This presentation looks at labour participation in Canada. The presentation discusses labour issues facing the various demographics including 15-64 age group. The presentation will also discuss the millennials as part of the issues facing the millennials as they are enter the workforce.

1. Labour Participation Rates
– Canada
BY: PAUL YOUNG CPA, CGA
DATE: MARCH 4, 2017

2. Agenda
• What is Labour Participation?
• Labour Participation Trends

3. What is labour participation
• The participation rate is a measure of the active portion of an economy's labor
force. It refers to the number of people who are either employed or are actively
looking for work. During an economic recession, many workers often get
discouraged and stop looking for employment, resulting in a decrease in the
participation rate – Source - Investopedia

4. Labour Participation Trends • In January 2017 , the labour force
participation rate was 65.8% in
Canada (adjusted to US concepts)
and 62.9% in the United States. The
participation rate in Canada was
unchanged compared
with 12 months earlier, while it
increased slightly in the United
States (+0.2 percentage points).
• The US-adjusted employment rate
in Canada stood at 62.1% in
January, compared with 59.9% in
the United States. On a year-over-
year basis, the employment rate
rose by 0.4 percentage points in
Canada and by 0.3 percentage
points in the United States. – Source
– Stats Canada

5. A new unemployment crisis
Source – Workforce Innovation – February 16, 2017

6. Labour Force participation (25 to 54)
Source – National Bank of Canada
The Bank of Canada has argued in recent months
that, unlike the U.S., there is still “material slack” in
Canadian labour markets. In light of the recent
Canadian employment reports, we are not so sure that
the slack is as material as it once was. Job creation
for prime-aged workers, the most cyclical cohort of
labour markets, has been on a tear lately. In January,
their headcounts surged by 57K, the most since 1995.
National Bank of Canada – February 17, 2017

7. Youth Minister Justin Trudeau is PM delivering
on promises?
“This government pays a lot of lip service to youth,” said Bilan Arte, president of
the Canadian Federation of Students, which advocates for free post-secondary
education. – Toronto Star – February 7, 2017
As of 2012, student debt owed to Ottawa and the provinces was more than $28
billion, up from $19.6 billion in 1999, according to Statistics Canada. Average
tuition for the 2016/17 school year rose to $6,373 and has tripled since the early
1990s. - Toronto Star – February 7, 2017
According to the final 2016 job numbers published this month, just 9,000 jobs were
created last year for workers aged 16 to 24. As Conference Board of
Canada economist Craig Alexander pointed out, this is the net number after 40,000
full-time jobs were lost and 49,000 part-time jobs were created. All the job gains
for youth, in other words, were for part-time work. – Toronto Star – February 7,
2017

8. Canadian millennials still stuck in the basement-
as youth unemployment surges
The labour market’s resilience in 2015 proved surprising, with average monthly
job growth exceeding levels recorded in the previous two years. However, the
pace of hiring has slowed in 2016, with an average of 7,300 jobs added per
month thus far. If the Bank of Canada still aims to accomplish this goal of luring
youths out of the basement, this means that monetary policy makers are still far
away from being able to raise interest rates, Enenajor concludes. Financial Post
– July 19, 2016