Background information on the context for workforce literacy

Introduction

Canada is a federation with 10 provinces and three territories. The population of Canada is around 33 million. It is one of the most diverse countries in the world. It is projected that by 2017 about one in five Canadians will be an immigrant and also racially visible. [1] More than 70% of newcomers choose to settle in the urban centres of Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver, with the largest percentage settling in Toronto. [2] Also significant is that the Aboriginal population will increase at twice the rate of the overall population.[3]

Overall, Canada is dealing with an ageing population, with a declining fertility rate and a rising life expectancy. In 2006, the Canadian Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce released its report: The demographic time bomb: Mitigating the effects of demographic change in Canada. [4] This report indicated that ‘the number of people aged 65 and older is expected to increase from 3.9 million in 2000 to approximately 7.8 million in 2026, reaching almost 9.4 million by 2051’. It also projected that by 2031, 25% of Canadians will be 65 years or older, up from the current 13% The Standing Senate Committee reported that although immigration has accounted for more than 60% of the population growth since 2000, it will become more difficult to attract immigrants for two major reasons. The first is that Canada will be competing with other countries for immigrants. The second is that historical sources of immigration are also dealing with ageing populations and declining birth rates. [5] See Figure 1 below for Statistics Canada’s 2001 projections of the percentage change in the age of the Canadian population.

Figure 1: Projected Change in Canadian Demographics, 2026 and 2051 [6]

Long Description for Figure 01

Workforce demographics and projections

The general Canadian population projections about an ageing population set the stage for workforce demographic projections. Current articles and reports on workforce demographics and projections stress government and business concerns about the aging workforce and declining numbers of skilled workers. There is hope that immigration will solve the problem—but many experts say it will not. Nonetheless, because Canada is approaching a ‘seller’s market’ in terms of the labour force, there is renewed interest in older workers’ rights to remain employed, human rights and language training for immigrants, and the urgent necessity to train all workers. Increased literacy rates are becoming viewed as necessary.

The Canadian Policy and Research Network’s (CPRN) study, 21st century job quality: Achieving What Canadians Want, released in September 2007, stresses that older workers are the talent pool that employers will have to draw from. The report states that employers, government, and pension-plan administrators favour keeping older workers in the work force. However, the report also emphasises the need for non-financial incentives to keep these workers in the work force. [7]

A recent study by Statistics Canada on labour force projections indicated that in four different projection scenarios used, the overall participation rate in the labour force would decline due to the ageing population, low fertility rates, and higher life expectancy rates. However, in three of the scenarios the labour force should continue to grow until 2031. The study found that in all the scenarios, the number of workers for every retired person aged 65 or older would be reduced by half between 2005 and 2031, falling from about four today to slightly more than two in 2031. In 1981, this ratio was more than five workers per inactive senior. [8]

These findings also suggest that neither a rise in fertility, nor increased immigration, nor even the continued rise in participation rates could reverse the downward trend. The study concludes that the expected slowdown in labour force growth could have various repercussions for the Canadian economically and socially. [9]

Immigration patterns and volumes

Canada’s immigration policy has three broad objectives:

• to reunite families
• to accept refugees on compassionate and humanitarian grounds
• to foster a strong and viable economy in all regions of Canada. [11]

In a study of 28 OCED countries, Canada ranked fifth in the percentage of its population that was made up of immigrants. In Canada today, immigrants account for an increasing percentage of the labour force. One out of every five employed workers is an immigrant. Over the past decade, immigrants have accounted for 70% of Canada’s net labour-force growth. Between 1991 and 2000, Canada accepted 2.2 million immigrants, increasing the working-age population by more than 1.1 million. This was almost twice as many immigrants as were admitted in the previous three decades. Although immigrants tend to work in all industry sectors in Canada, more are employed in the manufacturing sector than any other. However, in terms of overall labour-market growth from 1991 to 2001, immigrants have contributed the most growth in the retail sector (303%), followed by manufacturing (166 %) and then the hospitality industry (65 %). [12]

