Recommendations

Ensuring that Ontario remains the best place in North America to recruit, retain and reward workers

Supporting Lifelong Learning, Skills Training and Workforce Development

Only 27 per cent of Ontario residents surveyed strongly agree they have the education or skills needed for a job where they want to live, and only 17 per cent say they know they can get the training or professional development opportunities to prepare them for the economy of the future.

Recent data on lifelong learning reflect various labour-market trends, including shifts in employer expectations for new employees, fast-paced technological changes and greater employee interest in ongoing competency and credentials building. A 2019 study (pre-COVID) conducted by Pearson for the International Consultants for Education and Fairs (ICEF) revealed “a growing interest in shorter programs and lifelong learning.” In Canada, 37 per cent of respondents with post- secondary education said they would pursue trade or vocational training instead of a degree if they had to make the same choice again. These developments have led to rising interest in lifelong learning and an explosion of skills training programs, providers and courses.

Previous studies have addressed the question of lifelong learning and the future of work more broadly. The Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy proposed a strategy for lifelong learning in Ontario in 2017 and the Ontario government has focused on this issue as well. The Ontario government’s recent announcement of a micro-credential strategy is a case in point. It reflects a growing recognition that there is a role for government to catalyze new training models and bring awareness and some semblance of quality assurance for employees and employers of the various offerings in the market.

This space between education and employment – what has been described as the “messy middle” by the Public Policy Forum – tends to involve short duration courses or training modules to expand or update a worker’s skills to secure a new job or be more productive in their current one.

Some lifelong learners are jobseekers who may be drawing on income support programs or skills- training subsidies as they carry out their training. Others are already in the labour market and are looking to invest in upgrading their skills.

The question for policy makers is: how to reduce the messiness of the messy middle – including for marginalized and vulnerable Ontario residents – without undermining its dynamism and innovation?

Lifelong learning, skills training and workforce development were growing in policy importance before the pandemic, due to such labour-market trends as job polarization, automation risk and the tendency for people to have multiple jobs over the course of their careers. The Ipsos survey shows a majority of people believe Ontario’s community colleges do well in preparing young people for jobs in Ontario (74 per cent), while just over half say Ontario’s universities do a good job (56 per cent).

We believe supports should not discriminate by age and employers should be encouraged to provide workers with training closely related to their current job. The government should expand its current work on micro-credentials.

More on-the-job training is needed, where workers combine work with training and skill enhancement in a blended way, rather than in discrete chunks of working and going back to school.

We need a better strategy for the reskilling of talent. … We need to rescale them into these high-demand fields, so you actually turn out the talent you're looking for. There are conversations around that. There's expanding the training credits that are available to employees themselves. I thought the (funding) should flow right to the employers. Here's some money for you to encourage you to train your people.

Business stakeholder

Looking to other jurisdictions to advance lifelong learning

Raising the province’s policy ambition on lifelong learning will require drawing from the experiences of other countries as well as the multitude of approaches in other provinces and U.S. states. Literature suggests there is a range of training participation by country. An example is the Ontario Skills Development Fund, which offers funding to organizations for projects addressing hiring, training and retaining workers – including apprentices – during COVID-19.

Ontario policymakers can also look to such countries as Germany, Sweden, Finland and Denmark, where between 20 and 30 per cent of the working-age population is consistently involved in lifelong learning courses and training at any given time. Although it may not be an apples-to-apples comparison, the Ontario government reported in 2017 that roughly 200,000 Ontario residents participate in adult education programs each year.

Action on lifelong learning will increase availability and retention of highly skilled workers and ensure that training is aligned with employer needs.

The German concept of awarding bachelor’s degrees to those qualifying for the highest trades journeyman accreditation has merit and would assist in solving the skills gap in Ontario industry and mitigate ‘blue collar/white collar’ discrimination.

Business stakeholder

Our experience … is that when we give companies that challenge, can you be part of the solution, they clamoured to become part of the solution … Companies want to be part of the solution. This is very similar to the German-Belgium apprenticeship reskilling system, where the big supply chains work together to reskill for the trades, but now can you do the same thing for these knowledge skills? Have the companies be part of the solution and I think that's a really interesting challenge.

