The parties are disconnected from reality on the workforce

The Institute du Quebec believes that the proposals of the major federal political parties in the current election campaign are far from realistic in the face of a simmering labor shortage across the country.

Also read: PCRE dominates the economic debate

“We’re still in the old discourse, the same message from the last 40 years. Mia Homesey, CEO of the Institute, is publishing a study on the subject today.

“We have the impression that politicians don’t do their homework,” she said with the same breath in an interview Newspaper.

The Institute reviewed various party programs, and wrote that they were “still firmly anchored in the traditional view of economic development.”

“Neither party has achieved the passing level. The Liberal Party and the Black seem to understand that the world has changed, but their platforms do not show real modernization,” Ms Holmesi analyzed.

“The most disconnected are the conservatives. They promise to create a million jobs. How are they going to do it when the number of positions to be filled is always increasing?” She asks herself.

A more serious shortage here

Labor shortages affect the whole of Canada, but it is most prevalent in Quebec, where more than 210,000 positions are vacant.

“This is even more evident outside of Montreal, especially in the Montreal area where immigration is highly concentrated, so it is a priority for population aging in other areas,” Ms Holmesy analyzed.

According to her, we need to talk less about “changing the world of employment” and job creation.

“Jobs are evolving towards digitization, even the most polluting industries are changing, people need to be re-trained. Before creating jobs, we need to change existing jobs and steer them towards energy, digital and environmental transformation,” she said.

“We should no longer finance a business because it creates jobs, we should finance a business as we train its business for its workers,” she says.

Review the criteria

The Institute wants different parties to review standards for employment insurance. “It’s very inactive in Canada. You have to be more serious. We have to support the workers, but they must be trained, especially in the future.”