The Caledon Institute of Social Policy Announcements

The Labour Market Agreements: What Did They Really Do?

Donna E. Wood and Brigid Hayes, June 2016

From 2008 until 2014, the federal government transferred funds through the Labour Market Agreements to the provinces and territories to support labour market programs and employment services for disadvantaged Canadians. In 2013, Ottawa unilaterally cancelled the Labour Market Agreements and replaced them (except in Québec) with Canada Job Fund Agreements. In doing so, Ottawa moved from helping the most disadvantaged to supporting employers to train their own employees. This paper assesses Labour Market Agreement programming over its six-year lifespan and compares provincial results. The paper demonstrates that there is a strong and continuing need for LMA-type programming in Canada.

ISBN – 1-55382-668-X

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When is a dollar more than a dollar?

Sherri Torjman, June 2016

This commentary was published as an op ed in the Globe and Mail on May 30, 2016. It describes a new approach emerging throughout the world that is stretching the power of public dollars beyond their traditional role. So-called “community benefits agreements” are seeking to ensure that broader economic and social benefits are embedded right from the get-go in all investment plans. There is precedent throughout the world for these measures, including the Ontario Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act that embeds reference to community benefits. It is time for the federal government to step up to the plate as it makes plans to spend $120 billion on infrastructure over the next ten years.

ISBN – 1-55382-669-8

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