本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛The country's rapidly ageing population, coupled with a dearth of young workers, will cause a major shortage of potential employees and could mean immigrants will account for almost all of the labour force growth within a decade, Statistics Canada suggests.
Census data for 2001, released yesterday, predicts potential worker shortfalls in a vast range of occupations by 2011, from family doctors to bricklayers.
The projections underscore the importance of making Canada an attractive destination for skilled workers from other nations, especially because industrialized countries are competing for their attention, said Jeffrey Reitz, a professor of ethnic and immigration studies at the University of Toronto.
"There is an international market for immigrants," he said. "We need to be out there competing for the most highly skilled immigrants and giving our full attention to the fact people don't have to come to Canada. They have other options."
Results from the 2001 census show Canada's Baby Boomers are poised to retire en masse. Boomers aged 37 to 55 in 2001 accounted for 47% of the country's work force, but by 2011, half of them will be 55 and over.
The country's fertility rate has also remained low for the past 30 years, meaning fewer young Canadians are entering the work force to replace those leaving.
For every worker over the age of 55 in 2001, there were 2.7 potential workers aged 20 to 34. That number is down from 3.7 young workers for every older worker 20 years earlier.
Canada's changing immigration policies have dramatically changed the profile of newcomers entering the country. The census recorded a dramatic increase in the proportion of recent immigrants working in highly skilled occupations, defined as those requiring a university education.
Immigrants who arrived in Canada during the 1990s represented 24% of the workers in such jobs, up from only 13% on the 1991 census. They outpaced Canadian-born workers in several fields, including computer-related occupations, accounting and engineering.
In the information-technology sector, for example, the number of recent immigrants more than quadrupled between 1991 and 2001 to represent 12% of all recent immigrants. In contrast, just 3% of those born in Canada worked in the field.
Immigrants who moved to Canada during the 1990s represented almost 70% of the total growth in the labour force. If the current rate of immigration remains steady, employers will be relying almost solely on immigrants to fill key positions, StatsCan said.
Some analysts, however, stressed immigration should not be viewed as the only solution for the impending worker shortfalls.
"Immigration is one source of growth and of skills but it certainly isn't going to make up, by any means, for the huge exit that we're probably facing," said Deborah Sunter, director of StatsCan's labour statistics division.
The projected shortages will also depend on how well industries implement programs aimed at recruiting and retaining younger workers and the age at which older workers choose to retire, she added.
Doctors are among those searching for ways to replace themselves. The ageing population will undoubtedly place pressure on the health care system, but the 2001 census showed one in five family doctors (21.4%) were already over the age of 55.
Attracting foreign doctors to the country is part of the solution. But Canada must also create enough medical school seats to sustain its own work force and find ways to fill them with students, said Dr. Dana Hanson, president of the Canadian Medical Association.
"I feel very passionately that we as a nation should be educating enough physicians to deal with attrition, at the very least," he said during an interview yesterday.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
Census data for 2001, released yesterday, predicts potential worker shortfalls in a vast range of occupations by 2011, from family doctors to bricklayers.
The projections underscore the importance of making Canada an attractive destination for skilled workers from other nations, especially because industrialized countries are competing for their attention, said Jeffrey Reitz, a professor of ethnic and immigration studies at the University of Toronto.
"There is an international market for immigrants," he said. "We need to be out there competing for the most highly skilled immigrants and giving our full attention to the fact people don't have to come to Canada. They have other options."
Results from the 2001 census show Canada's Baby Boomers are poised to retire en masse. Boomers aged 37 to 55 in 2001 accounted for 47% of the country's work force, but by 2011, half of them will be 55 and over.
The country's fertility rate has also remained low for the past 30 years, meaning fewer young Canadians are entering the work force to replace those leaving.
For every worker over the age of 55 in 2001, there were 2.7 potential workers aged 20 to 34. That number is down from 3.7 young workers for every older worker 20 years earlier.
Canada's changing immigration policies have dramatically changed the profile of newcomers entering the country. The census recorded a dramatic increase in the proportion of recent immigrants working in highly skilled occupations, defined as those requiring a university education.
Immigrants who arrived in Canada during the 1990s represented 24% of the workers in such jobs, up from only 13% on the 1991 census. They outpaced Canadian-born workers in several fields, including computer-related occupations, accounting and engineering.
In the information-technology sector, for example, the number of recent immigrants more than quadrupled between 1991 and 2001 to represent 12% of all recent immigrants. In contrast, just 3% of those born in Canada worked in the field.
Immigrants who moved to Canada during the 1990s represented almost 70% of the total growth in the labour force. If the current rate of immigration remains steady, employers will be relying almost solely on immigrants to fill key positions, StatsCan said.
Some analysts, however, stressed immigration should not be viewed as the only solution for the impending worker shortfalls.
"Immigration is one source of growth and of skills but it certainly isn't going to make up, by any means, for the huge exit that we're probably facing," said Deborah Sunter, director of StatsCan's labour statistics division.
The projected shortages will also depend on how well industries implement programs aimed at recruiting and retaining younger workers and the age at which older workers choose to retire, she added.
Doctors are among those searching for ways to replace themselves. The ageing population will undoubtedly place pressure on the health care system, but the 2001 census showed one in five family doctors (21.4%) were already over the age of 55.
Attracting foreign doctors to the country is part of the solution. But Canada must also create enough medical school seats to sustain its own work force and find ways to fill them with students, said Dr. Dana Hanson, president of the Canadian Medical Association.
"I feel very passionately that we as a nation should be educating enough physicians to deal with attrition, at the very least," he said during an interview yesterday.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net