Academic

One way to think about where we could start is thinking about how can we turn our employment and training systems into hubs of high- quality career advice and guidance that work for all Ontarians that people would want to go to … that's not what our employment and training systems now do. They incentivize people to get work and get to people work fast.

Research organization

Improving navigation of the range of skills training programs, providers and courses

In Ontario, public and private training providers use public funds to support accessibility, but we believe more needs to be done. Specifically, we believe that the government can help make these training programs even more accessible.

Early in the pandemic, in March 2020, the Ontario government launched a Workplace Development and Training Review, which explored how to prepare people for good jobs. Minister McNaughton noted that, In a world of global competition and rapid technological change, it is essential that Ontario's workers and businesses remain competitive. That is why we will work closely with experts from the labour, training and education sectors and from employers to learn how we can ensure that Ontario has the talent to prosper today and in the future.

To further build on the work already done, the Ontario government should strive to continue to promote lifelong learning.

There may be a role for government to help establish navigation portals that can serve as single online windows. One platform could cover the spectrum of lifelong learning and skills training courses and programs, or multiple portals could be organized according to sectors or competencies. This could be outsourced to private-sector or non-profit organizations. The ministry might run a challenge-based competition to encourage companies and non-profits to put forward innovative models to improve people’s ability to navigate the lifelong learning market.

Developing lifelong provincial learning benefits

Not all workers have equal access to lifelong learning. Some may not be part of the Labour Market Development Agreements or have access to other provincial programs or benefits. The recently announced Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit is a good step, but its requirement that eligible training be provided by conventional educational institutions risks excluding the growing number of programs and courses delivered by industry associations, labour unions and other non-conventional training providers.

One option is to leverage the federal government’s creation of an individualized Canada Training Benefit to provide an incremental provincial contribution for Ontario residents. This would be broadly similar to the way the Ontario government has leveraged the Canada Worker Benefit to provide incremental support to low-income people in the labour market.

Creative destruction has been described as “the dismantling of longstanding practices in order to make way for innovation.” The process of creative destruction is expected to continue to disrupt certain jobs while creating new ones. In fact, according to the MIT Study on the Future of Work, more than 60 per cent of jobs in 2018 did not exist in 1940.

Maybe we need better labour-market tools that actually help people figure out what skills they actually possess, because I think sometimes, we need to move away from degrees and certifications … even when (people) want to change (their) career ... I think (they) pick up a lot of skills through training on the job and I think a lot of people aren't aware of the skills (they) gain through work experience rather than doing (a) certificate or something.

Business stakeholder

The growing role of technology means this process may accelerate in the coming years. Ontario’s lifelong learning, skills training and workforce development system should make it a priority to help those who have experienced dislocation in certain sectors and occupations to fill new positions in the parts of the economy that are growing and have labour demand. This transition is important for individuals and their families as well as for the economy as a whole.

There is no clear sense of how to do this at scale. The pandemic resulted in considerable job loss for the tourism industry – according to Statistics Canada, September 2021 saw a significant decrease of jobs in accommodation and food services in Ontario.

There are promising models operating in sectors and employers. A good example is the Ontario Tourism Education Corporation (OTEC), which was established in 1991 as a public-private partnership to provide targeted training for the hospitality and tourism industry. The OTEC model is effective in helping train dislocated workers for demand-driven opportunities in the hospitality and tourism industry. There may be an opportunity to learn from this model and its possible translation to other parts of the labour market.

Accounting for soft skills and technical skills in the education, skills training and workforce development system

While the lifelong learning market has a plethora of technical skills courses and programs, there seems to be a gap in the system with respect to so-called “soft skills,” including practical skills and experience such as being an employee, working on a team and so on.

Educational stakeholders as well as employer groups and labour unions say this a big challenge, especially in the growing digital and service-based economy in which these soft skills are a major advantage for people and firms.

The data-driven economy requires a new set of skills and not just STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) but a combination of hard and soft skills, new occupations such as data stewards, as well as access to reliable and affordable digital infrastructure.

Business stakeholder

A 2019 report called Navigator: Made for the Future, conducted on behalf of HSBC by research firm Kantar, found that 47 per cent of Canadian respondents said their companies planned to spend more on training employees, and 42 per cent said they'd spend more on employee satisfaction and well-being, according to CBC News.