Those immigrants coming to Canada in recent years are more educated than immigrants who came in the past. More than half, or 61%, came as part of the economic class of immigrants which includes skilled workers. They are also twice as likely to have a university education compared to the Canadian-born population, but their earnings are usually a great deal less than those born in Canada. [13]

Recent immigrants tend to come from countries where English and French are not the main languages. As a result, they do not have English or French as their mother tongue. They also tend to be members of racialized communities and practice diverse religions. Since 1990, the most common country of birth for newcomers to Canada is the People’s Republic of China, followed by India and the Philippines. Ten countries account for about one-half of Canada’s recent immigrant population. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of recent immigrants are members of a visible minority. [14]

Immigrants coming to Canada face significant barriers. Seventy percent of newcomers identify barriers in finding employment. These barriers include lack of Canadian experience, foreign credentials not being recognized, and language barriers. [15] A recent study by Sarah Wayland indicated that Canada welcomes immigrants with one hand and creates barriers for them with the other. The report asserts that these systemic barriers, including labour market obstacles, need to be addressed through changes to policy and law and the collaboration of all relevant stakeholders. [16]

In 2005 a presentation by the Institute for Public Policy Research asserted that the economic situation for immigrants, particularly members of racialized communities, has worsened. It further stated that underutilization of immigrants’ skills costs Canada two billion dollars a year. The Institute called for a number of solutions including skill training bridging programs, subsidized internships and mentoring programs, more effective assessment services for international credentials, and more awareness-raising with Canadians about the barriers immigrants face and the consequences for Canada. [17]

Employment rates and patterns

The 2005 Statistics Canada publication The Canadian Labour Market at a Glance indicated that in 2005 the increase in employment, combined with a decline in labour force participation caused the unemployment rate to fall to a low of 6.4% at the end of the year and that 62.7% of the working-age population held jobs. [18] This was the highest annual employment rate on record. Current statistics show that as of August 2007, the unemployment rate remains at a 33-year low of 6%. [19]

According to Statistics Canada’s 2005 report on the labour market, employment has grown much more rapidly among women than among men during the past three decades. In 2005, almost half of all workers were women (46.8%), compared with just over a third (37.1%) in 1976. In August 2007, almost all of the employment growth for adult men and particularly women came from those aged 55 and over. Since the beginning of 2007, employment among the 55+ has increased by 4.6%. [20]

In its 2005 Handbook on Immigration and Skills Shortages, the former Canadian Labour and Business Centre reported that recent immigrants (in Canada for 10 years or less) represented 6.1% of the employed population. The Centre reported a gap between the percentages of those born in Canada who are employed and recent immigrants who are employed. Furthermore, newcomers who had been in Canada up to 5 years still had a higher unemployment rate than that of the Canadian-born population (12.7% compared with 7.4%). The CLBC also reported that it now takes more than 10 years in Canada before the observed unemployment rate of immigrants falls to the level found among those born in Canada. [21]

The employment rate gap between recent immigrants and Canadian-born adults aged 25 to 54 has changed considerably over the years. In 1981, new immigrants were more likely to be employed (74.2%, compared with 73.1% for those born in Canada). By 1986, the situation was reversed with the gap continuing to widen. [22]

Growth industries and industries in decline

There have been significant transformations in Canada’s industrial structure. The shift has been from primary industries and manufacturing jobs to service jobs. Technological change has played a part in both this shift and in the need for more highly skilled workers. [23]

The current picture in Canada shows that the gas and oil industry is booming in western Canada, with the province of Alberta having a nearly a full employment rate. Construction is another high-growth sector, while manufacturing jobs are being lost. [24] In total, 291,500 manufacturing jobs have disappeared since November 2002. [25] 

