OTTAWA—As parliamentary consultations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) begin, a new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) raises questions about the deal’s consequences for Canadian immigration policy and the Canadian labour market.
Employment and labour
This study makes a new contribution to the understanding of Ontario’s gender pay gap by drawing upon a decile analysis to understand the distribution of men’s and women’s earnings. The analysis reveals that the average pay gap between men and women stands at 29.4 per cent in Ontario — a gap that shadows women every step of the way up the income ladder.
TORONTO – The average pay gap between men and women stands at 29.4 per cent in Ontario — a gap that shadows women every step of the way up the income ladder, says a new study from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives’ Ontario office (CCPA-Ontario).
Every Step You Take: Ontario’s Gender Pay Gap Ladder, released in time for the Ontario government recognized Equal Pay Day on April 19, 2016, shows Ontario’s pay gap widens and persists throughout the income distribution.
At the end of 2015 The Conference Board of Canada predicted that in 2016, Manitoba’s economic activity would be second only to BC, with strong performance expected in the service, manufacturing and constructions sectors. The CBOC thinks we’ll see even stronger output in 2017. The Manitoba Bureau of Statistics (MBS) report, The Review 20141 , explains that “Manitoba’s labour market performance has been a strong indicator of its robust economy”. According to the report, Manitoba had one of the strongest labour markets in the country.
Elections are noisy and cluttered affairs that can make it difficult for some of the most promising, Manitoba-made policy innovations to get the attention they deserve. One of these policies is the use of day-to-day government purchasing to provide job and training opportunities for people with barriers to employment. Little-known outside the social enterprise sector, the Government of Manitoba is recognized as a national leader for using procurement to drive social change in our communities, which in turn is providing the government impressive savings.
BC employment holds steady in August but anemic private sector hiring is a sign of economic weakness
Canada is officially in a recession and while BC is expected to sail through it relatively unscathed, the projected modest GDP growth performance does not seem to be translating into job gains for British Columbians.
Statistics Canada's latest job numbers show BC created 3,100 jobs in August, which represents a gain of one tenth of one percent in a labour market with over 2,300,000 jobs.
In the coming months and years, the new federal government will make important decisions about jobs: how we create them, protect them and make them more sustainable.
Many Canadians believe there’s a trade-off to be made between employment and environmental sustainability. But that doesn’t have to be the case — particularly if we look at cooperatives as a source of jobs.
Premier Christy Clark rarely misses a chance to take credit for BC's recent economic growth and job creation numbers even though they have more to do with plunging oil prices and the low dollar than with any action her government has taken. This year's throne speech was no exception, calling BC "an island of prosperity" and a leader: "British Columbia’s economy leads Canada," and, "In 2015, we led Canada by creating more than 50,000 new jobs."
Winnipeg’s public transit system is in great need of improvement if it is to meet the needs of those who rely on it – seniors, low-income people, youth and persons with disabilities who cannot drive. By allowing people to get to work regardless of their schedules, an efficient transit system is one of the best ways to fight poverty and inequality in our city. Affordable transit also gives lower-income families the ability to participate in recreation and education, get to appointments, and to socialize.
In November 2014 the CCPA-BC hosted a very thoughtful and solutions-oriented conference entitled A Good Jobs Economy in BC. Fifteen papers were presented, and almost all have been posted online. This paper highlights some of the policy ideas contained in those papers, with more than 50 policy proposals for the creation of good jobs in BC — plenty for any government or party to choose from in the development of a vibrant jobs agenda.