their employees. This funding will also help businesses recruit and retain a diverse and inclusive workforce.
Apprenticeship Service
Budget 2021 announced $470 million over three years, beginning in 2021-22, to establish a new Apprenticeship Service. The Apprenticeship Service will help 55,000 first year apprentices in construction and manufacturing Red Seal trades connect with opportunities at small and medium-sized employers.
Skills for Success
Budget 2021 announced $298 million over three years, beginning in 2021-22, for a new Skills for Success program that will help Canadians at all skills levels improve their foundational and transferable skills.
Indigenous Skills and Employment Training (ISET) Program
The ISET Program invests over $408 million per year to assist Indigenous peoples to gain skills and find jobs that will support their long-term career success.
In the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, an additional $144.2 million was invested in the ISET program for responding to COVID-19 pressures, to help those most affected, enhance capacity of service delivery organizations, and improve labour market information.
Youth Employment and Skills Strategy
Budget 2021 announced $109.3 million in 2022-23 for the Youth Employment and Skills Strategy to better meet the needs of vulnerable youth facing multiple barriers to employment, while also supporting over 7,000 additional job placements for youth. This builds on funding announced in the 2020 Fall Economic Statement, which is expected to result in over 30,600 new placements in 2021-22.
Opportunities Fund
The 2020 Fall Economic Statement announced $65 million for the Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities.
Community Workforce Development Program
Budget 2021 announced $55 million over three years, starting in 2021-22, for a Community Workforce Development Program. The program will support communities to develop local plans that identify high potential growth organizations and connect these employers with training providers to develop and deliver training and work placements to upskill and reskill jobseekers to fill jobs in demand.

Women’s Employment Readiness (WER) Pilot Program
To bolster training supports for those hardest hit by the pandemic, the government invested $50 million through the 2020 Fall Economic Statement for a two-year pilot program targeting women who face multiple barriers to employment.
This targeted investment expands current programming that we know works and will fill gaps so that Canadians can improve their skills and employment outcomes.
Foreign Credential Recognition Program
Through the Foreign Credential Recognition Program, the Government helps address employment barriers specific to skilled newcomers. The Program provides funding to provinces, territories and regulatory bodies to improve foreign credential recognition processes. It also funds organisations to provide employment support services and loans to help skilled newcomers get jobs and have their foreign credentials recognized.
The 2020 Fall Economic Statement announced additional funding of $15 million for 2021-2022.
Work-Sharing
Budget 2021 extended temporary enhancements to the Work-Sharing Program introduced as part of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan. During the pandemic, these measures have supported over 150,000 workers, and averted 70,000 layoffs, to the benefit of over 4,800 employers.
Labour Market Transfers
Each year, the Government of Canada provides over $3 billion for individuals and employers to obtain skills training and employment supports through bilateral labour market transfers with provinces and territories. These include the Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) and the Workforce Development Agreements (WDAs). Through Budget 2017, the Government of Canada provided an additional $2.7 billion over six years, which ends in 2022-2023.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, an additional $1.5 billion in funding was provided in 2020-2021.
Over a million individuals and employers benefit from training and employment supports funded by these agreements each year.
Since the Canada Emergency Benefit (CERB) and the Canada Recovery Benefit (CRB) were introduced, over 480,000 individuals received training and employment supports funded by the labour market transfers while they were receiving these benefits.

The LMDAs - the larger of the two transfers - fund training and employment programs for current and former EI claimants, as well as individuals who have made minimum EI premium contributions in at least five of the last ten years. In addition, the LMDAs are used to fund employment assistance services for all individuals, regardless of their connection to EI.
The WDAs, fund training and employment supports for individuals and employers regardless of their employment status, including those that have no ties to the EI program. The WDAs include specific funding targeted for persons with disabilities, and are used to support members of underrepresented groups. The agreements also allow to provide supports to employers seeking to train current or new employees.
Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program Flexibilities:
The TFW Program remained available to employers throughout the pandemic and continues to be an option for employers unable to fill vacant positions with Canadians and permanent residents
• Since 2020, the Government of Canada has taken measures to improve flexibility and reduce administrative burden, including:
o Increasing the maximum duration of TFW employment from 1 to 2 years
o Extending the work period for essential Seasonal Agricultural Workers to nine months in order to accommodate the quarantine period
o Reducing the need for employers to submit minor administrative changes to Service Canada, and
o Expediting change requests for reasons related to COVID-19 or for eligible TFWs already in Canada

• As well, the TFW Program prioritized applications for those occupations considered essential during the pandemic, such as those in agriculture and health care.

• Effective October 24, 2021, the COVID-19 interim Refusal to Process (RTP) policy was adjusted to allow for the processing of Labour Market Impact Assessment applications for certain low-wage occupations in accommodations, food services, and the retail trade sectors in regions with an unemployment rate below 6%.This decision was made in response to strong signs of recovery in the labour market, including a falling unemployment rate and increasing job vacancies in many sectors.

The Government of Canada announced over $2.1 billion in funding through the 2020 Fall Economic Statement and Budget 2021 to meet the need for a skilled and job-ready workforce as the economy recovers