Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Economic Information Observatory
for Atlantic Canada
INTELL-ECHO Vol. 6, no. 01, January 2019
Workforce and Entrepreneurship
Economic Information Observatory
Intell-Echo
Thematic Information Bulletin Vol. 6, no. 1, January 2019
ISSN 2292-518X
Atlantic Canada, 4 provinces: Prince Edward Island (PEI), New Brunswick (NB), Nova Scotia (NS), Newfoundland and Labrador (NL)
Workforce and Entrepreneurship
In this issue:
Employment: Key Figures 2
Workforce Requirements 3
Support for Businesses 4
The labour shortage in Canada is not a new problem. Challenges with finding workers in Atlantic Canada are attributable to the
region’s older population, a lower workforce participation rate than elsewhere across the country and a larger pool of seasonal workers. According to a study published in September 2018 by the Business Development Bank of Canada, 39% of small and medium-sized enterprises in Canada are currently coping with worker shortages, and there is no reason to expect this issue to improve over the next 10 years: based on forecasts, annual labour force growth rates will likely not exceed 0.2% during the coming
decade. Atlantic Canada will not be spared from this trend. The industries most impacted include manufacturing (56%), retail trade (54%) and construction (48%), where the difficulty in finding workers translates into figures exceeding the national average.
Among other consequences, labour shortages can slow the growth of businesses. In addressing the shortage of workers,
entrepreneurs in Atlantic Canada are redefining their companies’ vision and values and seeking to recruit
employees from under-used groups in the active population, such as recent immigrants, Aboriginals, persons with handicaps and retired workers. Based on the 2016 Census, nearly one in five (18.7%) Canadians lives in a rural region, and approximately 13% live in small communities with a population of between 1,000 and 30,000. And while the percentage of the population living in rural regions is around 19% for Canada as a whole, this figure is between 42% and 55% in Atlantic Canada—a situation creating both additional challenges and new opportunities for entrepreneurs in this region.
Additional resources: Acadia Entrepreneurship Centre, <http://www.acadiaentrepreneurshipcentre.com/>; Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, <http://www.acoa-apeca.gc.ca/>; Business Development Bank of Canada, <https://www.bdc.ca/>; Centre for Entrepreneurship Education & Development Inc., <https://www.ceed.ca/>; CBDC Central PEI, <http://www.cbdc.ca/en/find-my-cbdc/pei>; Corporation 3+, <http://3plus.ca/>; Energia Ventures, <https://www.energiaventures.com/>; Enterprise Saint John, <http://enterprisesj.com/>; Government of Canada, <https://www.canada.ca/>; World Bank Group, <http://www.doingbusiness.org/>; Canadian Job Bank, <https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/>; JA Canada, <http://jacanada.org/>; Ignite Fredericton, <https://ignitefredericton.com/>; Impact Atlantic, <https://impactatlantic.ca/>; Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, <https://www.ic.gc.ca/>; Prince Edward Island Business Women’s Association, <http://peibwa.org/>, Statistics Canada, <https://www.statcan.gc.ca/>; Canadian Occupational Projection System, <http://occupations.edsc.gc.ca/>; Venture for Canada (VFC), <https://www.ventureforcanada.ca/>; Volta Labs, <https://voltaeffect.com/>.
Please see also Intell-Echo vol. 4, no. 2 (immigration programs and skilled workers); Intell-Echo vol. 4, no. 7 (start-ups); Intell-Echo vol. 4, no. 3 (CETA, services and jobs).
Atlantic Growth Strategy (workforce and immigration)
An integral component of the Atlantic Growth Strategy, the Atlantic Immigration
Pilot is a program launched in 2017 and extending over a 3-year period through a
partnership between the Government of Canada and the four Atlantic Provinces.
The Skilled Workforce/Immigration action area aims to offer eligible employers the option to recruit candidates who have not come to Canada yet or are living temporarily in the country, while qualifying candidates are granted permanent resident status in Canada.
