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The Sectoral Initiatives Program was designed to improve the availability and use of products that help Canadian labour market stakeholders identify and address emerging labour market issues in their sectors, including: skills requirements; skills mismatches; and labour shortages. The program's mandate is to help sectors identify and develop solutions to address the human resources and labour market needs of their sector. Contributions are provided to funding recipients, who are expected to work with sectoral stakeholders to produce sector-specific labour market information, national occupational standards, skills certification, and training program accreditation products. The products can be used individually or as a continuum to help end-users (for example, employers, job seekers, and learning institutions) understand the sector's labour market needs and to adjust human resources planning and activities accordingly.

This evaluation examined key issues, including: the continued need for the program among target groups; the program's alignment with federal priorities and provincial initiatives; efforts to measure program and project performance; stakeholder engagement; product dissemination and timeliness; contributions toward program outcomes such as awareness and use of products, skills recognition and employability, and addressing sectoral labour market issues; and observations on efforts to deliver the program in a cost efficient manner. Based on the evaluation, recommendations are made to explore ways to encourage funding recipients to strengthen product outreach and dissemination, and to improve performance measurement and increase data validity while minimizing the burden on funding recipients.

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The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is legislated through the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. One of the key objectives of the program is to provide Canadian employers with access to temporary foreign workers when qualified Canadians or permanent residents are not available. This evaluation covers the portion of the program that is administered by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) for the period from 2011 to 2018. However, the most recent data is provided where relevant. It focusses on the following issues: labour market shortages and gaps; employers' efforts to hire resident labour before applying to the program; and impact of the program on wages and displacement.

Key findings include: (1) The program plays a crucial role in helping Canadian employers temporarily fill different types of labour needs that are most commonly recurrent and that employers prove unable to meet using other means; (2) The program helps protect jobs for Canadians and permanent residents, and can contribute to job creation and economic growth in some sectors; (3) Overall, there is no evidence pointing to a risk for job displacement or wage suppression at the national level in Canada. In 2019, temporary foreign workers represented only 0.49 per cent of the total labour force in Canada. There is, however, evidence of varying factors affecting employment and working conditions in localized labour markets. This points to some risk of job displacement or wage suppression in some specific sectors, occupations and regions; (4) Important challenges related to the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process and related requirements may hinder the effectiveness of the program for some program users; (5) Administrative and financial barriers associated with using the program may explain why some employers do not use the program. It should be noted that other comparable employers in similar situations use the program; and (6) The program contributes towards ensuring that qualified Canadians or permanent residents are considered first for current job opportunities.

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