Canada proposes improved opportunities for workers despite the current economic slowdown

To address the impact of global economic crisis on Canadians, the present Conservative government has presented a plan to stimulate the Canadian economy and to help workers and businesses in hard-pressed sectors such as manufacturing, the automotive industry and forestry.

Whereas the Economic and Fiscal Statement 2008 is basically a set of actions that government will undertake to strengthen Canada’s economic and financial fundamentals over the coming quarters, but this statement also announces a number of steps to improve the opportunities for workers and to encourage the full participation of immigrants and Aboriginals in the economy.

For example, it has been proposed that government will encourage the provincial premiers and territorial leaders to achieve their goal of amending the Agreement on Internal Trade by January 1, 2009 so as to achieve "full mobility for all Canadians" by April 1, 2009. Similarly, increasing labor market participation, especially of under-represented groups such as immigrants, continues to be a government priority. In particular, the government will seek opportunities to reach out to a growing Aboriginal population to match the demands created by resource development and the overall tightening of the national labor market over the next decade.

The government will also continue to explore ways to ensure the immigration program is aligned with labor market needs. These efforts will be in addition to Action Plan for Faster Immigration, which has been delivered recently and help improve the processing of immigration applications under the federal skilled worker category.

Efforts will also be made to improve the recognition of credentials that foreign workers bring with them, and for this purpose, it has been proposed that a comprehensive and consistent approach will be adopted across the country, starting with regulated professions where shortages are the most acute. Furthermore, efforts will also be done to attract top international students to Canada and to increase the uptake of immigrant settlement programs.

To improve the opportunities for workers, government is currently investing in education and training by providing long-term support for post-secondary education, introducing the new Canada Student Grant and modernizing the Canada Student Loans Program.

The government is also implementing a comprehensive labor market training architecture announced in Budget 2007, including the $3 billion over six years provided to provinces and territories for new Labor Market Agreements to address the gap in programming for those who currently do not qualify for training under the Employment Insurance (EI) Program.

Overall, the government has committed that it will continue to work in cooperation with the provinces and territories and Aboriginal leaders to reduce barriers to labour mobility, enhance skills development, and encourage the full participation of immigrants and Aboriginals in the economy despite the current economic slowdown.

Management Accountants of Alberta and British Columbia agree to labor mobility for their members

The Society of Management Accountants of British Columbia (CMABC) and the Society of Management Accountants of Alberta (CMA-Alberta) have agreed to labor mobility for their members in compliance with the Trade, Investment and Labor Mobility Agreement (TILMA) between British Columbia and Alberta.

This labor mobility agreement between the two organizations representing Certified Management Accountants (CMA) in Alberta and British Columbia reached on October 3, 2008. It will provide their members an opportunity to work in both provinces without having to complete additional regulatory registrations and paperwork, which will expand their members’ professional reach and open up employment opportunities.

It has been estimated that over 4,300 CMAs in B.C. alone will benefit from this pact.

This recent development is part of Canada’s approach to fully harmonize different accreditation and licensing requirements between Canadian provinces and territories, so any qualified worker in an occupation in one province or territory must be granted access to similar employment opportunities in any other Canadian jurisdiction. Because of different accreditation and licensing requirements across provinces and territories, it has been estimated an about 25 per cent of jobs (in healthcare and engineering sectors, for example) have serious mobility constraints in Canada.

This important issue is being addressed by the Government of Canada and the provincial and territorial governments through the Agreement on Internal Trade (AIT), which was came into effect on July 1, 1995. However, due to the slow progress of AIT in removing barriers to labor mobility, the governments of British Columbia and Alberta signed the British Columbia – Alberta Trade, Investment, and Labor Mobility Agreement (TILMA) on April 28, 2006 that represented a fundamentally different approach that went well beyond the AIT.

TILMA has helped create the second largest economy in Canada and considered an important step for both provinces to realize improvements to labor mobility beyond what AIT has achieved. The agreement was came into force in April 2007, and will be fully implemented by April 2009, at which time individuals in all occupations will be free to move and work in their chosen field in both provinces.

A recent report by Canada's Competition Bureau has also criticized Canada's accounting profession for being over-regulated, particularly in the limits it places on who can offer certain professional services. The Competition Bureau, an independent agency whose goal is to protect and promote competitive markets, released its report in December 2007, calling on Canada's self-regulated professions such as accountants, to re-examine their rules to ensure they serve the public good and not restrict competition.