The pilot program helps employers in the Atlantic region hire immigrants to fill jobs the
employers have had trouble filling locally and accommodate other family members through
three specific programs: the Atlantic Intermediate-Skilled Program, the Atlantic High-
Skilled Program and the Atlantic International Graduate Program.
One year into implementation of the program, nearly 900 employers in Atlantic Canada had
been approved by the provincial government of an Atlantic Province to recruit immigrant
workers, more than 1,000 had applied or were in the process of applying for permanent
resident status, and 150 applications had been approved.
Outcomes after two years (2016-2018)
►A 600% increase in employment opportunities in 2017 through the Atlantic Immigration
Pilot (nearly 1,800 opportunities during the period between July 2017 and June 2018 in
comparison to 250 opportunities between January and June 2017).
►A 4.5% increase in economic immigrants in 2017 (9,040 economic immigrants
and their families admitted in 2017 versus 8,646 in 2016).
►An 8% increase in temporary work and study permits in 2017 (more than 26,000
temporary work and study permits issued in 2017, up from more than 24,000 in 2016).
Impact of labour shortages on SMEs Employees working longer hours: 56%
Higher pay/improved benefits: 47% Unable to keep up with orders or delays in order fulfilment:
26%
Reduced competitiveness: 26%
Compromised quality of products or services: 17%
Proportion of businesses in Canada that have had difficulty finding workers during the past year
British Columbia and Northern Canada 45%
Prairies 32%
Ontario 40%
Quebec 37%
Atlantic Provinces 50%
Estimated population, Q4 2018
Q4 2018
Canada 37,242,571 (↑)
Prince Edward Island 154,750 (↑)
New Brunswick 772,238 (↑)
Nova Scotia 964,693 (↑)
Newfoundland and Labrador 525,073 (↓)
According to the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training, international students contributed $795 million to the Atlantic Canadian economy in 2018 and held more than 6,700 jobs in the region.
Intell-Echo, 6, 01, 2019 – p. 2 https://provis.umcs.ca
Employment in Atlantic Canada: Key Figures
ATLANTIC CANADA
Number of companies by size / number of employees
(small – 1-99; medium – 100-499; large – 500+)
Province Small (1-99)
Medium (100-499)
Large (500+) Total
SMEs per 1,000 people
(age 15+) Prince Edward Island 5,838 83 14 5,935 48.7
New Brunswick 25,002 443 64 25,509 40.0
Nova Scotia 29,298 556 68 29,922 37.3
Newfoundland and Labrador 17,174 307 45 17,526 39.1
Canada – Total 1,143,630 21,415 2,933 1,167,978 39.2
Canada – Percentage 97.9 1.8 0.3 100.0
Company size (000s of employees)
Small (1-99)
Medium (100-499)
Jobs at SMEs
Large (500+)
Total jobs
% of jobs at SMEs
PEI 32.8 5.8 38.6 3.0 41.6 92.7
NB 158.7 46.2 204.9 17.9 222.8 92.0
NS 206.2 51.5 257.6 20.8 278.4 92.5
NL 114.8 25.6 140.4 12.9 153.3 91.6
Canada – Total 8,168.0 2,292.9 10,460.9 1,130.0 11,590.9 90.3
Over the next 10 years, it is estimated that 76%
of all new jobs will be created in highly skilled
occupations; for comparison, in 2016, the
percentage of jobs in highly skilled occupations
was 63.4%.
