Top federal government officials believe there is no imminent threat that artificial intelligence and robots will displace large segments of the Canadian workforce, newly released documents show.
In work done last year, federal experts found the likelihood of a “doomsday” scenario where automation eliminates half of Canadian jobs to be “overstated.”
But officials warned there were early indications of challenges in parts of the economy that the government should do something about, such as the way online streaming services are reshaping music, television and movie production.
In a separate briefing, officials were told ahead of summer that 11 per cent of jobs in Canada could be automated over the next 15 to 20 years, and a further 29 per cent are “likely to change significantly.”
The Canadian Press obtained a copy of the briefing summary, as well as May and June drafts of the report, through the Access to Information Act.
The report was to be used as the foundation for advice to the victor of the fall federal election on how to help workers at the dawn of a new decade.
The work was part of a series of exercises officials have run to see how well “social safety net” programs respond to the most dire of potential outcomes caused by technological shifts in the workforce.
It’s unclear how well federal programs fared. Those details, like many others in the documents, have been blacked out or not released because they are considered advice for government.
Where and how fast remain guessing game
Federal officials have forecast where the impacts of automation are likely to be felt most, such as rural towns reliant on manufacturing, according to documents previously obtained by CP in March. Those documents also listed the towns most and least likely to feel the impacts in each province.
But exactly where effects are felt and how fast they arrive remain a guessing game.
For instance, the federal documents say some tasks, such as copy editing and data entry, could be outsourced overseas to low-cost workers through online platforms. Three-dimensional printing, on the other hand, could bring back manufacturing jobs.
Officials also wrote that other trends not measured in the report will shape the future of work, such as the transition to a low-carbon economy and increasing numbers of LGBTQ2 workers.
Officials advising Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough have heard many adults lack ‘soft skills and basic digital skills’ needed for success in the future. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Some policy responses will come into effect with the turn of the calendar to 2020, including the launch of a $250-a-year benefit for workers to be put towards training and a matching leave underwritten by employment insurance (EI). That work will be overseen by Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough, who has been given responsibility for skills training and the EI system.
Officials advising Qualtrough have heard many adults lack “soft skills and basic digital skills” needed for success in the future, according to a summary of a May presentation to deputy ministers — the top federal bureaucrats — by an official from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
A recent report by the Brookfield Institute came to a similar conclusion, and recommended governments create “a wide variety of accessible programming designed to teach Canadians general workforce digital skills … along with general soft skills.”
Labour Minister Filomena Tassi is tasked with updating the federal labour code, including increasing the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, and additional protections for workers such as Uber drivers. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press )
Labour rules need to change, ‘move just as quickly’
Labour Minister Filomena Tassi is tasked with updating the federal labour code, including increasing the minimum wage to at least $15 an hour, and additional protections for “platform workers,” such as Uber drivers.
Several of the details in Tassi’s mandate letter reflect recommendations of a blue-ribbon panel of experts. The panel also recommended the government look at models of collective representation for non-unionized workers and rules to compensate workers who stay connected by email to the office after work hours.
Sunil Johal, chair of the panel, said a key message from the panel’s report is that labour rules and regulations need to be frequently reviewed as more shifts are felt in the workforce.
He said there is also a need to make regulations more nimble. That might mean creating what Johal described as “outcomes-based regulations” to address shifts in the labour market to spell out what the government expects but allow businesses to determine the means to that end.
“If we take as a given that the world of work and the labour market is going to be shifting and adapting more quickly than ever as we move forward, then we absolutely need to move to regulatory legislative approaches that move just as quickly,” Johal said.
“When there’s a decades-long lag, that’s where you’re going to have huge issues that … put labour standards at risk of falling just so far out of step that it’s completely unacceptable.”
In a statement accompanying the release of the panel’s report in December, Tassi said the government would “consider the excellent work done by the panel” in making changes to federal labour rules.
LONGUEUIL, Que. – People in a part of Longueuil, Que., were being asked to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed on Thursday morning after a train derailed, spilling an unknown quantity of hydrogen peroxide.
Police from the city just east of Montreal said it didn’t appear anyone was hurt, although a CN rail official told a news conference that three employees had been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
The derailment happened at around 9 a.m. in the LeMoyne area, near the intersection of St-Louis and St-Georges streets. Mathieu Gaudreault, a spokesman for CN rail, said about eight cars derailed at the Southwark rail facility, including four that toppled over.
“As of this morning, the information we have is it’s hydrogen peroxide that was in the rail car and created the fumes we saw,” he said, adding that there was no risk of fire.
François Boucher, a spokesman for the Longueuil police department, said police were asking people in the area, including students at nearby schools, to stay indoors while experts ensure the air is safe to breathe.
“It is as a preventive measure that we encourage people to really avoid exposing themselves unnecessarily,” he told reporters near the scene.
Police and fire officials were on site, as well as CN railworkers, and a large security perimeter was erected.
Officers were asking people to avoid the sector, and the normally busy Highway 116 was closed in the area. The confinement notice includes everyone within 800 metres of the derailment, officials said, who added that it would be lifted once a team with expertise in dangerous materials has given the green light.
In addition to closing doors and windows, people in the area covered by the notice are asked to close heating, ventilation and air exchange systems, and to stay as far from windows as possible.
Gaudreault said it wasn’t yet clear what caused the derailment. The possibilities include a problem with the track, a problem with a manoeuvre, or a mechanical issue, he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Liberal party is promising to improve cellphone service and invest in major highways if the party is elected to govern on Nov. 26.
Party leader Zach Churchill says a Liberal government would spend $60 million on building 87 new cellphone towers, which would be in addition to the $66 million the previous Progressive Conservative government committed to similar projects last year.
As well, Churchill confirmed the Liberals want to improve the province’s controlled access highways by adding exits along Highway 104 across the top of the mainland, and building a bypass along Highway 101 near Digby.
Churchill says the Liberals would add $40 million to the province’s $500 million capital budget for highways.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the three major political parties were expected to spend much of today preparing for a televised debate that will be broadcast tonight at 6 p.m. local time.
Churchill will face off against Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston and NDP Leader Claudia Chender during a 90-minute debate that will be carried live on CBC TV and streamed online.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
TORONTO – A group of hotel service workers in Toronto is set to hold a rally today outside the Fairmont Royal York to demand salary increases as hotel costs in the city skyrocket during Taylor Swift’s concerts.
Unite Here Local 75, the union representing 8,000 hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area, says Royal York employees have not seen a salary increase since 2021, and have been negotiating a new contract with the hotel since 2022.
The rally comes as the megastar begins her series of six sold-out concerts in Toronto, with the last show scheduled for Nov. 23.
During show weekends, some hotel rooms and short-term rentals in Toronto are priced up to 10 times more than other weekends, with some advertised for as much as $2,000 per night.
The union says hotel workers who will be serving Swifties during her Toronto stops are bargaining for raises to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The union represents hospitality workers including food service employees, room attendants and bell persons.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
