Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 122) sur la politique de l'emploi, 1964 - Canada (Ratification: 1966)

The Committee notes the observations of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), transmitted by the Government in its report. The Government is requested to provide its comments in this regard.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Employment trends and active labour market measures. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the measures to achieve the objectives of the Convention and, in particular, on how they have helped to obtain full, productive and sustainable employment and decent work. It further requested the Government to provide information on the situation and trends regarding the active population, employment, unemployment and underemployment. The Committee notes the different measures adopted by the Government during the reporting period, including: (1) the launch of the Employment Strategy for Canadians with Disabilities in July 2024, with the aim to close the employment gap between persons with disabilities and those without by 2040; (2) the allocation, in 2023–24, of approximately 3.4 billion Canadian dollars (CAD) for training and employment supports; (3) the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities Program, the objective of which is to enhance the economic development of official language minority communities across Canada; and (4) the launch in July 2022, of the Canadian Apprenticeship Strategy as an overarching framework under which existing apprenticeship initiatives are harmonized. The Committee notes the Government’s announcement in the 2024 Budget that it would establish a Sectoral Table on the Care Economy that will consult and provide recommendations to the federal Government on concrete actions to better support the care economy and launch consultations on the development of a National Caregiving Strategy. The Committee also notes the measures adopted at the sub-federal level in Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, and Manitoba described by the Government. The Committee further notes that, according to the 2022–23 Employment Insurance Monitoring and Assessment Report, Canada’s economy experienced high inflation and a slowdown in growth throughout 2022–23, while the Canadian labour market continued its strong recovery, and that the number of new Employment Insurance regular claims established in 2022–23 returned to pre-pandemic levels, while the total amount paid in Employment Insurance regular benefits significantly decreased compared to 2021–22. Additionally, the Committee notes that, according to the 2024 Budget, the Federal Government provides more than 3 billion CAD in funding annually to provinces and territories for the purpose of providing training and employment support through Labour Market Transfer Agreements to help over one million Canadians each year upgrade their skills or find new jobs. In the 2024 Budget it is stated that the labour market remains solid, with over 1.1 million more Canadians employed than before the pandemic, marking the fastest jobs recovery in the G7. In its observations, the CLC states that the Government and the Bank of Canada, in the last five-year review of Canada’s monetary policy framework, have included “maximum sustainable employment” instead of full employment as a secondary objective to the primary objective of monetary policy, namely, maintaining low, stable inflation. The CLC maintains that Canada’s central bank quickly and aggressively raised interest rates in 2022 in a bid to avoid higher inflation. As a consequence, according to the CLC, the official unemployment rate has risen a full percentage point (to 6.1 per cent) from a year earlier, and youth employment rates have fallen back below their pre-pandemic peaks.

The Committee recalls that, in accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention and as emphasized in its 2010 and 2020 General Surveys, the objective of full, productive and freely chosen employment requires the coordination of all macroeconomic policies, including monetary policy, with employment policy. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the impact of the aforementioned strategies, including the Employment Strategy for Canadians with Disabilities, providing disaggregated data on their contribution to securing sustainable employment for the beneficiaries. Furthermore, the Committee requests the Government to respond specifically to the observations of the CLC regarding monetary policy. It requests the Government to indicate: (1) how it ensures coordination between its fiscal policy (aimed at supporting employment) and the monetary policy of the Bank of Canada (aimed at curbing inflation by slowing the labour market), to ensure that the objective of full employment remains a “major goal” of government policy; and (2) how it assesses the impact of interest rate hikes on vulnerable groups, particularly young workers, and what mitigation measures are in place.

Article 3. Participation of the social partners in the formulation and implementation of employment policies. The Government indicates that regular engagement with workers, employers and other important stakeholders is an important aspect of its ongoing efforts to improve the Employment Insurance, including the comprehensive consultations on Employment Insurance reform, in 2021 and 2022. The Government adds that, in the framework of the Enabling Fund for Official Language Minority Communities Program, it undertook extensive engagement with Official Language Minority Communities stakeholders to gain a better understanding of Employment Assistance Services (EAS) gaps and needs. The Government points out that Canada’s first-ever Employment Strategy for Canadians with Disabilities in July 2024 is the product of numerous consultations with the disability community, employers and organizations including researchers, Indigenous groups, and others. The Government indicates that the Future Skills Centre has built successful partnerships with provincial and territorial governments and on a pan-Canadian network of partners, and stakeholders to encourage collaboration, exchange of ideas, and sharing of knowledge and best practices. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the participation of the social partners in the formulation and implementation of policies in Nova Scotia, Quebec and Manitoba. In its observations, the CLC refers to the “Bill S-244: An Act to amend the Department of Employment and Social Development Act and the Employment Insurance Act (Employment Insurance Council)”, passed by the Senate of Canada on 18 June 2024, and considers that bill as an attempt to strengthen social dialogue in the development of labour market policy. Bill S-244 would create an Employment Insurance Advisory Council tasked with providing advice and making recommendations, and consisting of representatives of employers’ and workers’ organizations, supported by the participation of provincial and territorial government labour market ministers and advisers, and Indigenous representatives. The CLC states that the Government has been reluctant to support an Employment Insurance Advisory Council and has declined to recognize or participate in the Senate Jobs and Skills Roundtable convening the social partners. The CLC further states that the federal Government has brought forward a centrepiece of its AI strategy, the Artificial Intelligence and Data Act (AIDA), as part of Bill C-27 (House of Commons, 44th Parliament, first session, 22 November 2021). However, according to the CLC, the Government did not undertake appropriate consultations with social partners and, in particular, unions in the design and development of the legislation. The Committee notes the specific allegations of the CLC regarding a lack of effective consultation on the above legislative reforms with a direct impact on employment. The Committee requests the Government to provide a detailed response to these allegations and more specifically: (1) to indicate its current position on Bill S-244 and on the re-establishment of a formal, permanent tripartite consultation mechanism for the governance of the Employment Insurance system; and (2) to describe the consultations that were held with workers’ and employers’ organizations during the development of Bill C-27 (AIDA) and how their advice was taken into account, in accordance with Article 3 of Convention No. 122.

The Committee recalls that the governance of artificial intelligence is an essential component of employment policy within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention. It further recalls that the Employment Policy (Supplementary Provisions) Recommendation, 1984 (No. 169), underscores the need to ensure “liaison and consultation” with the social partners on questions concerning new technologies (para. 23) and to encourage bargaining on their “social consequences” (para. 25). The Committee therefore requests the Government to respond in detail to the CLC’s allegations in this respect.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.