Keeping PEI Prosperous: Employer Consultation on Finding and Retaining Skilled Workers

Employers across Atlantic Canada are facing labour and skill shortages. Retention of young people and newcomers in the region remains a challenge, and many people who relocate elsewhere in Canada report jobs as a leading cause for their decision to move away.

The Public Policy Forum and Professor Tony Fang at Memorial University are conducting an initiative to develop a deep understanding of Atlantic Canadian employer perceptions on their hiring and retention challenges, especially pertaining to immigrant workers. This work will:

• Identify current provincial labour market conditions and the hiring and retention challenges that employers experience;
• Examine factors influencing employers’ decision to hire immigrants; and,
• Identify measures to improve skills matching and retention of skilled workers.

To that end, the Public Policy Forum and Dr. Fang are hosting roundtable discussions in each Atlantic province. The first summary report from St. John’s, Newfoundland, can be seen here.

The PEI Immigration Partnership at the PEIANC and Professor Wimal Rankaduwa at the University of PEI are supporting this engagement by convening conversations with stakeholders. The purpose of the roundtables is to gather input and feedback from key doers and deciders about how to better match skilled workers with employers in search of workers. Your input will help in the development of a report tailored to the current PEI context. The report will be shared with government partners, made publicly available, and the summary findings and recommendations from across Atlantic Canada will be presented at PPF’s regional Atlantic conference in spring 2020.

We hope that you are able to join us for this discussion. Your perspective and expertise will be a very welcome addition to the findings and recommendations.

If you have any questions about the roundtables or the project, please do not hesitate to contact PPF’s Policy Lead, Charlie Carter.

By invite only.

Thank you to our Partner: