Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1992, published 79th ILC session (1992)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Canada (Ratification: 1966)

1. The Committee takes note of the Government's report for the period ending June 1990 and of the information concerning the provinces contained in its general report for 1990-91. According to the report on the application of the Convention, the employment growth rate has dropped steadily in relation to the previous period and the unemployment rate, after reaching in 1988-89 its lowest level since 1981 (7.5 per cent), is expected to cease dropping in 1990 and reach 7.7 per cent. The OECD has confirmed this negative trend in employment which has reportedly deteriorated further, and there has been a sharp increase in unemployment which apparently exceeded the rate of 10 per cent in 1991. Furthermore, the Committee notes from the statistics supplied by the Government that in June 1990 (before the situation deteriorated), there were marked regional disparities, particularly in five provinces whose unemployment rate was well above the national average (between 9.1 per cent in Quebec and 18.6 per cent in Newfoundland). The data for the same period also show that involuntary part-time unemployment accounted for almost 25 per cent of total part-time unemployment in 1989-90 (recording a substantial drop in the case of women only). The recent trend in the employment and unemployment situation contrasts, by and large, with the situation commented on by the Committee in its previous observation.

2. When the 1989 and 1990 budgets were adopted, the Government reaffirmed that its priority objectives were the reduction of the budget deficit and inflation control so as to promote economic growth and job creation. In its report it indicates that the Canadian Jobs Strategy drawn up in 1985 is still the cornerstone of its employment policy. It refers to the launching, in 1989, of the Labour Force Development Strategy which aims to restructure employment policy expenditures as part of the policy to reduce the budget deficit. In conjunction with the reform of the unemployment insurance system and the regional development policy, this strategy aims to reinforce active measures for training for employment rather than passive income support measures for the unemployed. One of its objectives is to step up the role of the private sector in the training of workers so that training is better adapted to current labour market needs. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would report on specific difficulties encountered in attaining the Convention's objectives of full employment and in reconciling them with other economic and social objectives.

3. The Committee notes the training and employment development programmes which, as part of the Canadian Job Strategy, continue to provide assistance to persons with specific difficulties in finding and keeping lasting employment, such as young people, women entering or re-entering the labour market, the long-term unemployed and workers in danger of losing their jobs. According to the Government, although no estimates are available on the impact of these programes on employment, specific evaluation studies reveal that they have improved the position of the participants in the labour market and that they could be further developed, particularly for older workers, the less educated and unemployment insurance beneficiaries who have recently lost their jobs. The Committee hopes that the Government will shortly be able to conduct an evaluation of the effect of these programmes on the employment of the categories of persons concerned. It notes that in 1989, the Federal Government and the provinces jointly undertook a survey of the Canadian human resources development strategy. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would provide information on the results and conclusions of this survey.