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2. Employment Insurance

III. The National Employment Service and Pan-Canadian Activities

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As noted in the introduction to this chapter, HRSDC maintains a significant role in the delivery of EBSMs. In addition to transferring LMDA funding to most provinces and territories, HRSDC focuses on accountability, evaluation and ongoing policy development. These activities are guided by national policy priorities designed to achieve the strategic outcome of “enhanced Canadian productivity and participation through efficient and inclusive labour markets, competitive workplaces and access to learning”.²⁴ HRSDC also helps to achieve this outcome by maintaining certain functions of the National Employment Service (NES) and delivering pan-Canadian programming.

In 2008/09, HRSDC realized several key accomplishments relative to EBSMs, pan-Canadian activities and the NES, in support of the strategic outcome described above.

•  HRSDC contributed significantly to the development of a new labour market architecture by:
  • transferring the design and delivery of programs and services under the LMDA to the Province of British Columbia on February 2, 2009;
  • signing transfer agreements with the remaining co-managed provinces—Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador—for implementation in 2009/10;
  • assessing, developing and implementing options for a post-2009/10 Aboriginal labour market strategy; and
  • concluding four new bilateral Labour Market Agreements with provinces to extend employment and skills training to those who are not eligible for EI-funded training.
• In the midst of a global economic downturn, HRSDC ensured that the EI program continued to respond to the needs of unemployed Canadians by:
  • helping to develop a program mix and investment strategy in co-managed jurisdictions that best supported both regional and local labour market demands and worker mobility;
  • supporting sectoral initiatives and developing new approaches to improving workplace partnerships;
  • investing an additional $1 billion over two years through the Economic Action Plan (EAP) to expand the availability of employment programming delivered through LMDAs, to begin April 1, 2009 ²⁵; and
  • developing the Career Transition Assistance (CTA) initiative to help long-tenured workers renew or upgrade their skills while receiving regular EI benefits, for implementation early in 2009/10.
• With the Province of Alberta , HRSDC co-hosted a national workshop in June 2008 to give provincial and territorial labour market officials an opportunity to share LMDA best practices and challenges, and to highlight federal experiences regarding pan-Canadian programming.
•  HRSDC re-launched the National Occupational Classification (NOC) and Career Handbook web site. The site is now fully accessible and offers several new functions, including advanced search features and information on various web service offerings. The site, which approximately 200,000 users visit every month, is located here.

 HRSDC achieved many of these outcomes by maintaining certain NES functions and delivering pan-Canadian programming.

1. National Employment Service

HRSDC/Service Canada administers two NES services—Job Bank and Labour Market Information (LMI)—that are key tools in assisting Canadians to find suitable employment, particularly during periods of economic downturn. These services connect job seekers and employers, and help individuals complete their return-to-work action plans. Job Bank and LMI are available to everyone online. Since clients access them on a self-serve basis, with no registration required, data on usage and results for these services are challenging to collect and to attribute to specific interventions.

1.1 Job Bank

In partnership with the provinces and territories, HRSDC maintains Job Bank. This electronic labour exchange is an integral part of the NES, fostering efficient and inclusive labour markets by connecting employers and job seekers. Skills supply and demand are matched according to the NOC Code, which standardizes all work descriptions in Canada. Job Bank also provides specialized tools to help job seekers and employers connect. These tools include the Résumé Builder, Job Match, Job Alert and Career Navigator. In addition, the site features a Training and Careers section that provides users with information on acquiring the skills needed to manage their career. Job Bank is fully bilingual and is free of charge.

In 2008/09, more than 70 million Job Bank user sessions took place and 1.1 million job orders were advertised on the site. More than 85,000 job alerts were sent each day to notify job seekers of potential job opportunities for a total of over 20 million per year. At the end of the year, Job Bank had more than 165,000 active employer accounts and 869,000 job seeker accounts. Job Bank is located at http://www.jobbank.gc.ca.

