In this edition:
- Niagara employment rate heads down as unemployment rises
- Niagara labour market in data
- Education workers, Ontario government at impasse in contract talks, union says
- Liberals to temporarily lift cap on off-campus work hours for international students
- New Pfizer-BioNTech Omicron vaccine available in Ontario in weeks
- Ontario government to acquire 4,000 MW of new electricity generation and storage
Niagara employment rate heads down as unemployment rises
The size of Niagara’s workforce shrank from 226,100 in August to 223,600 in September, while the unemployment rate climbed slightly from 5.8% to 6.1%. These trends were not seen in either the provincial or national labour market pictures. The number of people working fell to 209,900 from a peak of 232,600 seen in April. These figures are seasonally adjusted, removing fluctuations caused by regular annual events such as climate, holidays, vacation periods and cycles related to crops, production and retail sales associated with Christmas and Easter. It should be noted that the seasonally adjusted series contain irregular as well as longer-term cyclical fluctuations.
Nationally, employment declined for a second consecutive month among young women aged 15 to 24, but increased among male youth and core-aged women (25 to 54 years) in September.
Gains in educational services and health care and social assistance were offset by losses in manufacturing; information, culture and recreation; transportation and warehousing and public administration.
The number of employees in the public sector rose in September, partially offsetting declines recorded in July and August. Employment was little changed among employees in the private sector and among self-employed workers.
Click here to view Statistics Canada’s interactive labour market map.
Niagara labour market in data
Education workers, Ontario government at impasse in contract talks, union says
A union representing 55,000 Ontario education workers such as custodians, librarians and early childhood educators says it has reached an impasse in bargaining with the government.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees says if there is no real movement by the end of the day they will request what’s known as a “no board” report, which indicates a deal can’t be reached.
If a conciliator then issues a “no board” report, it sets a 17-day countdown to the union being in a legal strike position.
Liberals to temporarily lift cap on off-campus work hours for international students
The Liberal government is lifting the limit on the number of hours international students are allowed to work off-campus each week in an effort to address Canada’s labour shortage.
The pilot project will run from Nov. 15, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2023, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said Friday.
International students in Canada who are authorized to work off-campus under the terms of their study permits previously were limited to 20 hours of paid work outside their studies for each week class was in session. These students could work full-time during scheduled breaks.
New Pfizer-BioNTech Omicron vaccine available in Ontario in weeks: Minister of Health
Ontario’s health minister says the newly approved Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 booster vaccine means youth aged 12 to 17 can get a dose heading into the colder months.
Sylvia Jones says the province is expecting the first shipment of doses of the vaccine that targets the BA.4 and BA.5 strains of the Omicron variant in the coming weeks.
She says the province is working with public health units to be able to administer those doses as soon as they receive supply from the federal government.
Health Canada approved the new vaccine Friday for people 12 years of age and older.
Ontario government to acquire 4,000 MW of new electricity generation and storage
The Ontario government has directed the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) to acquire 4,000 MW of new electricity generation and storage resources to ensure the province has the electricity it needs to support a growing population and economy.
Ontario has been operating with an electricity surplus for over a decade, and supply will continue to meet demand until at least 2025 without new build electricity resources. The IESO’s Annual Planning Outlook, released in 2021, forecasts a need for new electricity resources, beginning in 2025 and 2026, and that the need will continue to grow thereafter.
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce (OCC) called the government’s plan a “prudent approach” in a statement.
“Long-term planning is necessary to meet Ontario’s future energy needs as the province faces a period of widening electricity shortfalls for the first time in over a decade,” said Rocco Rossi, President and CEO, OCC.
Focus on Human Resources
From human resources to human resourcefulness
Canadian HR Reporter
“People are a company’s best resource.”
It’s been said enough times to be rendered cliché, but one thought leader thinks it shouldn’t be said at all.
Jamie Gruman, a professor and senior research fellow at the University of Guelph’s Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics, has never embraced the concept of viewing people as inputs to be leveraged for economic benefit.
When employee well-being is weighted as heavily as profit, he says, the release of human potential is boundless: “It’s time to rebrand the concept of human resources as human resourcefulness.”
Talking about burnout is still taboo at work
Harvard Business Review
One of the most telling signs that the U.S. is experiencing a burnout crisis may be the fact that Google searches for “burnout symptoms” hit an all-time high in May 2022, as we weathered the third year of the pandemic, while facing the prospect of a faltering economy.
Burnout stems from a mismatch between a worker’s nature and their job — a problem that is almost always systemic and endemic to the workplace rather than reflecting a problem with individual employees. UC Berkeley’s Christina Maslach has identified six specific areas where such cleavages produce burnout.
Through the Daily Updates, the GNCC aims to deliver important business news in a timely manner. We disseminate all news and information we feel will be important to businesses. Inclusion in the Daily Update is not an endorsement by the GNCC.
