More disabled people working
A growing percentage of disabled Canadians are finding work. According to a recent Statistics Canada survey, the employment rate for people with disabilities rose from 49.3% to 53.5% between 2001 and 2006. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for this category of workers declined from 13.2% to 10.4% during this same period. This represents 339,590 more people with disabilities working by 2006 over 2001. In comparison, the employment rate for people without disabilities increased from 73.8% to 75.1% over the same period. Canada's strong economy and a tighter job market are likely behind this improvement.
2 million visitors for SaskJobs.ca
Since the beginning of the year, there have been more than two million visitors to the government of Saskatchewan's job board,SaskJobs.ca.—record traffic for this type of site. The underlying reason? The "Big Opportunity" marketing campaign outlining the province's advantages. Saskatchewan is currently experiencing strong economic growth and a shortage of qualified labour. It is therefore trying to attract potential investors and candidates via ads. Its efforts are working, especially in Ontario, with more than 500,000 Ontario jobseekers clicking on SaskJobs.ca.
Dismissed from the public service for passing on a document to his union
Luc Pomerleau is now unemployed. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency employee was fired for having forwarded a confidential document to his union, a document insecurely stored on the CFIA network and easily accessible to all. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada has denounced Luc Pomerleau's unjustified dismissal and wants to help him get reinstated, adding that he has an unblemished work record. CFIA, for its part, considers that it did nothing wrong, saying that Mr. Pomerleau, as a public servant, knew that he should have observed the regulatory and administrative requirements of the government's laws and policies as regards security.
In its 2008 Employment Outlook report, the OECD stresses that legal measures are not enough to guarantee equal treatment for everyone. Discriminatory labour market practices persist in all OECD member countries, and experience in the field suggests that ethnic minorities must spend 40 to 50% longer job hunting before getting an interview—and this with identical CVs. Similarly, a candidate from a visible minority must be significantly more qualified to have the same probability of getting an interview after responding to a job ad by mail. Women have fewer opportunities than men for highly paid work, which partly accounts for their lower employment rate. As for Canada, the OECD considers its federal anti-discrimination legislation among the most advanced in the world.
Ontario invests $61.5 million in training
The province of Ontario will invest $61.5 million to create some 4,000 new spots for students of George Brown College. The funding will help build a new health sciences centre featuring the latest technology. Construction of the campus will create about 880 jobs, and almost 1,300 nurses will be trained by 2015. In addition, two other Toronto campuses will be expanded—the Casa Loma and St. James campuses will provide more apprenticeship spaces and other training programs in skilled trades. Students will learn high-demand skilled trades such as carpentry, industrial and electrical technologies and heating, ventilation and air conditioning. George Brown College currently has three campuses in downtown Toronto, serving about 14,000 full-time students and 50,000 continuing education students. Since 2002-3, the Ontario government has invested more than $38 million in George Brown to upgrade equipment, improve and build more campus space.
Employment of university-educated immigrants
It is more difficult for immigrants with foreign university degrees to find a job in Canada. According to a Statistics Canada study, 25- to 54-year-old immigrants having studied abroad had more difficulty finding a job in the five years after their arrival. Over time, however, the situation improved—ten years later, these immigrants had the same employment rate as their Canadian-born counterparts. The rate varied depending on the country where the studies were done, with graduates from Europe having a better chance of landing a job than those from Asia, Latin America and Africa. University-educated immigrants were more likely to settle in Ontario, Quebec and British Columbia. The study also found that the employment outlook was quite a bit harder for immigrants without a degree.
Maternity leave: Federal government's policy ruled discriminatory
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that the Government of Canada's policy as regards maternity leave for its thousands of term workers is discriminatory. It all started with Brigitte Lavoie's case. She filed a complaint against Industry Canada and the Treasury Board, alleging that its new Term Employment Policy is discriminatory. The Board's policy changed while Ms. Lavoie was on maternity leave. While the five-year cumulative service requirement needed to advance from term to indeterminate (permanent) employment status was reduced to three years, unpaid leave (maternity, parental or sick leave) no longer counts towards the requirement. Verdict: Brigitte Lavoie was awarded about $43,000 in damages, salary and interest.
Dismissed due to illness
The Supreme Court has rendered its verdict: Employers are justified in terminating employment when illness prevents an employee from working effectively. First, though, they must have tried to accommodate the employee, if they can do so without "undue hardship." A reminder: the plaintiff, a Hydro-Québec employee, had a number of physical and mental problems, and had missed 960 days of work in seven and a half years. At the time of her dismissal, she had not worked in six months. The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the plaintiff's union, had filed a grievance, alleging that the dismissal was not justified. The highest court in the land unanimously ruled that it was. Despite the measures taken by Hydro-Québec including part-time work, rearranging the employee's workspace, and lighter duties, the situation had not improved. The company had also asked for a psychiatric assessment, which concluded that it was highly unlikely that the employee would be able to work steadily and regularly in the foreseeable future.