1.2 Labour Market Information

The LMI service provides local, regional and national information on topics such as job prospects, labour market conditions and projections, education and training opportunities, and human resource needs. Canadians ranging from job seekers to policy makers use this information to make decisions that lead to a better match between worker skills and employer needs, helping the labour market to function more efficiently.

A Regional LMI Network of analysts and economists continually monitors and analyzes socio-economic data and events to identify labour market trends. LMI staff members also work with partners—including employers, educational institutions and other levels of government—to ensure that clients have access to high-quality LMI. National guidelines are used to create LMI products that identify community, occupational and industrial trends. These products are available across the country at http://www.labourmarketinformation.ca, which sees over 1 million visitor sessions annually.

2. Pan-Canadian Activities

Continuously improving the range of programs and services required to develop a productive, skilled and adaptable labour force helps ensure that Canadians enjoy sustained economic growth and prosperity. Part II of the Employment Insurance Act authorizes HRSDC to support the development of strategies for dealing with labour force adjustments and meeting human resource requirements. Part II also authorizes HRSDC to support research and innovation projects to identify better ways of helping people prepare for, return to or keep employment, and become productive members of the labour force. To this end, the pan-Canadian programming delivered by HRSDC enhances the Canadian economic union by contributing to the pool of skilled labour and to a flexible, efficient and inclusive labour market. This programming, which is beyond the scope of LMDAs, comprises activities and interventions that respond to interprovincial or national labour market issues, thereby addressing significant challenges in the Canadian labour market and reducing risks to the EI Account.

Pan-Canadian activities comprise employment programming provided under the Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy (AHRDS), pan-Canadian Labour Market Partnerships (LMPs), and pan-Canadian Research and Innovation (R&I). In 2008/09, the total expenditure for these activities rose 1.0% to $162.1 million.

Chart 4: Pan-Canadian Expenditures, 2008/09 ($ Millions)

Intervention Type	Expenditures ($)	% Distribution
AHRDS	$94.0	58.0%
LMPs	$53.4	32.9%
R&I	$14.8	9.1%

2.1 Aboriginal Human Resources Development Strategy

The AHRDS represents a significant investment in Aboriginal labour market programming. It provides funding to Aboriginal organizations to design, develop and implement employment and human resource programs for Aboriginal people. Since 1999, the AHRDS has helped First Nations, Inuit, and Métis men and women prepare for, find and maintain employment. Originally announced as a five-year, $1.6-billion strategy, the AHRDS was extended to March 31, 2010, in September 2008.

AHRDS programs and services are delivered through Aboriginal Human Resources Development Agreements (AHRDAs) with Aboriginal organizations across the country. These organizations develop and implement employment programs and services best suited to meeting the unique needs of their communities. With 80 agreement holders and more than 400 points of service, this national infrastructure has allowed Aboriginal people to access culturally relevant programming. In 2008/09, the AHRDS assisted 33,734 Aboriginal clients, who participated in 55,145 interventions. Of the $351.6 million spent on labour market programming through AHRDAs in 2008/09, EI Part II expenditures totalled $94.0 million. The remainder came from the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

2.2 Pan-Canadian Labour Market Partnerships

Pan-Canadian LMPs are a support measure designed to encourage and facilitate human resource planning and labour market adjustment. This measure provides funding to employers, employer and employee associations, and communities to improve their capacity to respond and adapt to labour market change. In 2008/09, total expenditures for pan-Canadian LMPs rose 5.0% to $53.4 million. This funding was delivered through a variety of programming activities.

2.2.1 Sector Council Program

The Sector Council Program (SCP) supports non-profit organizations—sector councils—in key areas of the Canadian economy. Within their specific sector, these councils facilitate partnerships among a consortium of interests, including employers, labour, industry associations and educators. Together, sector council members address skills and human resource issues within and across the industries that comprise their sector.

In 2008/09, the SCP focused on human resource issues arising from the recession. It also worked to ensure that sectors were aware that Canada will continue to face skill shortages over the medium and long term, despite the impact of the economic downturn on employment. Additional priorities in 2008/09 included building partnerships to support a more responsive approach to cross-sectoral labour market issues, and developing the capacity to facilitate sectoral labour market transitions.