The Ontario government should continue to increase the supply of students seeking work-integrated learning opportunities by helping Ontario-based employers develop the capacity to accept a significant increase in student employees. This capacity-building support could come in different forms, including partial wage subsidies, grants or tax credits. The idea would be to help Ontario firms become partners in an ambitious strategy to expand work-integrated learning to as many workers as possible.

… I think unions and collective bargaining and this kind of collective process have been advantageous in many cases for acquiring for their members access to learning opportunities, grants, scholarships, paid time off or leave programs to allow them to further their education.

Labour stakeholder

(The government should) support student internships in research and innovation to help generate, apply and transfer student knowledge and intellectual property to the private sector.

Business stakeholder

Better supporting marginalized and underrepresented groups

The Ontario government has already done considerable work to better support marginalized and underrepresented groups. For example:

• In June 2021, the government announced the appointment of a task force on women and the economy.
• In July 2021, the government announced an investment to help youth start careers in construction.
• In August 2021, the government unveiled a similar program to help workers in the north. Also, that month, the government announced a new training program for young people in technology jobs in the Niagara region.
• In September 2021, the government announced additional investments in the Skills Development Fund.

Improving access to training programs and courses is a crucial step in closing gaps in labour- market outcomes relative to the rest of the population. Lifelong learning can help boost human capital and improve employment prospects.

Programs and courses must be sensitive to the unique needs of marginalized and underrepresented groups.

Most of the Ontario government’s skills training initiatives – including the Second Career program – target people with considerable work experience (for example, Employment Insurance recipients) and mostly exclude those with weak employment history, or those not eligible for Employment Insurance. This design risks excluding vulnerable and marginalized groups.

In July 2021, the Ontario government announced it is increasing financial support and simplifying the application process for the Second Career program, noting the changes would make it easier for laid-off and unemployed workers to pursue training and start new and better careers. However, not all workers are eligible for this program. While this announcement represented significant progress, we believe there is more to do.

Ensuring lifelong learning for Indigenous people

Another issue is the confusion and lack of clarity about the roles of the federal and provincial governments when it comes to lifelong learning and skills training for Indigenous people.

The role of different levels of government depends on whether it involves an on-reserve or off-reserve context. This can create a lack of accountability, finger pointing and greater complexity for communities and individuals.

There should be room for the federal and Ontario governments to talk about greater collaboration, including sharing of best practices, leveraging pre-existing training models, and so on.

(The government should establish) a development fund, beyond COVID-19 recovery, targeting long-term Indigenous employment to address challenges to hiring, training or retraining workers, including apprentices.

Business consultant

Everybody has this preconceived notion that Indigenous people get supported at a higher level than mainstream Canadians, when really, it's not the way that it works. Communities do get supported with education through their treaties, and they're supposed to be supported fully. (Ottawa’s transfers) to communities only supports two maximum, of about 30 people, to go and be educated in post secondary. That leaves a vast majority of other students looking for what they're going to do to try to get educated, and I think that if we're looking at investing in the Indigenous community, that's one place where we have to find other mechanisms to ensure that everybody has the opportunity to be educated.

Business consultant

A study by Employment and Social Development Canada looked at the educational achievement gap between Indigenous and non- Indigenous Canadians, noting that the existence of an educational achievement gap between Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit and Metis) and non-Indigenous Canadians is well documented … Indigenous people are less likely to finish high school or their post-secondary studies than the non-Indigenous population in Canada. An article in the Toronto Star in June 2021 noted that Indigenous education is central to Canada’s COVID-19 recovery, noting that only 61.6 per cent of Indigenous persons aged 15 and over obtained a high school diploma compared to 80.1 per cent of non-Indigenous persons.

Closing this gap can be achieved partially through greater clarity in the roles of various levels of government. We believe the Ontario government should partner with other levels of government to help close the education and achievement gap to improve outcomes for Indigenous people. Indigenous people must be involved in the process of developing solutions.

Investing in relevant, market-driven education, employment and training programs and pointing job seekers, youth, women, Indigenous people and newcomers to those in-demand pathways resulting in real jobs will be key.

