Canada must overcome economic paradox: Kenney

Canada will need one million trades workers by 2020, according to Skills Canada, and employment minister Jason Kenney says there is a paradox in the current economy that needs to be overcome to meet this target.

“We have to prepare for this paradox of a growing economy with an aging workforce and the current reality of too many unemployed people in an economy that has a lot of unfilled jobs,” he told the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum’s (CAF) Skilled Trades Summit in Ottawa.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce lists skills shortage as one of the country’s top barriers to competitiveness.

Kenney has been visiting countries around the world where an education through apprenticeship is seen as being on the same level as a university degree. He pointed to Switzerland, which has three per cent youth unemployment and Germany with seven per cent unemployment.

“We have more young people with university degrees as a share of our population than any other country in the world, but we have 13 per cent youth unemployment. Those countries where 60 to 70 per cent of their youth are going into apprenticeship training programs at the end of their post-secondary schooling, see unemployment rates that are half of ours or less.

Read full article at http://dcnonl.com/