A total of 34 sector councils were operational in 2008/09, representing over 50% of the Canadian labour market, including key sectors such as automotive, aviation, biotechnology, childcare, environment, mining, petroleum, policing and steel. EI Part II expenditures for sector councils totalled $38.5 million in 2008/09.

The SCP also supports skills tables, which are industry-driven skills development organizations comprising key stakeholders that can include, as required, sector councils, local and regional training institutions, business, labour, industry associations, Aboriginal groups, and provincial/territorial or local governments. For example, the Asia-Pacific Gateway Skills Table (APGST), located in British Columbia, was incorporated as a society in fall 2008. Its mission is to ensure that the labour force is equipped with the skills and training required to meet the needs of the Asia-Pacific Gateway. As part of its activities, the APGST acts as a clearinghouse between industry sectors for project and labour market information, promotes working in the Asia-Pacific Gateway, and helps the industries associated with the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Corridor Initiative address skills gaps. In 2008/09, the EI Part II expenditure for skills tables was $362,000.

2.2.2 Youth Awareness

The national Youth Awareness program provides financial assistance for projects designed to address labour market issues facing communities. The program is aimed at heightening awareness among employers and communities that young people are the labour force of the future. It can be used to develop and implement human resource strategies targeted at youth to meet employers’ current and future human resource needs. In 2008/09, program priorities included raising awareness of skilled trades and technologies among youth, and improving opportunities for youth in small rural communities. Delivered at the national, regional and local levels, Youth Awareness projects are funded from EI Part II and leverage funds from many other sources, including provincial governments. The total Part II expenditure for Youth Awareness in 2008/09 was $9.7 million.

2.2.3 National Essential Skills Initiative

Research suggests that individuals with low levels of literacy and essential skills face numerous labour market challenges, including lower earning potential, a greater risk of being unemployed, more difficulty in finding a new job if they do become unemployed, and a lack of access to training and skills upgrading. The National Essential Skills Initiative was designed to help adult Canadians succeed in the workplace by overcoming these challenges. Projects focus on providing the practical tools and supports that employers, practitioners and other stakeholders need to improve adult literacy and essential skills.

The initiative comprises two components: Essential Skills Workplace Services, which develops national partnerships with workplace stakeholders to focus on demand-side literacy and essential skills outcomes; and the Essential Skills Initiative, which raises awareness of essential skills and supports the development of workplace tools and applications. In 2008/09, the total EI Part II expenditure for the National Essential Skills Initiative was $3.5 million.

2.2.4 Reducing Barriers to Interprovincial Mobility

The Labour Market Mobility Initiative invests in strategies to reduce barriers to regulated occupations across Canada. Sustained federal investment will make it more likely that regulatory authorities will achieve the goal of removing barriers to labour mobility as set out in the amended Chapter 7 (Labour Mobility) of the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT).²⁶ 

In 2008/09, activities were undertaken in two areas to help regulatory authorities reduce barriers to labour mobility. In the first area—moving toward common standards—funding was used to help national groups of regulators develop common and transferable regulatory practices, such as competency-based standards and assessment methods, across all jurisdictions. In the second area—sustaining labour mobility beyond 2009—funding supported the development of mechanisms to sustain interprovincial mobility through a forum for key stakeholders (educators, unions, regulators, employers and governments) to share best practices on interprovincial recognition of workers and labour mobility issues. The total Part II expenditure for this initiative in 2008/09 was $930,000.

2.2.5 Labour Market Transition Initiative

Employers in a number of sectors of the Canadian labour market are facing acute skill shortages. At the same time, other sectors are reducing permanent employment and releasing skilled workers who could remain active in the labour market if they had access to skills upgrading and practical links with growing sectors.