Business stakeholder

Supporting workers who fall out of traditional benefits programs

There is an opportunity for Ontario to be an innovator in designing and delivering a new type of portable benefits strategy tied to workers, not employers. Such a program could better support worker mobility. A recent study by Ipsos for RBC Insurance shows 38 per cent of Ontario residents say they realized in the past year that their employers’ benefits program does not adequately meet their needs. Three in 10 respondents in the same study said they have no prescription drug coverage at all.

A report by the Public Policy Forum calls on federal and provincial governments to “conduct detailed analysis of the costs and benefits as well as the feasibility (economic, operational, technological, political, legal) of a portable benefits model.” Other jurisdictions are examining portable benefits programs. In the United States, on Sept. 28, a bill called the Portable Retirement and Investment Account Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate. It proposes creation of universal, portable retirement benefits accounts.

You know there are some costs to what we expect as consumers, and consumers maybe need to have a little bit more of a stake in this, and portable benefits are a really good example. One of the things that makes work precarious is that people don't have access to the forms of occupational welfare that are normally associated with employment, (such as) extended health benefits.

Academic

(In New York state) they took a 2.5 per cent charge off each transaction. That money went to a fund that was on the state level, and it would pay out basically workers’ compensation for independent contractors in New York state, for independent contractors who are drivers for New York state. That includes Uber drivers, it includes taxi drivers, it includes delivery and limousine, anyone who is an independent contractor, and that’s specifically for workers comp. It’s like this fund they get paid out in case there are issues for workers compensation, because a lot of independent contractors are outside of the purview of regular labour laws and receiving employment- based benefits.

Academic

Portable benefits could help businesses attract workers and make their futures less uncertain. Sixty-seven per cent of Ontario residents surveyed by Ipsos agree that to attract and keep people in Ontario, it is important that we have government benefits available based on where they live, not who they work for.

A portable benefits program could increase benefit levels and access in areas such as pharmacare, life insurance, vision care and mental health services. Such a program would potentially incorporate a provincial skills training fund. One option might see portable benefits reside with the worker and be administered by an independent body, through government, the private sector or some combination.

Addressing jobs gaps to make Ontario more competitive in high-demand sectors

There is a shortage of highly skilled technology workers in the health-care, digital, data, artificial intelligence, cyber and process automation sectors. Even before the pandemic, a number of industries faced shortages. According to the Canadian Immigration Law Firm (CANADIM) in 2019, there was also high demand for such skilled trades as electricians, welders and mechanics, but it was the highly skilled technology workers in IT, engineering, sales, health care and education where many of the shortages were occurring. Since the pandemic, these shortages have only increased.

Ontario businesses, from startups to small-and- medium-sized enterprises to multinationals, face an acute shortage of these highly skilled workers. Further, the pandemic has underscored that today’s technology has decoupled geography from employment.

This has added additional competitive pressures on recruiting talent, since multinationals no longer require hires to relocate to head office, which put significant pressure on Ontario companies recruiting this type of talent. In British Columbia, an updated leadership competency model has been developed by the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) to try to address this issue.

Connecting highly skilled workers to jobs

The Province’s current skills strategy is focused on attracting more youth to the trades, simplifying the apprenticeship system, and encouraging employer participation in apprenticeships. The promising start following the establishment of Skilled Trades Ontario can serve as a starting point to better address job gaps in specialized fields and the trades. Early evidence indicates that apprenticeship completion rates and rates of inclusion of females and minority groups such as francophones, Indigenous people and racialized groups, has increased since its establishment. Building out from this trend is central to increasing prosperity, making it broad-based and positioning Ontario to better participate in the new economy.

Ontario already has considerable resources for jobs and employment but could improve how jobs boards are offered

Connecting workers to jobs through government assistance

Many workers who operate on a project-by- project basis appreciate the flexibility and control of being matched to gig opportunities, but this flexibility should not come at the cost of basic employment rights. Alongside a legislative change that would modernize the Employment Standards Act, we advise the Province of Ontario to consider piloting a platform to better match supply and demand for gig work. This might start by covering a limited set of occupations or types of work, and if proven effective, be expanded to cover larger parts of the gig economy.

