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Source: globenewswire.com Dependability and Problem-Solving Skills Sought by Employers As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, soft skills are becoming more valuable to employers, according to a new Harris Poll survey commissioned by Express Employment Professionals. The pandemic is expected to have long-lasting impacts on employers, with a new normal that requires employers to be flexible, adapt to change quickly and be innovative. In the short-term, companies are anticipated to face acute labour shortages and high employee turnover, as many employers were already struggling to find qualified employees even before the pandemic.

Source: www.cbc.ca Companies may find transactional-only relationships with employees won’t work The early days of the pandemic caused a major disruption in how we work and those ripple effects are still being felt today. Multiple surveys continue to warn of a mass departure across the Canadian workforce. According to one survey by the Canadian Centre for the Purpose of the Corporation, 42 per cent of Canadian employees say they’re considering changing their job or entire career in the next year.

Source: financialpost.com ‘The market expects you to be 25 to 30 years old, it doesn’t expect you to be someone with dependants and a mortgage’ Jay Smith Hayward is at a significantly different life stage than many of her peers. An associate at a family law firm, she enrolled in the University of Alberta’s law school in her late 30s, and did her articling placement at 40, all while raising two children as a single mom.

Source: cbc.ca SafeTO-Do has drawn its share of online hate, says Toronto lawyer who created website A new website aims to help Ontarians safely navigate the rest of the COVID-19 pandemic by providing them with a list of businesses that have fully vaccinated staff or require customers to show proof of vaccination. Brandon Mattalo, a Toronto lawyer who works mostly in commercial litigation on a freelance basis, created the website, SafeTO-Do. It went live last week. A Twitter account, @safetodo, announces new additions to the website.

Source: globalnews.ca As more Canadians get vaccinated against COVID-19 and society starts its climb back to normal, businesses and institutions are facing a difficult question: are they going to require people to be fully vaccinated before they can walk through the door?

Source: www.hcamag.com Almost half of Canadians are nervous about contracting COVID-19 on returning to their workplaces. According to emerging research from Canada Life, 46% of Canadian employees currently working from home have expressed anxiety over office reopening and what that means for health and safety.

Source: www.ctvnews.ca TORONTO — Racism is harming workplace dynamics in Canada, with nearly 80 per cent of Black Canadians saying racism has damaged their relationship with their employer, according to new research released Tuesday. That’s nearly double the reported response from the general population and is followed closely by South Asian employees, with nearly two-thirds also reporting that workplace racism has damaged their employer relationship.

Source: www.cp24.com Ontario will move to the third step of its summer reopening plan on July 16, reopening indoor dining, indoor fitness activity, cinemas and nightclubs for the first time in months, but capacity restrictions will remain until August. The Ford cabinet met on Friday morning to confirm the measures, which will allow indoor dining to resume across the province (except in Waterloo Region) with capacity limited to the number of people who can maintain physical distancing of two metres.

Source: www.canada.ca By getting vaccinated, you benefit from the protection you get against COVID-19 and the easing of restrictive measures in your community. You still need to follow local public health advice in public settings (e.g., workplaces, public transit). Their advice considers community risk levels.

Source: www.theglobeandmail.com In 1984, Canadian judge Rosalie Abella, later appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada, chaired a commission that explored equality in Canadian workplaces. Her report became the 1986 Employment Equity Act, and its stated goal was “to achieve equality in the workplace so that no person shall be denied employment opportunities or benefits for reasons unrelated to ability and … to correct the conditions of disadvantage in employment experienced by women, [Indigenous] peoples, persons with disabilities and members of visible minorities by giving effect to the principle that employment equity means more than treating persons in the same way but also requires special measures and the accommodation of differences.”

Source: www.consulting.ca Most Canadians (77%) want to be able to work both remotely and in the office, according to a March survey of 2,003 respondents by KPMG Canada. The idea of a hybrid workplace is popular among Canadians, with 71% saying it should be the standard model for all organizations.