The Labour Market Transition Initiative (LMTI) was designed to improve the efficient functioning of the labour market by increasing the quantity of skilled workers available in sectors facing skill shortages. This initiative is an employer-focused, coordinated approach that provides sectoral support for skills development and skills matching in rapid-growth sectors. It supports the re-skilling of experienced workers facing job loss in contracting sectors and helps them move into growth sectors.

Through the LMTI, information-based tools and services help employers in growth sectors identify sources of skilled workers and undertake training activities to help their new employees make the transition. In 2008/09, three LMTI projects were operational in the environmental, petroleum and forestry sectors. The total EI Part II expenditure for this initiative was $471,000.

2.3 Pan-Canadian Research and Innovation

The pan-Canadian R&I measure funds activities that identify better ways of helping people prepare for, find and maintain employment. The total expenditure for pan-Canadian R&I was $14.8 million in 2008/09, a decrease of 3.6% from $15.3 million in 2007/08.

2.3.1 Pan-Canadian Innovations Initiative

Approximately two thirds of R&I funding is delivered through the Pan-Canadian Innovations Initiative (PCII). This initiative provides funding to eligible recipients for time-limited, research-oriented projects. These projects test new approaches to helping people become productive participants in the Canadian labour force. As such, PCII is a catalyst to encourage participating governments and stakeholders to work in partnership to test new and creative ideas that push the boundaries of jurisdictional, industry or organizational experience. These ideas are incremental to activities supported by existing policies, programs and practices.

PCII projects must partner with provinces or territories and may focus on one or more of the following priorities: literacy and essential skills, immigrants, Aboriginal people, underrepresented groups, workplace training, and apprenticeship. To support the sharing of best practices and knowledge, stakeholders broadly disseminate evaluation results from these projects. By the end of 2008/09, HRSDC had 12 active PCII projects, with an additional three under development. The total expenditure for PCII was $9.7 million in 2008/09, up 67.2% from $5.8 million in 2007/08.

2.3.2 Learn$ave

R&I funds were used to support Learn$ave, a nine-year demonstration project that tested an alternate use of EI Part II funds to encourage low-income Canadians—particularly those who are hard to employ—to invest in their own human capital, thereby increasing their opportunities to find and maintain employment. It was expected that financial incentives supplemented by basic financial management training would give Learn$ave participants the motivation and tools to change their economic behaviour. This rigorously designed experiment included a control group comprising participants who did not receive incentives and other services. This enabled analysis of what would have happened to the participants in the absence of Learn$ave.

The planned total cost over the nine years of the project was approximately $35 million. Administration costs were funded through R&I, while the project’s matching savings credits came from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. In 2008/09, the total R&I expenditure for Learn$ave was $1.6 million.

The data collection phase of the project was completed in 2008/09 and the final results are expected in late 2009/10. However, the interim report, which covers participants’ experiences over their first 40 months in the project, provides intermediate results on the way participants’ budgeting, saving activities, and enrolment in educational courses and programs changed as a result of their participation in Learn$ave. These results show that Learn$ave had a positive effect on enrolment in adult education and training above and beyond what participants would have done otherwise. One of the strongest results recorded related to enrolment in educational programs leading to a certificate or a degree: the matched credits and financial management training increased enrolment in such programs by 22%.

2.3.3 Measuring the Impacts of Labour Market Information

This research program was developed to provide reliable evidence on the impacts of Labour Market Information (LMI) content, format and delivery on a range of clients. Research will be conducted using laboratory and small-scale experiments. This three-year program has a $1-million budget; EI Part II expenditures totalled $362,000 in 2008/09.

The first project in this research program was implemented in December 2008. It focussed on recent post-secondary graduates who graduated between one and five years ago, are aged 25 to 40, and are either unemployed or underemployed.

In response to a call for concept papers issued in January 2009, HRSDC received 14 submissions. Four of these projects were further developed and will be implemented in 2009/10. These projects will cover a range of target groups with different goals, including older workers, immigrants and persons with disabilities.

This research program will provide, for the first time, rigorous evidence on the impacts of LMI across different types of users in different circumstances.

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Date Modified:

2011-10-18