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Centre for Future Work Submission to Ontario Future of Work Consultation
All provinces in Canada are still grappling with the economic and employment effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession. Ontario’s labour market was among the worst-impacted in Canada by the pandemic. And these immediate challenges are layered on top of longer-run issues related to the future of work: including technology, demographic changes, new business models, and others. In this context, the Ontario government recently launched a hastily-organized public consultation on the Future of Work, overseen by a 7-person ‘Workforce Recovery Advisory Committee’. The consultation is unusual for several reasons, including the non-representative composition of the committee itself (there are no committee members representing union, worker, or equality-seeking organisations), the…
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The ‘Class of COVID’ Needs Support After the Pandemic
Young people have been among the hardest-hit by the economic fall-out from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession. More than one in four workers under age 30 lost their jobs when the pandemic hit. And young workers now account for two-thirds of remaining job losses. Earnings for workers entering the job market at this time will be suppressed for many years to come, perhaps for their entire working careers. In this commentary, originally published in the Toronto Star, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford describes the disproportionate losses experienced by young workers – and urges powerful measures to support their recovery after the pandemic. By Jim Stanford We have…
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Podcast on the Federal Budget, Early Child Education, and the Recovery from COVID
Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford was a guest in this post-budget special edition of The Herle Burly podcast, hosted by David Herle. He and fellow panelists Dr. Kate Bezanson (from Brock University) and Peter Nicholson (former head of policy for the PMO) dissected the budget’s eye-popping deficit forecast, whether deficits matter, and the economic importance of universal high-quality early child education. Watch the full discussion here. https://youtu.be/fC92ZAs4P5g Budget Panel: Bezanson, Nicholson, Stanford + the Political Panel: Byrne and Reid | The Herle Burly
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To Each According to their Need: The Morality of Vaccinations
The accelerating roll-out of COVID vaccines has stirred optimism among Canadians that the pandemic may be entering its last stages. An interesting dimension of the roll-out is the strong consensus among Canadians that the most at-risk Canadians should get vaccinated first: older Canadians, residents of long term care facilities, front-line workers, Indigenous people, prisoners, and others. In this commentary, a version of which was originally published in the Toronto Star, Jim Stanford considers the implications of this moral position – and wonders why we don’t apply the same principle (“To Each According to Their Need”) in other areas of economic life. By Jim Stanford Excitement over the rollout of COVID…
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Second Wave of COVID Job Losses Just as Unfair as the First
Commentary on January 2021 employment data by Jim Stanford: With most of Canada fighting a bigger, deadlier second wave of COVID infection, labour markets in most provinces are suffering the consequences. Employment began to shrink in December. But jobs data for January released by Statistics Canada confirm that the economy is sliding into a second dip, to match the second wave of the pandemic. Both the scale of job loss, and their painfully unfair distribution, are heartbreaking. And the new numbers reinforce findings from our first PowerShare report: 10 Ways the COVID Pandemic Must Change Work for Good. The worst impacts are being felt by workers in lower wage, insecure…
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Video Presentation on Building Better Jobs After COVID
Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford recently participated in the Cannexus21 conference, hosted by CERIC (a non-profit organization that promotes career counselling and career development in Canada). His topic was how to create better jobs, and a stronger labour market, after the COVID pandemic and its catastrophic impacts on workers – especially workers in low-wage, insecure jobs. The presentation updates material from our earlier paper, 10 Ways the COVID Pandemic Must Change Work for Good, published through our PowerShare project. Here is a link to his 30-minute presentation, followed by a few questions from the audience. https://youtu.be/hb_Sa51OSic We are grateful to CEIC and Cannexus for the opportunity to participate…
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Best Way to Protect the Economy is to Protect Human Health
Canada’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues to be hampered by the false belief among some government leaders that restricting activity and movement will “damage” the economy. In fact, growing international evidence confirms that there is no “trade-off” between protecting health and protecting the economy: in fact, they go together. In this column originally published in the Toronto Star, Jim Stanford explains: Health and the Economy Go Hand in Hand By Jim Stanford With new stay-at-home orders covering many parts of the country, Canadians are settling in for several more weeks (at least) of daunting isolation. Restrictions are being tightened to slow the spread of COVID, until vaccines can turn…
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Quick Progress on National Child Care Would Accelerate Economic Rebound
The federal government has promised major funding for a national child care and early learning program in Canada. A recent Centre for Future Work report highlighted the substantial economic benefits that would be generated by such a program: including direct and indirect jobs providing early learning and child care (ELCC) services, improved female labour force participation, and stronger learning, employment, and health outcomes for children who participate in high-quality ELCC. In the following commentary, the Centre’s Director Jim Stanford summarizes those economic benefits, and argues it is incumbent on governments – provincial as well as federal – to move quickly ahead to start rolling out this program to boost Canada’s…
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The Role of the Public Sector in Rebuilding After COVID-19
Canadians have understandably turned to government for protection and support during the COVOD-19 pandemic. But the public sector will also need to play a vital role in leading the reconstruction of Canada’s economy once the pandemic has subsided. This has been emphasized in previous Centre for Future Work research, including our PowerShare report on how work must be improved after COVID, and Jim Stanford’s call for a ‘post-war’ economic rebuilding strategy led by expansive government investment. In this feature interview with Cory Hare for ATA News (the journal of the Alberta Teachers’ Association), Jim Stanford explains why expanded public sector investment, service provision, and hiring will be vital to continued…
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Child Care Expansion Would Boost Economic Recovery, Study Finds
Implementing a new national child care system would generate several important benefits for Canada’s economy as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and recession, according to new research from the Centre for Future Work. A universal national early learning and child care (ELCC) program would create over 200,000 direct jobs in child care centres, 80,000 more jobs in industries which support and supply the ELCC sector, and facilitate increased labour force participation and employment by up to 725,000 Canadian women in prime parenting years. The report, prepared by economist Dr. Jim Stanford (Director of the Centre for Future Work), also projects large increases in Canadian GDP as a result of…