Canadian employers, facing labour shortage, accommodate the unvaccinated
Canadian employers, facing labour shortage, accommodate the unvaccinated
OTTAWA -
Canada's tight labour market is forcing many companies to offer regular COVID-19 testing over vaccine mandates, while others are reversing previously announced inoculation requirements even as Omicron variant cases rise.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government adopted one of the strictest inoculation policies in the world for civil servants and has already put more than 1,000 workers on unpaid leave, with thousands more at risk.
Airlines, police forces, school boards and even Canada's Big Five banks have also pledged strict mandatory vaccine policies. But following through has proven less straightforward, especially as employers grapple with staffing shortages and workers demand exemptions.
Job vacancies in Canada have doubled so far this year, official data shows, and vaccine mandates can make filling those jobs harder, potentially putting upward pressure on wages. That could fuel inflation, already running at a near two-decade high.
"It's already difficult to find staff, let alone putting in a vaccine mandate. You'd cut out potentially another 20%" of potential workers, said Dan Kelly, chief executive of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
There are pitfalls to employing the unvaccinated. Companies run a higher risk of COVID-19 outbreaks and many vaccinated employees are uncomfortable working with those who have not had the jab, said industry groups and marketing experts.
At Luda Foods, a Montreal-based soup and sauce maker, president Robert Eiser said he has 14 open jobs, no vaccine mandate and no plans to restrict new hires to the vaccinated.
"I don't know that I want to reduce the (labour) pool, which is already quite low," said Eiser. "We need to attract people to meet the demand. If we don't, our competitors will."
Data released on Friday underpinned Canada's tight labour market, with a hefty 153,700 jobs added in November. It also showed a growing mismatch between available workers and unfilled jobs. And job postings are far above pre-pandemic levels.
WALKING BACK
Quebec backtracked on a vaccine mandate for health-care workers last month, saying they could not afford to lose thousands of unvaccinated staff. Ontario, which was also eyeing a mandate, said it would not go ahead.
TD Bank and Bank of Montreal have both softened their vaccine policy to allow regular testing for workers who missed their Oct. 31 inoculation deadline.
In Canada, 86% of adults are fully inoculated, though that drops under 80% among 18-40 year olds. At least 15 cases of the new Omicron variant in Canada have been reported in the past week.
John Cappelli, vice president of onsite managed services in Canada for global recruitment firm Adecco, said half of his clients are mandating vaccines with the other half allowing regular testing for the unvaccinated.
But he expects the Omicron variant will prompt more workplaces to get strict on vaccination, even as they grapple with the tightest job market he's seen in his 25-year career.
"We are now starting to see our first workplace (COVID-19) cases in five months," he said.
The number of Canadian job postings on search website Indeed mentioning vaccine requirements has quadrupled since August.
In the hard-hit manufacturing sector, where 77% of firms say their top concern is attracting and retaining workers, vaccine mandates are more rare.
Dennis Darby, CEO of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters, said most of Canada's factories have operated safely throughout the pandemic. While CME encourages vaccination, "some companies are still using rapid testing if somebody doesn't want to get vaccinated," he added.
But companies risk a hit to their reputation if they are overt in efforts to tap into the unvaccinated as a labor pool, said Wojtek Dabrowski, managing partner at Provident Communications.
"If you go out and say, 'We are intentionally seeking to hire unvaccinated people,' many customers are equating that with you being anti-science and anti-safety," said Dabrowski.
The Bank of Canada hiked its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point Wednesday, bringing it to 4.5 per cent. Here's a look at what the rate means, how analysts are interpreting it and what it could mean for consumers.
The federal government's latest TFSA contribution limit increase took effect as of January 1, 2023. Personal finance contributor Christopher Liew outlines how the government’s most recent TFSA contribution limit increase affects you and how to make the most of it.
Finding an affordable place to live in the territories, where housing has long been a challenge, is getting even harder, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation suggested in a report released in December. In Yellowknife, the report said, the growing senior population, urbanization and strong labour market has pressured the housing supply.
Canada is suffering from a severe skills shortage in several key sectors, experts say, thanks to factors that include deficiencies in our education system as well as changing demographics. CTVNews.ca looks at some of the skills that will be most in-demand in 2023.
Bond portfolios took a beating in 2022 as interest rates climbed, but experts say investors shouldn't neglect bonds this year as the Bank of Canada nears the end of its rate hike cycle.
Canadian investors who made it through a tumultuous 2022 face further uncertainty in the year ahead amid increased recession risk. Investment professionals and personal finance experts say the easiest way to grow your money this year is to keep things simple.
In early 2020, 25.1 per cent of Canadians received $2,000 from the Canada Emergency Response Benefit, according to Statistics Canada. In his latest column on CTVNews.ca, personal finance contributor Christopher Liew explains how repayment works.
