Aboriginal Canadians constitute an ever-increasing proportion of the Canadian labour force. Given that Canada is going to experience a labour market shortage in western Canada over coming years, it is in our best interests to ensure that Aboriginal Canadians possess the educational training and skills necessary to compete successfully in the job market. Incorporating Aboriginal Canadians within the labour market is one of western Canada's most important challenges.
Working Towards Parity is the third and final installment of Canada West's Aboriginal Human Capital Strategies Initiative (AHCSI), a one-year research initiative designed to communicate the importance of Aboriginal human capital to the western Canadian economy, to increase the availability and quality of information regarding the labour market realities facing Aboriginal Canadians in the West, and to identify successful strategies for improving Aboriginal labour market outcomes.
The following ten public policy recommendations that are presented in Working Towards Parity are based on the knowledge accumulated throughout the AHCSI:
1. Governments must identify Aboriginal human capital as a top priority, and communicate this message broadly
2. The federal and provincial governments need to work together on Aboriginal human capital policy
3. Governments should cooperate to set quantifiable on- and off-reserve Aboriginal education targets
4. Governments should require all primary and secondary schools to include Aboriginal content, and should provide all education staff with the training and tools to help ensure the success of Aboriginal students
5. The federal and provincial governments should coordinate K-12 education grading criteria to ensure all provincial residents holding a high school certificate (both on-reserve and off-reserve, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) satisfy provincial K-12 skill requirements
6. Provincial governments, the federal government, school boards and post-secondary institutions should coordinate and communicate human capital opportunities for Aboriginal students, and should evaluate Aboriginal post-secondary completion rates
7. Governments should cooperate to set quantifiable Aboriginal employment targets (both on- and off-reserve), and should gather sufficient data to assess short- and long-term progress
8. Governments should fund locally-based non-profit support and outreach services that focus on Aboriginal labour recruitment and retention issues for small- and medium-sized organizations
9. The federal and provincial governments should be open to training and employment partnerships with businesses working on or near reserves
10. The federal government should improve the availability of Aboriginal data
These policy recommendations are primarily directed at the federal and provincial governments — not because improving Aboriginal human capital outcomes is solely a government responsibility, but rather as a reflection of CWF's focus on public policy. Indeed, many parties including parents, relatives, community leaders, elders, businesses, unions, educators, school boards and the pubic at large have a role to play in improving Aboriginal human capital outcomes. Successfully working towards parity requires that Canadians — Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal alike — embrace the fact that this policy area affects us all.
Author(s): Ben Brunnen
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