Skill shortage exaggerated?

The Bank on Montreal has released a report suggesting that the so-called skill shortage that the federal conservatives are using to justify skills training funding in their budget is exaggerated. Canada's unemployment rate is about 7%.  According to the CBC:

That's much lower than it was during the depths of the recession. But many private sector groups and some within the federal government warn that the number belies the reality of the job market, which is that there aren't enough qualified people to work badly needed jobs in the fast-growing resources sector. 

But a report from Bank of Montreal published late Tuesday questions that narrative, pointing out that only 25 per cent of companies polled in the Bank of Canada's latest business outlook survey reported a lack of qualified workers. That's actually 10 percentage points below the 15-year average of 35 per cent.

It is also 15% below results from 1999 and 2004/05 (the last time unemployment was at 7.0%). While the notion that the skills gap is not really that significant runs contrary to the rhetoric (and there may well be regional variations), this is consistent with the limited growth in wages (which should surge upwards in a skills shortage.

Rick Mercer has a nice piece about the skill shortage and the federal government's response.

-- Bob Barnetson