Labour
Market News
Toronto Star
Rita Trichur
July 4, 2008
Ontario narrowly averted a recession in the first half of 2008, but the province will likely "eke out some slight real GDP growth this year and next," according to a special report titled "Are the wheels falling off the Ontario economy?" released by TD Bank Financial Group. The report warned that the margin between economic expansion and contraction in the forecast for Ontario's economy was "razor thin," and said it "wouldn't take much to pull the GDP reading below water." According to the author the chance of another 1990s-style economic downturn in Ontario "is almost inconceivable," and the wholesale and retail trade activity has continued to expand despite the shakeup in the province's struggling manufacturing sector.
Toronto Star
Rita Trichur
July 31, 2008
The number of temporary foreign workers in the GTA, what critics call cheap, disposable labour, has almost doubled in four years, new federal figures show. At the same time, the number of new permanent residents in the region dropped by nearly 26,000 over two years. Last year, 33,604 temporary foreign workers lived in the Greater Toronto Area, a jump of more than 10,000 in two years and of more than 14,000 since 2003, according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada. This covers everything from nannies, farm workers and construction workers to foreign students and spouses with work permits to biotech scientists and corporate executives, all brought in "to respond to labour market needs in Canada's fast-growing economy."
Vancouver Sun
July 26, 2008
Canada's three largest metropolitan areas have been a magnet for immigrants, with seven out of 10 choosing to settle in Montreal, Toronto or Vancouver. But new statistics from Citizenship and Immigration Canada suggest this trend may be changing. Mid-sized cities are beginning to attract an increasing number of immigrants due in large part to shifting economic and employment prospects. Big cities' losses are small cities' gains. The figures show the number of immigrants taking up residence in Toronto dropped to 87,136 last year from 99,293 a year earlier, a decline of roughly 12 per cent. Toronto's national share of immigrants dropped to 37 per cent last year from 40 per cent last year (and 50 per cent in 2001). Another reason for the shift is a decline in manufacturing activity in central Canada, which has limited employment growth, while smaller cities riding the commodities boom in the West are prospering. The influx of immigrants benefits small cities by raising their municipal tax base, increasing the labour pool and bringing greater cultural diversification to their communities.
Youth
Canada News Wire
August 8, 2008
Youth from the east-end Toronto neighbourhoods of Malvern, Kingston-Galloway and Scarborough Village have been given a new perspective on education, thanks to a tuition-free summer training program at Centennial College. Approximately 100 young people aged 13 to 29 have been participating in six-week training classes in automobile repair, food service, child studies, office administration, business entrepreneurship and physical education. Their graduation ceremony will take place on Thursday, August 7 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. For some, participating in Centennial's HYPE (Helping Youth Pursue Education) program this summer is the first positive school experience they've had in a long time. The initiative is rooted in Toronto Mayor David Miller's Community Safety Plan, designed to bring programming to "at-risk" youth in under-serviced areas of the city.
Toronto Star
Lesley Ciarula Taylor
July 19, 2008
Women with university degrees who immigrated to Canada recently from Asia or Africa are having the toughest time finding jobs, a new analysis finds. Statistics Canada, in its recent labour survey, found almost half of all the university-educated immigrants who have come in the last five years were women. But they were much less likely to have jobs or be looking for jobs than male immigrants with university degrees.For women from Asia and Africa, the gap is the widest. Only 62.7 per cent of the 86,000 university-educated recent immigrants from Asia and 38 per cent of the 9,700 from Africa were working or looking for jobs.
Education
The Peterborough Examiner
Sarah Deeth
July 24, 2008
Trent University in a partnership with George Brown College is planning to open a satellite campus in downtown Toronto, that would accommodate 7,500 students in the Greater Toronto Area. For students, there would be 2,500 spaces available for apprenticeship and trade programs run by George Brown, 2,500 spaces for Trent University arts and science students, and 2,500 spaces for joint programs between the university and college. Trent University would become a part of George Brown's planned expansion on Queen's Quay.
Other News
The Canadian Press
July 28, 2008
Experts said they are encouraged by a new Statistics Canada report showing a rise in the percentage of people with disabilities finding jobs, but cautioned that they continue to face challenges in their path toward full integration into the workforce. The latest data released from the Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) found that between 2001 and 2006, the increase in the employment rate was highest among people with disabilities, rising from 49.3 per cent to 53.5 per cent.
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VOLUME 7
July 2008
TTB Higlights
- Labour Market News
- Immigrants
- Youth
- Women
- Education
- Other News
TTB Resources
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