Leading industries in Atlantic Canada by percentage of total GDP, 2017
Industry % of total GDP
Real estate services 13.3
Wholesale and retail trade 10.8
Mining, oil & gas 10.5
Public administration 9.9
Health care and social assistance 8.6
Manufacturing 7.7
Construction 6.7
Education 5.9
Finance and insurance 4.8
Transportation and warehousing 3.9
Professional services 3.4
Agriculture, forestry and fishing 2.4
Other industries 12.3
Net change in employment in Atlantic Canada, 2000–2017 In the wake of the economic transformation developing in the early 2000s, the service sector has posted strong growth, while the resource development sector has experienced a notable decline. Industry Change
2000-2017 (in 000s)
Health care and social assistance 52.7
Construction 25.1
Professional, scientific and tech. services 20.9
Wholesale and retail trade 9.7
Accommodation and food services 8.8
Education 8.5
Business building and other services 7.9
Finance and insurance 4.8
Public administration 4.2
Mining and oil & gas extraction 2.2
Public services 1.6
Information, culture and recreation -2.2
Transportation -3.0
Agriculture -3.5
Other services -4.7
Forestry -5.0
Fishing -8.0
Manufacturing -25.3
In 2015, SMEs employed 90.3%
of the workforce in Canada’s
private sector, or some
10.5 million workers. Small
enterprises (1-99 employees)
alone accounted for 70.5% of all
jobs (8.2 million workers), while
medium enterprises (100-499
employees) employed 19.8% of
the private-sector workforce
(2.3 million workers). Finally,
l a rge enterpr ises (500+
e m p l o y e e s )
accounted for 9.7% of the
p r i va te -sec to r wo rk fo rce
(1.1 million workers).
Although high-growth companies
are often associated with
innovative sectors and leading-
edge technologies, high-growth
companies exist in every
industry. In the goods sector,
for example, high-growth
companies are found for the
most part in the construction and
manufacturing industries. In the
service sector, meanwhile, a
significant number of high-
growth companies operate in the
p r o f e s s i o n a l , t e c h n i c a l ,
t r a n s p o r t a t i o n a n d
manufacturing service sectors.
According to the Economic Policy
Directorate (EPD) of Employment
and Social Development Canada,
10 or more different industries could
experience strong (>0.9%) growth
during the 2017–2026 period.
These sectors include health care,
information system design,
mining and oil & gas extraction
support activities, social
assistance, legal/accounting/
consulting services and other
professional services.
The constraints they encounter in the working world create barriers for women seeking to start up or acquire businesses: women are consequently under-represented in the economy, owning fewer than 16% of all companies.
In 2015, NS had the highest number of small businesses (29,298), while PEI boasted the highest number of small businesses per 1,000 people aged 15+ (48.7 businesses versus 39.2 for Canada as a whole).
Intell-Echo, 6, 01, 2019 – p. 3 ATLANTIC CANADA https://provis.umcs.ca
Employment and Workforce Requirements
Jobs – Workforce requirements
Unemployment rate, jobs and average weekly earnings across Canada as a whole and in the Atlantic Provinces Unemployment rate
(Dec. 2018) Number of jobs
(Dec. 2018) Average weekly earnings
(Oct. 2018)*
Canada 5.6% (---) 18,808,400 (↑) $1,008.85 (↑)
Prince Edward Island 9.6% (↑) 75,500 (↓) $850.43 (↑)
New Brunswick 8.4% (↑) 351,400 (↓) $918.89 (↑)
Nova Scotia 7.1% (↑) 459,100 (↑) $884.81 (↑)
Newfoundland and Labrador 11.7% (↓) 227,700 (↑) $1,039.84 (↓)
Gap between rural and urban areas in Atlantic Canada
Prince Edward Island
The only province in Canada where the rural population (at 53%) outnumbers the urban population, Prince Edward Island has
nonetheless been watching its rural population shrink in recent years. Although the province has welcomed a significant number of
new residents, these newcomers have generally preferred to settle in urban areas. Measures taken to promote the more effective
distribution of new residents have included investment in community infrastructures facilities, access to faster Internet service for
individuals and businesses and support services for newcomers.