Before the pandemic, many cities were trying to make the work environment more “gig-worker friendly,” as noted in this article in US News from 2018. More recently, public agencies in the United Kingdom and the U.S. have launched citywide platforms for all sectors of gig work and the associated technology is open source. A public platform could reduce search costs and more effectively match individuals with timely opportunities for relevant paid work.

(For example,) you have a bunch of employees in a data trust, people in the data trust that can be queried in a safe way, because it’s controlled by a university, or a collection of universities, or the government, or someone, that allows you to identify a cache of high potential people … if you can, combine industrial policy with real information, (and) people, and link everything together.

Business consultant

California is already considering how to address this issue through its Modern Markets for All initiative, which outlines how governments might participate in the task of creating online markets to respond to demands for services.

Taking the whole worker into consideration

Social infrastructure, such as affordable housing, essential worker housing, affordable and reliable access to high-speed internet, accessible and affordable child care and good public transit are foundational components of a resilient and healthy workforce. Our approach has been to consider the issues facing the future of work in Ontario in the context of the whole worker experience.

Due to the evolving nature of the labour market, the legislative and regulatory framework is not always harmonized. For example, because of the ambiguity in the definition of highly skilled knowledge workers in the Employment Standards Act, Workers Safety Insurance Board (WSIB) fees are not always aligned with the type of work being done.

We recognize these topics do not fall directly within our terms, or indeed within the policy purview of any single province. However, the prevalence of these issues in discussions prompted us to raise these points to provide the broader context of the discussion and to stimulate thinking and action with other levels of government.

The government should also explore opportunities to work with other jurisdictions that are grappling with similar issues, such as how to take the entire worker experience into account. For example, Australia recently released a future-of-work report. Working at the appropriate national and subnational levels of government, the Ontario government may wish to consider speaking with like-minded Organization of Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) countries on these important global challenges, even travelling to these regions when it is safe to do so, to gain a broader perspective.

A cabinet committee would be an ideal way to meet these challenges. This committee could be tasked with harmonizing the various pieces of legislation currently governing the workforce. Patterned on committees created by the Government of Canada and provincial governments, this committee would be the focal point for thinking and cross- government action.

Supporting workers, especially platform workers, by providing greater flexibility, control and security

Removing barriers for worker mobility

Non-compete clauses can sometimes limit worker mobility, whether someone is working at a fast-food franchise or a large technology firm. The Economic Policy Institute published a study in 2019 that found non-compete clauses are harmful to both wages and competition.

Although the data were American, the study found that between 28 per cent and 45 per cent of U.S. workers were subject to non- compete agreements. In Canada, these clauses can be difficult to enforce and do not generally hold up in court, they can be difficult to understand and can intimidate workers. Such clauses can prohibit people from advancing their careers. The Province may also consider whether there are common unfair contract terms that entrepreneurs or business owners face when acting as suppliers or vendors.

… focus on the clients as well, because a lot of times the head-hunting companies … don't have any regulation around the clauses that are in those contracts. And one good example is the non-compete clauses that they have … these head-hunting companies are going through the contract that can have cloud clauses that are … wildly varying and a lot of them not in our best interest.

Technology worker

Maintaining a favourable environment for highly skilled knowledge workers

A new class of well-compensated knowledge workers has emerged. These are often found in the IT, engineering, legal, finance and health- care sectors. They work on a project-by-project basis for banks, accounting firms, consulting firms, manufacturing firms and government. These workers tend to be socially secure and choose to work independently on a contract basis instead of as traditional employees. We were told they choose this work for three reasons: Flexibility to choose when to work and which projects to work on, the ability to do specialized work, and favourable tax treatment. Many of these workers are earning significant compensation and do not constitute a vulnerable workforce. They are, however, integral to economic growth and are key to success for many large and small companies.

Silicon Valley's migrating to Texas because Texas is standing there at the doorstep saying, ‘Hey, we know how to do this.’ We're going to market ourselves as one jurisdiction and Ontario isn't being quite as aggressive, and we think there's an opportunity to be.

Business consultant

The Employment Standards Act does not currently recognize this type of independent contractor, so there is confusion as to how to classify these workers. The government should update the act to reflect the new reality of work.

The government should pay attention to flexibility and protections for employers and employees and consider gaps between the Canada Revenue Agency’s definition of an employee and the definition laid out in the Employment Standards Act.

