Scare stories of labour and skills shortages a myth: TD economists say

By The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - A new report from the TD bank says there is no looming skills mismatch or labour shortage crisis in Canada.

The federal government has repeatedly warned of a skills shortage crisis and insists it will go ahead with a controversial jobs grant program that involves businesses in training decisions, even in the face of provincial opposition.

But the report by four TD economists states there is little evidence skills mismatches are any worse today than they were a decade ago.

And they say their research suggests that the skills mismatches that do exists are isolated and not an economy-wide problem.

Overall, they say Canada has had a relatively robust labour market over the past decade, surpassing that in the United States and the Group of Seven countries as a whole.

Despite a dip during the 2008-09 recession, job growth in Canada has averaged about 1.3 per cent a year between 2003 and 2013, about a point more than averages in both the U.S. and the G7.