New Brunswick
In New Brunswick, nearly half (49.9%) of the population is concentrated in the province’s three largest urban centres (Moncton, Saint John and Fredericton). Rural areas are watching their young people migrate to cities to take advantage of work and educational opportunities. In rural areas, the population is consequently older on average and workers are becoming more difficult to find (while the retirement of aging workers is only exacerbating the resulting labour shortage). Growth of the economies in rural regions will consequently depend on the province’s capacity to keep young people in their communities.
Nova Scotia
The economic hub of Nova Scotia, Halifax is home to nearly 45% of the province’s population, while the Cape Breton regional
Municipality (Sydney) ranks second in terms of population. The Halifax region has a younger population in comparison to other areas
and also enjoys the province’s lowest unemployment rate, accounting for half of all occupied jobs. Nova Scotia’s rural areas,
meanwhile, have a notably higher unemployment rate in comparison to rural areas elsewhere across Canada. Between 2011 and
2017, urban areas added jobs (6,100), while rural areas posted significant job losses (10,100). The provincial government intends to
focus on certain population groups (Aboriginals, low-income workers, women with young children and people aged 55 to 69) to
increase the number of people available for work.
Newfoundland and Labrador
With regard to employment and the unemployment rate, an imbalance is noted between regions with a population of 10,000 or more
and those with a population of less than 10,000. The gap is widening between these two population groups. Between 2011 and 2017,
more than 9,000 jobs were added in more populous regions, while smaller communities and rural areas lost 17,000 jobs. In 2017, the
unemployment rate was 9.3% in the province’s largest communities and 22.3% in small communities. This high unemployment rate
likely reflected the loss of jobs in sectors with the greatest impact on rural areas, including the export-oriented primary sector and the
resource-based manufacturing sector. Measures are being developed to offset the population decline, including the adoption of
governance methods more appropriate for rural communities and the adaptation of working methods to more closely align them to
industry and promote more effective positive outcomes.
According to a recent survey conducted by the non-profit organization Venture for Canada among approximately 100 representatives of leading Canadian start-ups, 53% of respondents indicated that the main obstacle to growing their young companies was a shortage of skilled workers.
Support for Businesses (for more, please see FOCUS, vol. 6, no. 1, 2019)
Intell-Echo, 6, 01, 2019 – p. 4 https://provis.umcs.ca ATLANTIC CANADA
Support and financing for businesses (selected programs)
Business Development Program (BDP) – ACOA
Interest-free repayable assistance made available to SMEs in Atlantic Canada seeking to start up or expand their operations. Financing may also be available through the BDP for non-profit organizations that support businesses in Atlantic Canada.
Innovative Communities Fund (ICF) – ACOA
Financing of strategic projects that build the economies of communities in Atlantic Canada. The ICF can also be used to support environmental projects. Financing is awarded to non-profit or non-commercial organizations (local development associations, municipalities and their agencies, business or technology institutes, industry/sector associations, economic development associations, local co-operatives, universities and educational institutions, etc.).
Women Entrepreneurship Strategy (WES) Ecosystem Fund
Under the auspices of the Women Entrepreneurship Strategy, the federal government is
committed to doubling the number of women-owned businesses by 2025. The
Ecosystem Fund will provide women resources to start up or grow their own businesses
or seek out new markets. Projects must be led by non-profit organizations and be
inclusive of the needs of diverse and under-represented women. In addition to financial
support, the government offers a range of support and consulting services to assist
women with growing their businesses. (The application deadline was November 22,
2018, and funding decisions will be announced in spring 2019.)
Women Entrepreneurship Fund
The federal government is making funding available through the Women
Entrepreneurship Fund in the form of up to $100,000 in non-repayable contribution
funding for one year to provide direct support to women entrepreneurs to grow their
businesses or facilitate their pursuit of opportunities in markets abroad. (The application
deadline was November 15, 2018, and funding decisions will be announced in spring
2019.)
Women in Business Initiative
Led by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, the Women in Business Initiative equips and supports female entrepreneurs in Atlantic Canada to set them up for success in growing their businesses.
