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| Jessica Edge
Research Associate
Organizational Effectiveness and Learning |
In the coming years, Canada’s economy is unlikely to have enough workers with the right skills to meet its labour market needs. Our workforce is aging at an accelerating rate, and the fertility levels of the Canadian population are below replacement levels. Canada’s Aboriginal population—including Métis, Inuit, and First Nations—can play an important role in helping meet Canada’s current and future labour market needs.
The Aboriginal population is the fastest growing population in Canada, and is also much younger than the non-Aboriginal population. Between 1996 and 2006, Canada’s Aboriginal population grew by 45 per cent while Canada’s non-Aboriginal population grew by just 8 per cent.1 In 2006, 39.8 per cent of Aboriginals were under the age of twenty, compared to only 24.1 per cent of non-Aboriginals.2
Yet, Canada’s Aboriginal population continues to be underutilized within the workforce. In 2006, the unemployment rate for non-Aboriginals was 5.2 per cent, compared with unemployment rates of 19 per cent for Inuit, 16.3 per cent for First Nations, and 8.4 per cent for Métis.3 Why do Aboriginal employment levels lag behind those of Canada’s non-Aboriginal population?
The Conference Board of Canada is conducting a study to get to the heart of the matter—by asking businesses what underlying challenges they face in recruiting and retaining Métis, Inuit and First Nations workers. Our research findings will help Aboriginal communities, businesses, educators, and other stakeholders understand better the challenges and how to overcome them.
One reason for the lagging employment levels of Aboriginal population is lower educational attainment. Some Aboriginal workers lack the educational qualifications they need to succeed in the labour force—such as post-secondary education, or skills such as literacy and numeracy. The educational shortfall compared to the Canadian average is striking. The 2006 Census notes that just 8 per cent of Aboriginals have a university degree compared to 23 per cent of non-Aboriginals.4 And 34 per cent of Aboriginals aged 25 to 64 have not completed high school compared to 15 per cent of non-Aboriginals in Canada.5 However, Aboriginals are also more likely to be unemployed than non-Aboriginals with the same level of education. What else might explain the underutilization of Canada’s Métis, Inuit, and First Nations within the labour force?
Our initial findings suggest that Aboriginal workers often lack much-needed work experience, or formal documentation of their work experiences and skills, required to gain entry to good jobs. As well, some Aboriginals, particularly those in remote areas, lack access to transportation to get to work. Others are reluctant to leave their communities for a job for an extended period, contributing further to their underutilization. Negative stereotypes may also make it difficult for Aboriginals to gain employment, and may make it difficult for them to succeed in some work environments.
The challenges facing Aboriginal people will need to be overcome in order to reduce Canada’s labour shortages. The solutions will not be easy or quick: engaging Métis, Inuit, and First Nations people more fully in Canadian workplaces will take some time.
Click here if you are an employer and would like to complete the Aboriginal Workers survey.
For further information about the workforce challenges faced by industry and aboriginal groups in Northern Canada, download Building Labour Force Capacity in Canada’s North, a report by The Conference Board of Canada’s Centre for the North.