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Despite the significant attention paid to Canada's loss of manufacturing jobs at a broader level, little is known about how individual Canadian regions have fared since the manufacturing employment decline of 2003-2009, caused by a combination of increased overseas competition, a rising Canadian dollar, and the 2008-2009 Great Recession. Employment in manufacturing fell by over 500,000 positions between 2003 and 2009, with over 300,000 of the net decline occurring before the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Since then, there has been almost no employment growth in the sector. This research examines some straightforward questions: who was affected by this job loss, what happened to them, and what was the effect on the communities in which they had been employed? Were manufacturing jobs replaced with comparable jobs, in terms of skill level and pay, in the communities in which they were lost?

The key messages from the research are that: (1) Canadian manufacturing jobs lost since 2003 were only partially replaced with comparable ones in the construction, wholesaling, and trucking industries in the major metropolitan centres of Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver, as well as in communities within commuting distance of these three cities: (2) because they had more manufacturing employment than the Canadian average, communities such as Miramichi, Oshawa, St. Catharines-Niagara, Prince Albert, Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, and Windsor have experienced disproportionately high levels of employment disruption from the decline in manufacturing employment; and (3) although the number of manufacturing jobs in Canada has changed little since 2009, there has been a shift to higher-skilled occupations within the industry; and skills training is crucial to ensure workers are qualified for those jobs in construction and manufacturing.

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The process of technological progress is one of creative destruction, where some occupations, skills, products and firms become obsolete and are replaced by technologically superior alternatives. To determine the impact of automation on Canada's labour markets, the author uses the likelihood that each occupation could be automated in combination with labour market information to determine the jobs and industries most susceptible to disruption. The paper concludes that Canada's provinces vary significantly in industrial and labour market structure. These differences highlight priority areas that provincial governments should consider in developing education and employment policy responses to adapt to current and future technological change.

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This Insights article examines the degree to which workers who lost their job in 2009 started a business, changed regions, went back to school or began a registered apprenticeship in 2010, the year following job loss. The analysis combines the 2001 Census of Population with Statistics Canada's Longitudinal Worker File and Registered Apprenticeship Information System. The study shows that about one in six displaced workers used at least one of the aforementioned adjustment strategies in 2010. Displaced workers who did not find a new paid job in 2010 were more likely to do so than their counterparts who found a new paid job that year. Yet three-quarters of the displaced workers who had no paid job in 2010 did not use any of the four strategies defined above.

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This article examines how workers displaced from coal mining in recent years have fared after job loss. The analysis uses Statistics Canada's Longitudinal Worker File. The study shows that for many coal miners and workers in other industries, job loss leads to substantial and persistent earnings declines. However, three years or five years after being displaced, a significant fraction of workers displaced from coal mining or other industries earn more than they did in the year prior to job loss. Taken together, these findings do not support the view that all workers displaced from traditional energy-producing sectors experience substantial earnings declines after job loss. Nor do they support the view that all workers displaced from these sectors make a smooth transition to new employment after job loss.

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This article examines how workers displaced from the oil and gas industry in recent years have fared after job loss. The analysis uses Statistics Canada's Longitudinal Worker File. The study shows that for many workers displaced from the oil and gas industry, job loss leads to substantial and persistent earnings declines. However, three years or five years after being displaced, a significant fraction of workers displaced from this sector earn more than they did in the year prior to job loss. Taken together, these findings do not support the view that all workers displaced from energy-producing sectors experience substantial earnings declines after job loss. Nor do they support the view that all workers displaced from these sectors make a smooth transition to new employment after job loss.

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Recent significant advances in artificial intelligence have raised questions about the role of workers in an era when robots and algorithms are increasingly able to perform many job duties, including those previously believed to be non-automatable. The [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic has added to these concerns, as businesses may turn to new automation technology to perform a broader range of work activities traditionally done by human workers. While previous studies have estimated the share of Canadian workers at high risk of automation-related job transformation, this study is the first to examine in great detail the automation risks faced by different groups of workers. This study applies an approach similar to the one developed by Frey and Osborne (2013) and Arntz, Gregory and Zierahn (2016) to Canadian data.