In addition, the criteria around this type of worker are unclear and rights to entitlements and protections, such as severance, are resulting in litigation in the courts. However, any uncertainty here is easier to handle for this class of workers because of the better balance in bargaining power between the entity retaining the services and the independent contractor when entering into contracts.

Supporting workers, especially platform workers, by ensuring they benefit from flexibility, control and security

A Statistics Canada report from 2019 showed that one in 10 workers were employed in the gig economy and a 2019 report from the Bank of Canada found that 18 per cent of Canadians (excluding those who mention participating in informal paid work for fun/as a hobby) participated in the informal gig economy. A recent report from the Labour Market Information Council (LMIC) noted that Statistics Canada is working to develop a coherent framework for defining and collecting information on gig employment.

(Platform name) has a very strict control over us at work. When we signed up with (Platform name), we must submit our availability to the company. (Platform name) would assign us work shifts based on our availability. We are required to work at least 20 hours every two weeks. The pay rate system is very confusing.

Gig worker

Many frustrated app-based workers said they lack basic employment protections and deserve more transparency and accountability from the algorithms that manage their work. This includes better understanding of how their work is evaluated, safety protections and ensuring control over their schedule.

This is a very hard job. It’s very dangerous, on roads all day. I deliver by bike, and [using] a car, and walking, and when I’m doing it in a car, it’s very dangerous, when you drive for long hours. I’m not able to maintain my car in a safe condition, which is putting my health and my family at risk, and that’s because I don’t get paid well.

Gig worker

Across the world, jurisdictions are grappling with how to define gig workers. Some are moving to define them as independent contractors, while others are moving toward defining them as employees. For example, on February 19, 2021, a UK Supreme Court Ruling found that Uber drivers were workers and not independent contractors, although the UK definition of “worker” is different from the definition of “employee”.

Forbes speculated that America was not likely to follow suit and, indeed, in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Examiner reports the state legislature has introduced a bill whereby “Drivers for ride-share businesses such as Uber and app-based delivery services such as DoorDash would be blocked from collecting workers' compensation or unemployment benefits in Wisconsin under legislation that would define them as independent contractors rather than employees … (this would) also “allow businesses to provide benefits to their drivers without classifying them as employees.” Massachusetts is considering similar legislation, according to WBUR, Boston’s National Public Radio news station. In Ontario, platform companies such as Uber, Handy, Instacart and Task Rabbit assert that people who access gig work on their platforms are independent contractors and therefore don’t fall under the Employment Standards Act.

Including dependent contractors under Ontario’s Employment Standards legislation would help to ensure that basic minimum conditions are in place to protect performers.

Labour stakeholder

Sixty-nine per cent of Ontario residents surveyed agree the province should treat gig or technology platform workers the same as traditional workers when it comes to employment benefits.

While an employee and an independent contractor are defined and recognized in the act, a third category of worker merits attention. This is the dependent contractor, and it falls between an employee and an independent contractor, where most app-based workers fall. These workers have been deemed dependent contractors as comprehensively detailed in the Foodora case.

Under a proposed third category, some workers for platform-based apps would be considered dependent contractors while retaining some of the flexibility – such as time allocation across multiple employers and work hours – this type of work provides. This could be achieved through the Employment Standards Act, or elsewhere.

Increasing transparency around the rules of engagement for platform workers

People who engage with work through digital platforms must agree to contracts when signing on to work. These contracts are long and complicated and not easily understood. Contract terms change regularly and are unclear with respect to how much a worker will earn for a task, how a worker is being triaged in the queue and what – if any – deductions are being removed from their job fee.

I started working for (Platform name) in 2016 and every time, about every year or so, I’ve been told I’ve been given a new contract for the job I do for (Platform name). And every time, it’s been posted on my app, and I’ve been told, ‘You have two weeks to read it,’ this massive, hundred, tens of pages document with lots of legal jargon that a lawyer would probably be able to interpret, but someone who just does food delivery work, it’s not realistic for us to understand everything that’s going on.

Gig worker

In addition, the circumstances with respect to being flagged or fired by a platform can lead to a temporary or permanent suspension without proper explanation.

