Ottawa should invest $100 million in each of the next five years to establish an arm’s-length national organization focused on helping workers upgrade their skills for the swiftly evolving job market, says the Trudeau government’s economic advisory council.
The government’s hand-picked growth council released its latest set of suggestions Monday under five themes — and the ideas are widely expected to help frame parts of the upcoming federal budget.
The proposals range from turning Canada into a trade hub, to unlocking more potential from key industries, to helping more mothers with kids enter the workforce through the possible creation of a national child-care program.
The suggestions also include steps to make Canada more innovative as a way to drive productivity — such as improving access to capital for promising firms and ensuring procurement policies help support fast-growing businesses.
The experts reaffirmed their long-term objective to “jolt” the economy. They also have a goal to help add $15,000 to the annual pre-tax incomes of Canadian households, above their current projections, by 2030.
“Much like ‘tools in a tool kit,’ these recommendations can be used in concert and with strategic intent to dramatically accelerate growth,” the group said in its report.
“Realizing such an ambitious aspiration, amid rapid economic and societal change, will require focused, persistent and concerted action.”
They said their recommendation to build a “FutureSkills Lab” is necessary, because nearly half of Canadian jobs are at high risk of being affected by future technological change.
The report called on Ottawa to respond with an organization that would develop new approaches to better match the skills of the workforce with the rapidly changing needs of the labour market.
The council also laid out a strategy to make the most of what it sees as vast untapped potential in several key Canadian sectors — like the agriculture and food industry — by identifying and removing obstacles such as regulatory hurdles.
The report proposed boosting the economy by lifting labour-force participation for under-represented demographic groups such as indigenous people, lower-skilled workers, older workers and women with children.
For mothers, it suggested creating a subsidized national child-care program similar to the Quebec model.
It also urged expanding trade by forging closer ties with the United States, Mexico, China, Japan and India as well as through greater investments in trade-related infrastructure, such as ports and highways.
The 14 members of the growth panel were selected by Finance Minister Bill Morneau to help advise Ottawa on how to boost long-term economic growth.
The group is made up of experts from business and academia and is chaired by Dominic Barton, managing director of global consulting giant McKinsey & Co.
The Trudeau government is widely expected to implement at least some — and perhaps many — of the council’s suggestions in its spring budget, which will be tabled in the coming weeks.
The prescriptions come as the economy struggles to crawl out of a prolonged slow-growth rut.
Over the last two years, Canada has absorbed significant economic blows from the steep decline in commodity prices and a global downturn.
The Liberal government is now drawing up its second budget under added pressure of highly uncertain economic conditions following the election of President Donald Trump.
This report is the group’s second set of recommendations for the government.
The growth council is chaired by Dominic Barton, managing director of global consulting giant McKinsey & Co., and has been working with the government and some cabinet ministers for about a year. In all, the group is made up of 14 business and academic leaders.
Last fall, the council provided prescriptions for Ottawa on attracting more talent through immigration, increasing infrastructure investments and luring more foreign investment.
Ottawa appeared to agree with many of the group’s suggestions. About two weeks later, Morneau tabled a fall economic statement that contained new policy directions featuring many elements of the council’s proposals.
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