Canada’s bio-economy is likely to require 65,000 additional workers by 2029. Companies will be challenged to fill positions due to a highly competitive labour market, relatively low awareness of bio-economy careers and, in many cases, an ongoing lack of HR capacity or capital to attract and retain candidates. Bio-manufacturing capacity will be a particularly urgent area of need, both in the bio-health sub-sector and more broadly.
Recommendations:
- Create anchor companies to help develop a stronger ecosystem of bio-economy companies and talent
- Support work-integrated learning by incorporating it into more programs
- Diversify recruitment and human resources practices to reach a broader and more diverse talent pool
- Create a wage subsidy program for immigrants to reduce the perceived risk of hiring immigrants.
- Create pathways for international students and IEPs to integrate international talent into the labour market
- Support reskilling initiatives to expand the talent pool beyond traditional fields of education and work experience
- Foster bio-economy mobility to expand the talent pools for companies not located near educational hubs
- Strengthen human resource offerings to compete for talent more effectively against other sectors
- Improve succession planning to reduce the need to hire externally
- Raise awareness of bio-economy career opportunities to increase the talent supply
Building on Sequencing the Data, the last national full LMI study conducted in 2013 , this new national study gives a much-needed update on the complex, multi-dimensional bio-economy, the companies within it, and the skills and talent they require. Its insights are based on surveys, stakeholder roundtables and interviews, an environmental scan and extensive data analysis.
The Close-up on the bio-economy LMI series is published as part of BioTalent Canada’s mission to provide bio-economy stakeholders with valuable, evidence-based labour market intelligence and job-ready human resources.
It also includes:
- A Demand and Supply Outlook
- Regional spotlights (Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Prairies, Western Canada)
- Metro hub spotlights (Greater Montreal, Greater Toronto Area, Metro Vancouver)
- Research briefs on topics such as bio-economy education and work-integrated learning
Visit biotalent.ca/LMIStudy to download these and other LMI reports, briefs and articles.
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