Following a legal challenge from the App Drivers & Couriers Union, an Amsterdam court ordered Uber to reinstate five UK drivers terminated by an automated process. The court ruled that ride-sharing companies were compelled to disclose data used to assign jobs, deduct earnings and suspend drivers, as well as provide more information on how their driver surveillance systems work.

It happened once that (Platform name) disciplined me, by suspending me from work, and ordered me to take training based on my work review and only resume my work after I completed the training provided. I had to pay for the training.

Gig worker

Increasing transparency for subcontracted workers and companies

There is a growing class of workers employed by agencies who consistently work for the same company but are not deemed to be employees, as they are hired by an intermediary. These agencies, or intermediaries, are not always subject to the same scrutiny as the companies for whom they provide subcontracted services. It is often not clear who assumes liability in the case of subcontracting, and this creates an opportunity for the company that is subcontracting services to benefit from cheaper provision of services, sometimes resulting from non-compliance of the subcontractor with existing employment standards.

There is a clear opportunity for Ontario to take a leadership role and introduce the idea of worker fairness into the public dialogue. Barely half (51 per cent) of Ontario residents surveyed agree that current rules for work in Ontario do a good job of balancing the interests of both workers and employers. The provincial government would not be starting from scratch here. The Scottish government has developed a Fair Work action plan that sets out the key conceptual and operational issues. Existing fair labour certification schemes could provide the basis for one suited for Ontario.

Finally, it is worth nothing that certain jurisdictions, including Scotland and the City of Toronto, have established a voluntary fair worker certification designation. The current trend with respect to environment, social and governance has focused largely on climate change and diversity and inclusion. There is an opportunity to add work fairness to the investment and work equation. This could take the form of a contract clause stipulating joint liability for non-compliance.

Modernizing the Employment Standards Act

The Employment Standards Act has undergone numerous ad-hoc revisions over the years. While the Government of Ontario has offe red a helpful guide to the revisions, many revisions and exemptions have been tied to specific issues, rather than to an overarching philosophy on the future of work.

Previous governments have failed to keep pace with the changing world of work by maintaining a modern and clear Employment Standards Act. With the rapid acceleration of change outlined in this report, the time to act is now. The government should take advantage of the opportunity to modernize the Act, so it is clearer and more relevant to today’s world of work.

Making Ontario the top destination with a world-class workforce and talent supply

Recognizing that life-work balance has become an important part of compensation and retention

The pandemic has made many reflect on what employees value in their lives, their relationships and their work. Today, when Ontario residents think about their dream job or career, Ipsos’ survey showed they value a stable pay cheque most (60 per cent), good health and other support benefits (54 per cent) and a pension (50 per cent).

Other values are now emerging, including flexibility in workdays/hours (37 per cent), being in charge of one’s schedule (32 per cent) and the ability to work from home (27 per cent) or anywhere in the world (27 per cent).

As the pandemic has worn on, a CNBC article in August 2021 in the U.S. argued the main reason people want to change careers is to have a better work-life balance. The Ipsos survey found 95 per cent of Ontarian residents agree employees should have the right to disconnect from their employer at the end of the day.

We believe the government can take quick and decisive action on this finding, specifically by looking at such legislation as the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Supporting work from anywhere

The pandemic highlighted the decoupling of employment and geography for many workers. Ontario is well positioned to take advantage of this trend. In addition to attracting highly skilled workers from around the globe, there is an opportunity for the redistribution of talent within Ontario, away from major urban centres – where housing is expensive, and lifestyle is more challenging - to smaller towns. This could be a significant driver for regional development, but will require continued investment in broadband, health care, housing, transit and other services.

People in Ontario want this freedom and flexibility as well. When asked about their dream job - either looking ahead if they have most of their working life yet to come or looking backward if they are finished or almost finished working – 63 per cent said they value the ability to work from home and 60 per cent said they value the ability to work anywhere. The ability to do this is conditional on reliable transportation networks and reliable bandwidth.

The more mature organizations need people to commute back and forth from Toronto to Kitchener-Waterloo. They're still going to have in- person meetings, and there still is going to be a need to do that in a more flexible way … I also think transportation is not just business. It's leisure as well. If you're going to attract people to the province, if they're going to live in one region, they want to be connected easily, connected to Toronto, from a lifestyle perspective as well.

