Ford's Ontario Government Labour Announcements
The Positive, The Negative & The Needs Improvement Report Card
The Ford government has been actively shoring up support by appealing to voters concerned about employment and the economy. Three recent policy decisions have been publicized within the last three months, receiving mixed reviews from the public. They include announcements about changes to the apprenticeship pathway for the skilled trades, entry requirements for new policing applicants and the removal of ‘Canadian experience requirements’ for internationally trained engineers. Here is a quick scorecard to evaluate them together.
In early March, the government announced that they will allow students, starting in Grade 11, to transition to full-time apprenticeship programs while still earning a high school diploma. The move was intended to address the labour shortages given the province’s stated intention to build 1.5 million new homes by 2031.
However the government did not appear to have a clear plan to ensure that those students entering apprenticeship programs prior to completing high school would actually graduate with a secondary school diploma. This may not seem like a significant problem until one considers the 37% attrition rate in the sector. Some of that turnover is positive—promotions, business ventures, etc.—but a lot of it is tied to injuries caused by stress on the body. Pressure related to the seasonal nature of work, and social stigma on the quality of the occupation. Many people who subsequently leave the trades would find themselves ill prepared to transition to other careers in the economy if their highest level of completed education would render them generally unemployable in the broader labour market.
The government followed the skilled trades announcement with a second labour related one in April. This one addressing police recruitment challenges. Premier Ford announced that the government would boost lagging police recruitment by eliminating the post-secondary education requirement for new police applicants. In a previous article, I have argued that the move ignores research and previous recommendations from the police themselves. It appears like a short term solution to a recruitment challenge but one with significant downstream impacts that could adversely impact community safety, public trust and the mental health of future police officers themselves.
The labour announcement in May related to the licensing requirements for engineers in Ontario. A vast majority of internationally trained professionals find themselves underemployed despite having the technical proficiency required for jobs they are educated to undertake. Labour Minister Monte McNaughton has stated that the regulatory bodies have until December 2nd, 2023 to remove the Canadian work experience requirement from the licensing process or face fines upwards of $100,000. The Professional Engineers Ontario (PEO), led the way by becoming the first professional regulatory body to remove the requirement from their application criteria.
The decision removes barrier to licensing, allowing new immigrants to seek economic integration more efficiently. The licensing requirements do not lower the competence threshold and maintains the rigorous standards ensuring only properly qualified individuals practice engineering in Ontario. New immigrants, especially internationally trained professionals do not expect a lowering of the standards, but rather a fair and equitable pathway to entry. The move makes sense given our focus on attracting professionals to immigrate and contribute to Canada’s economic growth.
On balance the engineering announcement is a positive step that promotes economic and social integration for new immigrants with international experience and education. It also creates a positive precedent from which to evaluate other regulatory requirements. The policing announcement may be judged fairly as negative, given it does little to actually address recruitment challenges, and may creates a myriad of downstream problems. Finally, the skilled trades announcement clearly needs some improvement. We do have a housing crisis and urgent action is required but let’s not do it at the expense of our essential workers trying to enter the trades.
Bio: Neil Gonsalves is an Indian-born Canadian immigrant who grew up in Dubai, U.A.E. and moved to Canada in 1995. He is a college professor, a TEDx speaker, and a recreational dog trainer. Neil has been a resident of Durham Region for almost 30 years.
