Recently, the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Official languages, Randy Boissonault has announced that launching the Upgrade Your Skills advertising campaign is to inform Canadians that there are financial supports available and certain programs available to them for gaining the skills that are required to succeed in today’s labor market. The campaign is going to run from 5th of February until 31st of March 2024, and is expected to target the youth between the age of 18 to 24 who are looking to start their careers, and also targeted at adults between the age of 25 to 54 who are looking to upscale and transition into better careers in their lives.
Currently the annual immigration in Canada amounts to almost 500,000 new immigrants, which is one of the highest rates per population of any country in the world. In 2023 there were more than 8 million people who are immigrants with permanent resident status and living in Canada, which accounts to almost 20% of the total population in the country.
The Canadian labor market is evolving and it is necessary for Canadians to continue and learn new skills to upgrade on what they already know and in this process take advantage of new work opportunities and find jobs that pay well and help them build rewarding careers. The campaign supports the Canadian government’s efforts to help Canadians access the necessary support and overcome the barriers of employment and gain valuable work skills and necessary experience and be ready for jobs of today and the future.
Every year, there are a lot of immigrants who arrive in Canada with high-level skills and along with that there is a continued growth of young individuals who are coming to the job market each year along with the university degrees.
the campaign will reach the youth and the adults through social media, web, digital display, digital radio, and national broadcast media, and direct them to canada.ca/develop-your-skills which is a repository of information about all the resources that are available to Canadians to benefit from, including financial assistance, such as the Canada Student Financial Assistance Program, Canada Apprentice Loan, and Apprenticeship Grants; and also programs like Education Savings Benefit, and such as Canada Education Savings Grant, and the Canada Learning Bond, and also youth volunteer service and workplace opportunities and development programs, including the skills for success programs to help Canadians build foundational and transferable skills and support that is required for newcomers who lack experience and credential recognition process and gain Canadian work experience and job seeking tools like a job bank with thousands of listings for jobs across Canada that are compatible with specific skills and knowledge from qualifying candidates.
The Canadian government tries to communicate effectively with all the diverse residents as essential to achieve the objectives. They run the campaigns which are an important tool for the government for improving the relationship with its citizens, and using these campaigns and marketing tools, along with the methodologies that the government uses to provide service to its citizens.
Investing in the workforce and workers of today means experiencing a successful workforce of tomorrow. When workers are provided with the right skill set to find better and higher paying jobs, it protects the standard of living and builds stronger communities that are more resilient in an equally resilient economy.
Upscaling is always important because it helps improve performance and successfully adapt to the changes in the working environment which leads to development in one’s career. The skills that one needs to develop can be specific to their own field, or if they are interested in other areas they should be improving transferable skills that are relevant to the current role and also roles that they prefer to transition into. Some of the skills that are valuable irrespective of the industry are communication skills and professional development.
Contributing issues to Canada’s evolving labor markets include aging population, changes in technology, shortage of skilled workforce work, flexibility, and challenges that are faced by newcomers who do not have the necessary work experience locally and also facing the credential recognition challenges.
In the current situation, there is a shortage of skilled workforce, inflation is rising, and retaining skilled workers is becoming a challenge.
In December 2023 there were nearly 706,000 job vacancies in Canada and 1.2 million. Canadians were unemployed and some of the reasons contributing to this situation could be advanced technology that certain segment of the population did not know how to use, aging population, shortage of skilled workers, flexibility in work arrangements, and other challenges, faced by new commerce who do not have the required skills that are expected by the employers. According to the survey on business conditions by a Canadian survey group, in the second quarter of 2023 businesses in Canada expressed that recruiting skilled employees was the second most challenging obstacle with the primary being inflation.
Among many recent immigrants who arrived in Canada in the past five years with work experience from their home country along with post secondary education, six out of 10 have faced difficulties finding work with their skills and credentials. Some of the most common difficulties encountered were not having enough Canadian job experience or not having the right connections into the job market or lacking the necessary references to provide to their prospective employers.
In many cases, the immigrants face challenges such as transferable skills and credential recognition, and lack of having the necessary license or certifications in place, or sometimes they do not have the necessary documentation to help the hiring managers recognize their potential and these are some of the most prominent barriers that immigrants face when they are trying to find work in Canada. The programs offered by the government can be very useful and beneficial to people who are looking to upgrade their skills and improve their chances of getting hired in the Canadian job market.
The government of Canada in order to address these kinds of challenges is committed to providing Canadians with all the support and resources in the evolving labor market. With initiatives like these the aspirants can upgrade their skills. With the help of advertising campaigns and investments in education, employment programs, and training the Canadians can build the skills and experience needed to succeed in today’s dynamic workforce.
Associated link: Canada.ca/develop-your-skills
Skilled development is also necessary in training oneself for a career that they dream to be in or for their personal development. Learning how to put your skills on the résumé and learning how to market oneself when applying for jobs is also an important skill.