CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the detailed information contained in the Government’s report for the period ending in May 2005. It also notes the information provided by the provincial governments and contained in the various comprehensive annexes attached to the report.

1. Active labour market measures. The Government indicates that the Canadian economy recovered strongly in 2004 and maintained solid growth in the beginning of 2005, following weak growth in 2003. But despite the slowdown in 2003, the Canadian economy created more than 500,000 new jobs, nearly all of which were full-time positions. Furthermore, the unemployment rate fell from nearly 8 per cent in August 2003 to a 30-year low of 6.7 per cent in June 2005, despite very high rates of labour force participation. The Government further indicates that the budgets from 2003 to 2005 continued on a strategy of renewed economic growth and job creation by providing the underlying conditions necessary for private sector growth. Measures taken in these budgets aimed specifically at sustaining economic growth and creating jobs include:

-  enhanced access to post-secondary education, through extensive increases in financial assistance for post-secondary students;

-  enhanced access to knowledge and skills, through increased funding to Canada’s granting councils;

-  funding to support innovation and high-technology development;

-  tax relief to individuals and corporations.

2. The Government also provides information on new measures and developments related to labour market policies. The Government indicates in this regard that it will work with its partners - provinces and territories, their colleges and training institutions, business and labour, and individuals - to ensure that workers acquire the skills they need to succeed. Current initiatives include the following: Training Centre Infrastructure Fund, a three-year pilot programme that should improve workplace skilled training and worker productivity; training and apprenticeship strategy that will allocate funding to strengthening apprenticeship systems; workplace skills initiative that will provide funding to industry and other workplace stakeholders to undertake innovative, partnered pilot projects to promote and test new approaches to skills development. The Committee takes note with interest of these measures and asks the Government to keep providing information on the outcomes and assessment of these programmes, both at the federal and provincial levels. Further to its previous comments, the Committee also takes due note of the information provided by the Government concerning progress made in its policies and programmes aimed at tackling youth unemployment, as well as the detailed information regarding the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on employment (Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention).

3. Labour market initiatives for persons with disabilities. The Government indicates that it funds a range of labour market initiatives to assist persons with disabilities in their efforts to integrate into the labour market. In this regard, the Government provides detailed information on its key labour market initiatives that benefit persons with disabilities and lists the initiatives that, in terms of the number of clients served, have had the greatest impact on persons with disabilities. The Committee takes note with interest of this information and would appreciate continuing to receive details on the achievements concerning the employment measures designed for persons with disabilities.

4. Participation of the social partners. The Committee asks the Government to keep providing information on the consultations held with representatives of the persons affected, both at the stage of formulating employment policies and in relation to the implementation of the measures adopted under such policies, and in particular on the roles of provincial partners and governments, and whether other groups, such as rural and informal workers, are consulted (Article3).