I recently ran across three things about the labour market that, taken together, don’t make sense. Something doesn’t add up:
1. Alberta’s Advanced Education minister, Rajan Sawhney - a friend of mine by the way - announced some grants to expand training for the skilled trades in our province. “We need more skilled trades workers to fill gaps in our labour force,” she said. “Skilled trades programs give students the opportunity to earn money while they learn skills to start good-paying, in-demand jobs.”
I am sure this is true. I am sure Canada is short of skilled trades workers.
2. I keep seeing billboards around Calgary imploring someone to “Take Our Money” to hire apprentices in the skilled trades. When I visited the website, I discovered that there is a federal program that will give a small or medium-sized business $5,000 to hire a first-year apprentice, with a bonus of $5,000 for hiring an apprentice from an 'equity-deserving group'.
It's hard to square the “Take Our Money” program with Rajan saying that workers in the skilled trades are in-demand and the jobs pay well. If these workers are in demand, why is the federal government paying firms to hire apprentices? Shouldn’t the high demand boost the pay for apprentices and more experienced workers alike?
Maybe there is a good reason for the federal program. For example, maybe apprentices are more productive in smaller firms. If so, maybe paying small and medium businesses to hire apprentices away from large firms is good for the economy. But if apprentices are more productive in smaller firms, won’t smaller firms be able to pay more anyway?
3. According to a recent Twitter post from my smart and well-informed colleague Mike Moffatt, Canada's population grew by 1.1 million last year, two or three times higher than Statistics Canada's mid-year estimate of population growth.
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