Results suggest that, overall, 10.6 per cent of Canadian workers were at high risk (probability of 70 per cent or higher) of automation-related job transformation in 2016, while 29.1 per cent were at moderate risk (probability of between 50 per cent and 70 per cent). Several groups had a relatively higher share of workers who were at high risk, including those who were older (55 or above), had no postsecondary credentials or postsecondary credentials in certain fields, had low literacy or numeracy proficiency, had low employment income, or were employed part time, in small firms, in certain occupations (e.g. Office support occupations), or in the manufacturing sector. One specific finding of interest is that Business, management and public administration and Health and related fields graduates faced the highest automation-related job transformation risks among postsecondary certificate and diploma holders, but they were among the groups facing the lowest risks when looking at postsecondary degree holders.

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Microcredentials - rapid training programs that can help workers quickly master new skills or gain competencies - are expected to play a major part in the future of skills training and education. These short, stackable, and targeted credentials have been heralded as a potentially effective way to meet the challenges related to workforce training in a fast changing economy. The Future Skills Centre (FSC) has several pilot projects and research initiatives featuring training in the form of microcredentials. Through the data, lessons and insights generated by these projects, this Learning Bulletin summarizes our understanding of key issues and trends, introduces our investments in this area, and raises key questions for future research and practice.

Learning questions addressed in this bulletin are: How can microcredentials play a role in smoothing the effects of rapid technological change for different kinds of workers? How can microcredentials help revitalize struggling local economies? What role can microcredentials play in industry-led workforce development? What opportunities exist in microcredentials as an avenue for the advancement of underrepresented groups? How do the featured FSC project partners view the prospect of microcredential standardization? What are the key issues, themes and questions for the future of microcredentials?

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Widespread worker displacement is an increasing phenomenon in industrialised countries. Whether the result of globalisation, increased technology or resource depletion, large numbers of people are being permanently displaced from work. The problem is more severe in regions where the unemployment base centres on a single industry or resource. In such areas there is often little chance of re-employment. This paper considers government-initiated programs developed in response to widespread worker displacement. It does so within the context of my doctoral dissertation research, which is nearing fieldwork completion. The paper introduces the problem of widespread worker displacement. It considers two government programs developed to address need resulting from the closure of the Northern Cod fishery on Canada’s Atlantic coast and the decline of the mining industry in England. The paper then discusses post-industrialism and post-Fordism as a framework through which to view the problem.

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It is too early to know how many Canadian workers will lose their job, i.e. will be permanently laid-off, as a result of the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic and what will happen to them financially after job loss. Yet a number of stylized facts emerge from the past. While these facts do not necessarily allow accurate predictions of the impact of the pandemic on job displacement, they provide a long-term perspective from which forthcoming labour market developments can be assessed. The goal of this article is to highlight these facts.

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This research project used the OpportuNext tool, an employment skills database launched in partnership with The Conference Board of Canada, to map potential job transitions for 450 occupations using role-specific skill requirements and other work-related information. Highlights of the research are that: (1) Canadians have viable and desirable job transition options available to them; the best of these options require similar skills and knowledge and offer higher pay in sectors and industries with growing employment; and knowledge jobs and in-the-field jobs offer the highest numbers of transition opportunities; (2) however, some specialized or highly paid occupations have few or no viable and desirable transitions, and Canadians seeking to move out of these roles may require retraining, a move to another sector, or willingness to take a pay cut; and (3) to combat labour shortages, employers should broaden their recruiting pool to include non-traditional occupations that are characteristically similar in terms of the skills required for vacant roles, rather than focusing on just specific education and/or experience requirements.

The research includes a case study of Ontario's tourism and hospitality sector. The case study examined 48 tourism-sector occupations and found that they have an average of nine potential job transition options. The research concludes that workers need the right combination of skills, abilities, knowledge, facility with tools and technology, and any special qualifications in order to maximize the number of transition options available. This is the most significant barrier facing displaced tourism workers. Their best approach is to focus on retaining and upskilling. Those workers whose jobs have few potential transitions may need to consider accepting a lower-paid job, transitioning out of the sector, or moving to another part of Ontario.

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