Ontario aims to fast-track skilled worker certification to help ease 'generational labour shortage'

Doug Ford said he will introduce legislation to speed up the process for professionals seeking certification in the province in an attempt to ease the strain on the labour market.

In extreme cases, the process for a person from another province to get certification in order to practice their profession in Ontario can take up to a year. The time could be shortened to 30 days or less.

It takes too long for skilled workers to get the required certification to work in Ontario.

Ford is attempting to tackle an acute labour shortage in the province as many business owners struggle to find qualified workers to fill an unusual amount of empty positions. In December, there were more than 338,000 vacancies in the province, not far off from a peak of 370,000 positions in October 2021, according to Statistics Canada. The number of open roles in construction and manufacturing increased in the last quarter of the year compared to the previous quarter.

More than 35 professions and trades would be covered by the proposed legislation. The province would then recognize all 55 Red Seal trades if Ford's government were to propose recognizing three federally standardized trades. There are two levels of gas fitters and oil and heat technicians.

The Labour Minister said in an interview that he wants to make Ontario the best place to live, work and raise a family.

Last year, the Progressive Conservatives introduced an omnibus bill of pro-worker policies, which included banning non-compete clauses for employers, removing discrimination against immigrants, and implementing a right-to-disconnect clause.

According to Nathan Janzen, senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada, there has been a shortage of workers in trade industries for a long time due to stigma surrounding blue-collar jobs, an aging workforce, and barriers faced by women and immigrants. Employers are having a hard time finding enough workers because of the Pandemic, which could be slowing economic growth.

It puts a cap on GDP growth and also puts upward pressure on wages.

Mike Moffatt, an economist at Western University's Ivey Business School, said that labour shortages in the trades could impact other areas of the economy.

As provinces transition to net-zero carbon emissions, the need for skilled tradespeople will increase. For example, retrofitting buildings for green air condition systems and installing charging stations for electric vehicles require electricians and construction workers.

He said that a lack of workers could cause home prices to go up.

It makes our housing shortages worse by not having that skilled pool of labour.

Homebuilders would need to build more than 650,000 units to reach the national average of 423 units per 1,000 people in Ontario, according to a January report by Bank of Nova Scotia. The Canadian Real Estate Association reported that the average home price in the Greater Toronto Area has risen to $1.275 million, a 30 per cent increase from a year ago.

The high home prices and cost of living invince could be a deterrent for out-of-province tradespeople to come to Ontario. The consumer price index in Ontario rose at a faster rate than the national rate in January, climbing to 5.7 per cent from a year before.

Increasing the participation of visible minorities and women takes a long time to address. He said that addressing labour mobility is a good start that could have an immediate impact.

There are no inter-provincial deals in the works that would allow the free flow of workers. It is time for us to lead and do what we can to knock down these barriers.

Employers and governments have big issues to solve. According to a September report by the Royal Bank of Canada, more than 600,000 skilled tradespeople are going to retire in the next decade. Within five years, the country will face more than 10,000 worker shortages in Red Seal trades, a category of jobs that where provincial and federal standards align, and when provincially regulated trades are included.

The national picture doesn't change that much if you pull labour from another part of the country.

Email: bbharti@postmedia.com