Canadian Manufacturers: Government Must Invest In Closing Skills Gap
Prior to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland’s release of the federal budget, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), and MSCI partners, said policymakers must provide “the tools it needs to innovate and increase both our productivity and our global footprint.”
In particular, CME wants the government to address the nation’s jobs and skills gaps. (According to a fall 2020 CME survey, 60 percent of manufacturers reported having immediate labor and skills shortages. CME also noted Canada is “lagging far behind when it comes to productivity.”)
As such, CME recommended seven measures:
- De-risk and encourage manufacturers to digitize, automate, adopt advanced technology, and help drive productivity growth;
- Support research and develop spending and scale-up of companies by improving and enhancing the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Tax Incentive Program;
- Implement a patent box regime to reward commercialization and production of goods and advanced technologies in Canada;
- Provide employer incentives to upskill, hire and retain workers;
- Help the manufacturing sector adapt to and advance Canada’s climate change strategy;
- Increase Canadian value-added exports; and
- Continue actions to fight COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics.
Read more here.