Business consultant

The committee notes the government has already made progress on this issue. For example:

• In Budget 2020, the government announced close to $1 billion in funding to improve broadband and cellular services as part of its Up to Speed: Broadband and Cellular Action Plan, aspiring to bring broadband to every community across Ontario, including those in rural areas and the north.
• To support work from anywhere, the government introduced Bill 257, the Supporting Broadband and Infrastructure Expansion Act, to connect more communities to reliable, high-speed internet more quickly.
• To support health care and telehealth, the government announced investments to expand virtual health care in Ontario to better reach those who need it most, and additional resources for virtual mental health and addictions support across the province.
• To support physical transportation infrastructure, the government announced increased GO Train services around Toronto.
• For those who commute by car, the government announced an expansion of Highway 427 and Highways 418 and 407 (near Toronto) and Highway 401 (near Kingston), as well as a transportation plan for northern Ontario.
• Ontario’s “Up to Speed: Ontario’s Broadband and Cellular Action Plan,” which ensures that people and businesses have access to the high-speed internet and cellular services they need.

Promoting the Ontario brand across the globe

Ontario already enjoys significant reputational benefits worldwide. For example, according to the September 2021 World’s Best Cities report on where to live, work, invest and visit, Toronto ranked 18th globally and outpaced all other Canadian cities by a significant margin. It is not just Toronto that is a desirable place to work, live and play. In 2021, Maclean’s rankings of the best places to live in Canada featured three Ontario cities – St. Thomas, Belleville and Cornwall – in the top 10, all factors being equal.

Ontario is also well positioned on the technology front. The Scoring Tech Talent Report from CBRE, which ranks North America’s top 50 tech talent markets, featured eight Canadian cities. Toronto and Ottawa were in the top 10. Toronto ranked fourth (it had cracked the top three in previous years), while Ottawa ranked eighth.

Toronto also recently ranked as the number one place in the world to work remotely, according to HR company Remote. Ottawa has emerged as a hub for technological innovation across North America.

Ontario is seen as a great place to study as well, producing the type of highly skilled, highly coveted workers that employers across the world are seeking. Hello Safe ranks Kingston as the third best place to study in Canada, with Toronto at number five, and Hamilton at number 10. Waterloo, London, Ottawa, St. Catharines and Guelph are all in the top 20.

There are clear advantages in terms of quality of life, investment opportunities, government supports and work. As Ontario residents ourselves, we know the strengths that Ontario brings to quality of life and employment opportunities. Thanks to strong and stable governance, our province is a destination of choice for many around the globe and there is more opportunity as we emerge from COVID-19.

The real value proposition here is a broader one – to leverage Ontario’s high standard of living and quality of life, natural beauty, economic dynamism and good governance to create a virtuous circle around attracting talent, investment and job creation. This would help workers achieve their goals and help businesses meet the challenges of the transitioning economy, while supporting the growth of small, medium and large businesses.

(We should) make this a place where knowledge workers can work from anywhere. Have great Internet, be trained and be respected for their education and reducing bias for the diversity that we have to celebrate in our workforce.

Business services consultant

Other jurisdictions around the world are introducing incentives to attract workers. Countries as diverse as Barbados, Bermuda, Estonia and Georgia have been offering long-term residency permits – with or without assistance for relocating - to workers in other countries. Some cities in the United States have been going further, offering cash payments and tax, homebuying and local purchase incentives to workers moving from other parts of the country.

Ontario residents aren’t necessarily aware of the benefits the province offers due to investments made by the government, businesses and workers in the province’s future. Only 54 per cent of respondents say Ontario is the best place to find workers in North America, while only 52 per cent say Ontario enjoys some of the best benefits in the world. We believe there is room to improve these numbers through an effort to brand Ontario and advertise the benefits the province offers.

Agreement with statements about working in Ontario

Statements	Total Agree
For employers, Ontario is one of the best places in North America to find workers	54 %
Workers in Ontario enjoy some of the best benefits in the world	52 %
Ontario has enough highly skilled workers to meet the requirements of employers	51 %
Ontario has the most talented workers in the world	49 %
Ontario is best place to work in North America	49 %
Ontario is the best place in the world to operate a business	44 %

Source: OWRAC Survey