Career Trends

Ontario has a strong economy and many opportunities to offer newcomers. But finding a job takes hard work. It can also take time. It's a good idea to prepare for your job search before you leave for Ontario.

I saw that the Labour Market Information Service had already been previously commented on. So I decided to share this link on immigration in Ontario instead. It talks about finding work for new immigrants. This could be temporary or full time work.

Some interesting information about the measurement of poverty using the HPI (Human Poverty Index), as well as low income measures in Canada.

One of the best ways to learn more about a specific industry, job, or organization is by connecting with professionals who are actually in the field. The technical term for this type of interaction is called 'Informational Interviewing'. Often the most current information about a career field, especially in a specific geographic location, may not be available in print or online resources. This resource gives great information on informational interviewing. It gives benefits of informational interviews as well as steps in conducting an informational interview along with samples of what one can say or questions one can ask.

For years, Eileen Hasselhoff enjoyed her steady job as a cashier at a Toronto fast-food restaurant. She didn't earn a lot, typically minimum wage, but at least she had regular hours that let her plan her life and save a little for retirement. That all changed a few years ago.

In 2008 the Municipal Finance Officers' Association published a 27 page document that I find quite fascinating. It addresses the challenge that municipalities have in finding a balance between embracing local strengths, working within the framework of government and competing on a global scale. It breaks Ontario into different regions, talks about each regions' strengths, identifies stakeholders and suggests ways that all parties can work together to strengthen Ontario's competitiveness on a number of scales.

This article is very helpful in guiding businesses/industries on how to remain competitive, and the importance of doing so. It offers many links and tools for assessing one's company in relation to its competition, and offers explanations on how to accurately follow and implement their guidelines. This article is a simplified tool for expanding a business and improving its competitiveness, or ensuring that they remain the leading competitor in their industry.

The site lists the minimum wage across Canada. Interesting that working full-time for minimum wage puts a single person below the poverty line.

While the unemployment rate may 'only' be at 7%, a more informed look at the statistics would reveal real Canadian struggle. 7% may seem low, but this stat does not include 'discouraged workers' in Canada (those who have given up on finding work and are no longer looking). And while the employment rate may appear to be at an all-time high, look closer and you find that most of those workers do NOT have full-time work, and the stats have climbed only because of the increase of women in paid roles in the last decades.

This article discusses the impacts of unionized jobs, the loss of unions, and the economy.

This website provides quarterly updates on Ontario's Labour Market Information. It covers topics including: job gain/loss percentages, unemployment rates. It also breaks job information down by Industry covering employments rates, good produced, and various related services. This resource is beneficial as it covers regional trends within Ontario and provides you with graphs and charts so that the data is presented in an easier to understand manner. It also provides the sources of the data and the links to the source documents if available allowing for more in-depth research to be done on a particular number presented.

This is an article written by the CBC (April 2013) reporting the common practice of outsourcing jobs to foreign workers by Canadian banks. It points the finger particularly at RBC and its close relationship to iGate, a foreign IT company, which receives 11% of its revenue from RBC. Canadian Bank outsourcing is kept very private, therefore it is difficult to identify how many Canadian jobs have actually been lost. In 2012, at least 45 Canadian jobs at RBC were lost, and at CIBC, at least 41. This has resulted in fewer full-time positions and the banks have offered very little support for lay-offs.

Waterloo Region Record WATERLOO - In the future, Emily Loberto feels sure that there will be flying cars, even if she has to invent them herself. She wants there to be a cure for cancer. If there isn't one by the time she's older, she wants to help find it. ** Check out this great event that happened at the University of Waterloo this past Saturday to encourage women into the Engineering field. A colleague of mine attended and I'm looking forward to her feedback at work tomorrow. **

I think unemployment rates are something we should all be aware of. This PDF is government research that shows the average unemployment rates in Canada and in each province from 1976-2013. Note that in most provinces in the 1900s, the unemployment rate increased dramatically. This is clearly shown in the highest increase of 20.1% in Newfoundland and Labrador in 1993. It is also interesting to see how provinces like Saskatchewan were not hit with unemployment nearly as bad. Why do you think that is?

In this Canadian Living Article, the author describes what he considers to be the top 5 skilled trade jobs in Canada at this time. I think this could come in handy for job seekers looking to explore the skilled trades and I really appreciated that for each of the trade jobs listed, this article linked further sites containing more detailed information.

This is a fascinating video that makes you think about future trends in the world of work. It is an insight into the labour market, which is being overwhelmed with automation and technology. A very interesting video!

Hi everyone! :) This is an interesting article I found on Workopolis regarding workplace trends. It discusses what the authors believe will be some of the "in demand" jobs in the future. This article also links to a similar but useful page (linked below) that discusses some of the jobs that will likely become obsolete in the 10 -20 years. http://www.workopolis.com/content/advice/article/workopolis-2013-research-ten-jobs-that-will-not-exist-ten-years-from-now/

Workplace education helps provide a foundation for lifelong learning as people and businesses grow together. Literacy and essential skills are at the... This website gives helpful information to employers on implementing literacy and essential skills training programs in their workplaces. It identifies and defines the nine essential skills.

Non-standard work has advantages and disadvantages from the perspectives of both employers and employees. Employers gain flexibility, access to specialized talent and cost savings by engaging contingent workers. On the downside, they lose out on the engagement and loyalty that come with a long-term attachment.

I thought this week I would look at non-standard types of work because in our midterm test I had trouble with some of the scenarios and understanding the difference between standard and non-standard work. Therefore, I thought this link might help everyone, not just me.

This article gives a summary of Charles Handy's work and theories. I looked it up to get more info on the "upside down" models mentioned in week 4's course notes. They are explained toward the end of the article.

One of the things we will need to be helping our clients to consider as Career Counsellors is whether attending University and paying tuition will yield a good Return on Investment given the projected earnings of potential careers. This article emphasizes the harsh reality that tuition fees are often too heavy for both low and middle income families and therefore may not always be the best investment, given the time it takes to pay back loans. But, one point that is very interesting: "For an annual average of $170 a family, undergraduate university tuition fees could be eliminated altogether."