A new study by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business says the average small business owner is working the equivalent of an eight-day workweek due to staffing challenges, especially in Western Canada. The report, based on a survey of CFIB members last September, found 59 per cent of Canada’s small and medium-sized businesses were affected…

Job vacancies across Britain have fallen for the eighth month in a row, as businesses hold back on recruitment amid economic pressures, new data show. According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Britain’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.7 percent in the three months to January. But the number of…

Britain should focus on fixing its “skills problem” rather than continuing to rely on migrant workers from overseas, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said. Talking to business leaders in the City of London on Monday, he said migration is not “the answer to all of our problems.” Starmer acknowledged there is short-term demand for…

A record number of people are entering or returning to the UK job market as the cost of living continues to rise, the latest official data shows. Britain’s economically inactive population increased during the COVID-19 pandemic as many older workers chose to retire early. But over recent months, there has been a wave of people…

If the government reduced taxes and reduced welfare benefits more gradually, more Quebecers receiving social support would join the workforce, suggests a study released Monday by the Montreal Economic Institute (MEI), a public policy think tank with offices in Montreal and Calgary. The study said the current welfare system “encourages long-term dependency through perverse economic…

Commentary For economic prognosticators, the year that just ended threw up some big surprises, including the first land war in Europe since 1945, spiralling inflation, and a series of rapid-fire interest rate increases as panicked central bankers rushed to tame soaring prices. Few, if any, forecasters anticipated these developments—a stark reminder of how hard it…

The UK government has expanded a scheme aimed at helping people with mental health problems find work. The government is investing £122 million ($135 million) to extend a service providing those who receive mental health support with employment advice to help them stay in work or return to the job market quicker, the Department of…

More British workers have quit the jobs market, causing the UK’s unemployment rate to hit its lowest level in 48 years but also worsening the already severe labour shortages. According to the latest data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Sept. 13, those classed as economically inactive rose by 194,000 to 9…

The government is responsible for over 80 percent of new jobs created in Canada since the pandemic started in early 2020, according to a recent think-tank study. In an August bulletin, the Fraser Institute compared net job growth between Canada’s public and private sectors and found that the public—or government—sector has accounted for nearly 87…

More than one-third of Canadian farms are facing labour shortages of both high and low-skilled workers, says a recent report from the Department of Agriculture. “Around a third of producers, 35 percent, were facing labour market challenges in 2022,” said the report titled “2022 Strategic Issues Survey With Producers,” obtained by Blacklock’s Reporter. “Recruitment of…