Organizations in Atlantic Canada:
Prince Edward Island Business Women’s Association. <http://peibwa.org/>
Women in Business New Brunswick.<http://www.cbdc.ca/en/programs/women-in-business>
Centre for Women in Business (Nova Scotia).<https://www.centreforwomeninbusiness.ca/>
Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs.<www.nlowe.org>
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC)
In support of the Atlantic Growth Strategy, the BDC announced a $280-million financing
package in 2017 to support small and mid-sized businesses in Atlantic Canada over the
next two years. The increase in lending volume for targeted industries is intended to
support businesses pursuing growth opportunities in information and communication
technology, agri-food, ocean technology and tourism.
Characteristics of SME owners
Breakdown by sex
64% of SMEs were majority male-owned, 16%majority female-owned.
21% of SMEs were owned jointly by men andwomen.
Majority ownership of SMEs by population group
Members of same family: 42% of SMEs
Visible minorities: 12% of SMEs
Aboriginals: 1% of SMEs
Persons with handicaps: 1% of SMEs
SME decision makers
Aged 50 or older: 59%
Born in Canada: 75%
Born abroad (and living in Canada for an average of27 years): 25%
Experience (10+ years) as a manager or owner:72%
Higher education (post-secondary diploma or degree): 70%
Innovation activity, intellectual property and technology adoption
SMEs introducing one or more types of innovation between 2015 and 2017: 31%
Type of innovation by percentage of SMEs
Product innovation: 19%
Marketing innovation: 14%
Organizational innovation: 13%
Process innovation: 13%
SMEs holding intellectual property rights: 27%
Type of intellectual property by percentage of SMEs
Non-disclosure agreements: 21% (most commontype of intellectual property)
Trademarks: 9%
Business secrets: 5%
Patents: 2%
Industrial designs: 1%
SMEs adopting one or more types of technology between 2015 and 2017: 46%
Type of technology by percentage of SMEs
Cloud computing: 29%
Data analysis: 21%
Customer/supplier relationship managementsoftware: 16%
Application programming interfaces: 9%
Business resource planning tools: 7%
INTELL-ECHO
PROVIS—UNIV. DE MONCTON, CAMPUS DE SHIPPAGAN
218, J.-D.-Gauthier
Shippagan NB E8S 1P6
Canada
https://provis.umcs.ca
Tous droits réservés © Copyright PROVIS 201ί
Intell-Écho is a periodic bulletin published by the Economic Information Observatory, a regional cooperation project between Atlantic Canada and Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. The publication of this bulletin is made possible through the sponsorship of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency in support of research initiatives, linguistic minorities and business development, and the Province of New Brunswick as well as the Université de Moncton, Shippagan Campus.
Editorial Production: Project Lead, Dr. Monica Mallowan, PROVIS Observatory, Univers i té de Moncton, Shippagan Campus, Shippagan, NB, Canada. [email protected] © PROVIS Observatory 2019.
Information Policy: The aim of this project is to provide useful
information to stakeholders from the Atlantic Canada area. Informationsupplied herein may be used on the condition that the Intell-Écho be cited as a source.
Responsibility: The project team is not responsible for the information resources supplied in this bulletin (content, links, changes, updates, timeliness of statistical data) nor for decisions or actions undertaken based on information supplied herein.
Starting January 2019, the ECONOMIC INFORMATION OBSERVATORY will provide information related only to the Atlantic Canada area.
Launched in 2014, the Economic Information Observatory was a regional cooperation project established between Atlantic Canada and Saint -Pierre and Miquelon. The publication of this information bulletin was made possible through the sponsorship of the Préfecture and the Conseil Territorial of Saint-Pierre et Miquelon, and the support of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency’s programs for research initiatives, linguistic minorities and business development, and the Province of New Brunswick, as well as the University de Moncton, Shippagan Campus.
