More than 1 million jobs – or nearly one out of every 17 positions – are vacant in Canada. While immigration has and will continue to help with this labour shortage, we still need more workers to fill the gap.
A recent Scotiabank Economics report shows older Canadians are a critically underutilized and overlooked source of labour.
From 2016 to 2021, the number of people aged 65 and older rose 18%, the second largest increase in 75 years.
Policies should be designed to encourage older Canadians to remain in the labour force, wrote Jean-François Perrault, Chief Economist at Scotiabank and Robert Asselin, Senior Vice President of Policy, Business Council of Canada.
Here’s a closer look at some of the economic report’s findings:
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Text version of infographic:
Older Canadians could help ease labour shortage
1,012,900 number of vacant job positions in Canada as of March 2022. Up from about 500,000 pre-pandemic.
40% of firms say labour shortages are hovering near record levels.
Firms say labour shortages are limiting their ability to increase sales and production:
- 55% seeking skilled workers
- 38% seeking semi-skilled workers
81% of firms say they rely on immigration to fill vacancies.
Labour participation by age group:
- 50-54, 86.8%
- 55-59, 76.8%
- 60-64, 56.6%
- 65-69, 28.6%
1,411,200 potential number of additional workers if the participation rate of older age groups matched 50-54 (86.8%):
- 55-59, 259,000
- 50-64, 521,900
- 65-69, 630,300