Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau was in town Thursday to discuss opportunities for young Canadians during a town hall at the University of Guelph.
The event was held for students and members of the community where Morneau encouraged questions from the audience to discuss various issues important to them.
Through the many concerns that were raised, employment was a critical discussion topic for students approaching graduation.
The issue of highly qualified personnel from the U of G finding themselves overqualified for jobs was raised by Danyelle Liddle, a third-year Ph.D. student in human health and nutritional science.
Morneau said the reality is that there is always going to be some mismatch between the kind of jobs that are available and the ones the graduates have and added that he would argue that the kind of experiences that people are getting from undergraduate, graduate and Ph.D. degrees are the ones that are actually needed.
“If we looked right now at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, Canada actually doesn't have as unique graduate and Ph.D. level of people as is the case in broader OECD countries. We're about 10 per cent versus 14 per cent,” said Morneau.
Morneau further highlighted the need for talent in Guelph businesses during an interview following the town hall discussion.
Morneau emphasized the strength of the Guelph economy as a result of businesses doing extremely well. He also credited some of this success to the vibrancy of businesses and the quarter between Toronto, Guelph and Waterloo.
From a challenge standpoint, he identifies that finding and keeping really talented people is an observable issue in Guelph.
“The success is so strong that Guelph actually has the lowest unemployment rate in the country,” said Morneau.
Guelph’s unemployment rate is 2.3 per cent as of Dec. 2018 according to Statistics Canada.
“What our government is focused on, is making sure we help in the training and the retraining of people so that they can be ready for exciting jobs like those that are here in Guelph,” said Morneau, “and more broadly, that we think about things like a strong immigration system - ways that businesses can bring highly talented people from other countries.”
He also pointed out the benefits of the Global Skills Strategy, a project that the federal government implemented to allow highly skilled individuals to work in Canada without a work permit. It broadens Canadian employers’ chances to find talent across the world.
“We have, over the last three and a half year, made a concerted effort to make sure we do well in our country but we do well so that people can do well,” said Morneau at the town hall discussion.
For students in the audience, it was a unique opportunity to have a dialogue with the Finance Minister.
Mark Zonani, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in political science said the town hall discussion was a good opportunity to understand the positions of the federal government and how it relates to student interest and concerns.
