A closer look at the federal economic growth council’s recommendations

OTTAWA — The Trudeau government’s economic advisory council unveiled new recommendations Monday under five categories. Ottawa is widely expected to incorporate elements of these suggestions into its upcoming budget.

Here’s a look at the latest growth-boosting proposals from the council:

Expanding workforce participation — The council warned there’s significant under-representation from some demographic groups in the labour force, most notably indigenous people, lower-income earners, women with young kids and Canadians aged 55 to 69 years old. The council says these groups are an untapped resource who could add billions to the gross domestic product if the government finds ways to get more of them into the job market.

Training workers for the future — The report said Canada has to respond to “monumental shifts” throughout the global labour market to help future generations prepare for the evolving job market, particularly even as employers spend less to train their workers. It recommended the creation of an arm’s length “laboratory” for skills development that would identify labour needs, help fill in gaps in the workforce and assess results.

Getting the full potential out of important industries — The council said Canada has eight key sectors that have considerable potential to give even more to the economy. The list includes agriculture and food; energy and renewables; mining and metals; health care and life sciences; advanced manufacturing; financial services; tourism and education. These industries have greater potential if the right conditions are in place, it said. The council suggests the government consider actions to help address excessive regulations, interprovincial trade barriers, shortages in skilled labour and infrastructure problems.

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Transforming Canada into a trade hub — The group recommended steps to improve Canada’s trade infrastructure, such as ports, airports and highways, to help firms better connect to foreign markets. The government was also called on to deepen its critical relationship with the U.S., expand its ties to Mexico and make significant efforts to create trading links to fast-growing economies of Japan, India and China.

Boosting innovation to drive productivity and growth — With the “traditional engines” of Canadian growth slowing, the council said the country can no longer depend heavily on natural resources. It listed several ways Canada can boost innovation, including the creation of additional pools of capital to help firms scale up, changes to procurement policy to help young companies land more customers in the public sector and boosting government innovation programs that have proven impacts.

Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press