One of three Canadians works in the service sector. This sector includes a wide range of jobs such as delivery services, storage services, truck drivers, rail carriers, and bicycle couriers. It also includes entertainment, retail, financial, legal, and all government activities where citizens are offered services. [26]

New jobs in Canada are mainly in low-paying sectors such as personal services, repair and maintenance, retailing, and textiles. Jobs in high-paying sectors such as paper and printing manufacturing, mineral manufacturing, and public administration have been lost since the early 1990s. [27]

The majority of the new jobs were also in self-employment and in temporary jobs, as opposed to permanent payroll jobs. According to Andrew Jackson (2006):

In their 2003 study Knowledge Workers in Canada’s Workforce, Statistics Canada stated that there has been continuous growth in occupations considered high knowledge (professional, management and technical occupations). In 1971, 14% of the workforce was in high-knowledge occupations, in contrast to 25% in 2001. Furthermore, this growth has occurred in most industries, not just high-tech sectors. This growth was also consistent across Canada. The study results suggest the need for increasing skills and knowledge of the work force. [29]

International Adult Literacy and Life Skills results

In 2005, the results of the Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALL) study were released in Canada. The ALL, a large-scale, comparative study, profiled the skills of six member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) in the first round, and provided national snapshots. Participating countries were Bermuda, Canada, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and United States. The ALL followed up on the International Adult Literacy Survey conducted in 1994. In the international ranking of the six participating countries, Canada appears in the middle. It ranks better than Italy and the United States, but is behind Norway, Switzerland, and Bermuda. In Canada, 20,000 respondents aged 16-65 representing 21,360,683 adults participated [30] (See Figure 2 below).

The ALL survey showed that there was very little change in literacy scores from the IALS survey that was conducted 10 years ago. Overall, 9 million Canadians—4 in 10 Canadians—do not have the literacy skills to meet the demands of everyday life. Immigrants aged 16 to 65 tended to score lower on all aspects of the ALL than the Canadian-born. For example, 60% of recent and established immigrants were at levels 1 and 2 for prose literacy, compared to 37% of the Canadian-born. Contrary to what one might expect, the duration of residence in Canada did not have a significant impact on the average performance of immigrants. This might be explained by the fact that, because recent immigrants tend to be better educated than established ones, they may have higher literacy skills. [31]

Figure 2: Percentage of Canadian population (16 to 65 years) at each prose literacy level, in IALS and ALL*

Long Description for Figure 02

* Differences at each level between IALS and ALL are not statistically significant
Source: ALL, 2003; IALS, 1994-1998 [32]

The ALL survey also shows that Canadians with literacy barriers tend to have low paid, low skill jobs. Those with higher average skills earn more. Those who are unemployed with the most serious literacy barriers had only a 50% chance of finding a job even after 52 weeks of unemployment. In Canada, 57% of those working age adults who scored at level 1 tend to be employed as opposed to 80% of adults at levels 4/5. [33]

In addition, adults with the lowest skill level are the least likely to receive training. Participation rates among those with level 1 proficiency in prose literacy is 20.8% compared to about 70% among those at level 4/5.

Definitions of workplace and workforce literacy

In this review, literacy refers to reading, writing, numeracy, computer literacy and oral communication. Workplace literacy pertains to those workers already employed. Workforce literacy refers mostly to unemployed workers. Other terms that are used instead of literacy in the Canadian workplace context include basic skills, foundation skills, and essential skills.

Drivers for workforce literacy

Federal government drivers

A 2003 Parliamentary Standing Committee studying the problem of low literacy identified several overall drivers for literacy. Drivers include the fact that over 70% of new jobs will include post-secondary education, rising skill requirements in the labour market, skill underutilization, and the fact that over 40% of Canadians need more literacy and basic skills to participate in a changing labour market. The parliamentary committee also identified the importance of improving literacy skills to strengthen not only labour market outcomes but families, health, democracy, and communities. [35]

In the most recent Request for Funding Proposal (RFP) for literacy funding released by the Government of Canada in September 2007, economic prosperity and workforce development is a key priority. The RFP document stresses that ‘Canada’s economy and social structure in being transformed by globalization, an ageing population, declining labour force growth, the expansion of the knowledge-based economy and other factors, each of which has an impact on the skills that Canadians require at home, at work and in their community.’ The government plans include a focus on creating the most flexible, well-educated workforce in the world in order to improve Canada’s economic prosperity and establish a global competitive advantage. [36]

Employer drivers

Employer drivers in the private sector focus on company competitive edge, global competitiveness, technological change, low literacy statistics, and health and safety standards. [37]

In the municipal sector, drivers include restructuring, amalgamation, new technology, requirement of a high school diploma, health and safety, and efficiency as well as the ability to attract and retain skilled workers. [38]

Union drivers

Union drivers focus on providing opportunities for all workers to achieve their individual and collective potential as literate, informed, and active citizens and unions members. For unions, literacy is an opportunity to reach out to ‘inactive’ members who want to improve their skills, who had to leave school early, or who had a bad experience in school. It is about addressing inequality—racism and barriers to participation. The focus is on democracy and removing barriers. [39]

Adult learning and training in Canada

According to the Canadian Council on Learning’s (CCL) 2007 report on adult and workplace learning, only about one third of Canadian adults participated in some form of learning or training. The report emphasizes that even though Canadian employers are looking for workers with greater skills and adaptability, only one quarter of the Canadian workforce benefits from employer-sponsored training. [40]

The findings in the CCL’s report show that the workplace is where the most adult learning and training occurs. However, barriers such as lack of resources from employers, labour, and government, as well as individual barriers, prevent worker participation in training. The report indicated that one-third of Canadians cannot get the job-related learning they want because of barriers such as lack of time and money, and family responsibilities. Lack of employer interest, low literacy, and lack of recognition of prior learning were also presented as significant factors. Findings also show that Canada’s older workers (45-plus years) are adversely affected. Over half of older workers with high-school education or less report having no opportunities in the past, and no plans to participate in formal training in the future. Canada significantly falls behind countries such as Denmark, Sweden, and the United Kingdom when it comes to employer-sponsored training. [41]

Similarly, in a 2006 report written for the Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN)[42], the authors report a dismal situation around learning and Canada’s working adults, despite the social and economic imperative. The CPRN research, like the CCL report, notes that the participation rate in adult learning by the least educated is low compared to other countries. [43]

The reports’ findings show that in addition to low literacy statistics indicated by the 2005 ALL survey, 5.8 million Canadians 25 years and older do not have a high school diploma [44]. The findings indicate that less-educated individuals are likely to experience lower wages, more unemployment, and lower status. Significantly, the report indicates that there is a cumulative effect on workers with the least education as they fall further and further behind their more educated colleagues during the course of their working lives. [45]

The CPRN report states those Canadians with a university degree are five times more likely than someone with high school or less to participate in adult learning. The authors also cite evidence that shows this situation must change. These studies show that extending learning opportunities to workers with the least education would benefit the whole nation. These benefits include positive labour market outcomes for learners, an increased standard of living for the whole country and increased productivity. The CPRN report stresses on page vi:

Similarly, the CCL report indicates that the present approach to adult learning is limiting in terms of capitalizing on the potential of the labour market, particularly employed workers and that life-long learning is necessary for both the productivity and prosperity of Canada, and a vibrant democracy. [46]

Both these reports recommend the development of a pan-Canadian adult training and education vision and policy framework. The CPRN report includes recommendations that focus on:

• employer incentives to support training for less-skilled workers
• more government investment for basic skills training
• the development of a coordinated approach.

The CCL report calls for:

• more cooperation and investment among significant partners
• additional research on the barriers to adult learning
• a focus on developing a learning culture with Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs)
• more focus on motivating and targeting those workers with the least skills.

 It is not clear what the impact of these reports is, as it is too early to tell. 

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