Source: www.newswire.ca 80 per cent feel they’ve been treated fairly, although heavy workload, isolation and COVID-19 exposure are among biggest challenges, finds a new KPMG in Canada survey TORONTO, April 26, 2021 /CNW/ – Amid the elevated anxiety, stress, and exhaustion during COVID-19, the pandemic has also resulted in improved loyalty to employers and a stronger sense of purpose in the workforce, finds a new poll by KPMG in Canada. The biggest workplace challenges, say full-time Canadian employees, include work/life balance, isolation, COVID-19 exposure, and a heavy workload.

Source: financialpost.com Feb. 2021 saw the economy add 259,200 jobs. Are you ready to get back to work? The pandemic wreaked havoc in the job market. Company shut-downs and economic restrictions sent unemployment rates soaring. However, with lockdowns lifting, Canada has seen some relief, with over 250,000 jobs added this past Feb. Not surprisingly, there will be huge competition vying for each of these positions.

Source: news.ontario.ca NEWS RELEASE Implementing Stronger Enforcement, Travel Restrictions, Public Health Measures to Stop the Spread of COVID-19 and Save Lives TORONTO — The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts, is strengthening enforcement of the province’s Stay-at-Home order while imposing new travel restrictions and further strengthening public health measures. These urgent actions are targeted at stopping the rapid growth in COVID-19 case rates and relieving mounting pressures on the province’s health care system. Details were provided today by Premier Doug Ford, Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, Solicitor General Sylvia Jones, Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development and Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Source: news.ontario.ca NEWS RELEASE Additional measures needed to protect health system capacity and save lives during third wave of COVID-19 TORONTO — The Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health and other health experts, is immediately declaring a third provincial emergency under s 7.0.1 (1) of the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (EMPCA). These measures are being taken in response to the rapid increase in COVID-19 transmission, the threat on the province’s hospital system capacity, and the increasing risks posed to the public by COVID-19 variants.

Source: cbc.ca ‘Virtual can work, but it cannot replace the value of in-person interaction,’ says Andrew Au As companies look to the future of work, one expert says they shouldn’t assume everyone prefers to work from home. “It is far from a good thing for everyone,” said Laurent Lapierre, a professor of workplace behaviour at the University of Ottawa’s Telfer School of Management.

Source: www.forbes.com I was recently asked by a large government organization to speak to what the leadership will look like in the future. What a great question. What is interesting about this topic is that the literature and research around it is still emerging. What is clear and consistent though is that the future will require leaders who are global citizens and able to work in a multicultural environment, who value talent and intellectual property and who embrace the need for constant digital transformation.

Source: cbc.ca An estimated 25% of working Canadians have started over in jobs unrelated to what they did before pandemic When COVID-19 hit, Ryan Sullivan was a pilot for Porter Airlines and he loved his job. These days, though, he spends his days and many evenings leading online wine-tasting classes as a certified sommelier. “I assure you, flying a plane I think is easier,” Sullivan said.

Source: ca.finance.yahoo.com Canada’s job market experienced a rebound in February, as restrictions were eased to varying degrees, adding 259,000 jobs. According to Statistics Canada, gains were mostly in part-time work (171,000) but there were full-time gains as well (88,000). The unemployment rate fell 1.2 percentage points to 8.2%, to the lowest rate since March 2020. The February gain is well ahead of the 75,000 jobs economists predicted and follows 266,000 jobs lost over the previous two months.

Source: www.thestar.com There is widespread agreement that the labour force in Canada is changing, and that the changes will accelerate as baby boomers enter retirement, carbon-emitting industries are replaced by green jobs and we look to a post-COVID economic recovery.

Source: www.newswire.ca DELTA, BC, Feb. 17, 2021 /CNW/ – Employment and Social Development Canada In order to help maintain a robust workforce and better position our country for a strong economic recovery, the Government of Canada is investing in the skilled trades to ensure that Canadians have the training they need to access good, well-paying jobs. The Government is making targeted investments, so that key groups facing barriers—like women, newcomers, Indigenous people, persons with disabilities, and Black and racialized Canadians—can better find work in the skilled trades through projects led by unions and their partner organizations.