The Contemporary Aboriginal Workforce

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The Contemporary Aboriginal Workforce
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Aboriginal employees will help reach and service
the large, growing Aboriginal market.

• Key Facts
• Population size- there are more than 1.3 million
  Aboriginal peoples across Canada (See Figure 2).
• Population growth - one of the fastest growing
  segments of the population in Canada, the
  Aboriginal population is increasing in every
  province and territory (See Figures 1, 3, 4, 5).
• Sectoral impacts - significant positive impact
  will affect certain sectors such as
  education/training services, computer-based
  learning, youth recreation market, etc.
• Growing financial strength - land claim
  settlements have yielded, and will continue to
  yield, large sums of money to the Aboriginal
  population. As a result, significant amounts are
  spent outside Aboriginal communities, benefiting
  surrounding non-Aboriginal economies.
• Purchasing power - resulting from population
  growth, income growth, economic development and
  land claims. Aboriginal communities comprise a
  multi-billion-dollar market for goods and
  services (Figure 15).

3
Aboriginal peoples represent an important source
of new entrants and new skills for the workforce.

• Key Facts
• Labour force growth - over the next decade
  (1997-2007), the Aboriginal labour force is
  projected to grow by 23 percent (Figures 7, 8).
• Rising education levels - the number of
  Aboriginal peoples with post-secondary education
  tripled between 1981 and 1991 to 150,000. The
  retention rate of on-reserve schools increased
  from 13 percent in 1969-70 to 75 percent in
  1995-96 (Figure 12).
• Extensive training activities - Aboriginal
  peoples participate in many training initiatives.
  In 1990, Human Resources Development Canada
  (HRDC) started to sign partnership agreements
  with Aboriginal peoples to facilitate Aboriginal
  training and employment. In the latter part of
  this decade, HRDC has been exploring and
  experiencing the transfer of authority over the
  design and delivery of Aboriginal training and
  employment programming to the Aboriginal
  community. The overall budget for this exercise,
  renewed for five years as of April 1999,
  continues to be over 200 million per year.

4
Aboriginal peoples represent an important source
of new entrants and new skills for the workforce.
(Continued)

• Key Facts
• Relevant skills - Aboriginal peoples work in many
  occupations, including business and finance,
  management, social sciences and education,
  health, and natural and applied sciences (See
  Figure 14).
• Proximity to workplaces - most Aboriginal peoples
  live within commuting distance of the majority of
  workplaces. More than 80 percent of the
  on-reserve registered Indian population lives
  near urban centres or rural communities (See
  Figure 10).
• Increased mobility - today, Aboriginal peoples
  are much more mobile, with many relocating to
  where opportunities are available (Figure 11).

5
Aboriginal employment opportunities contribute to
local community support for new resource
development projects.

• Key Facts
• Environmental legislation - federal and
  provincial environmental legislation gives local
  Aboriginal communities considerable influence
  over project approvals, especially if such
  projects would have a significant socio-economic
  impact on lifestyle and traditional activities.
• Licensing approvals - the Ontario government has
  stipulated that any developer of "areas of
  traditional use by First Nations" must negotiate
  all aspects of the development with the local
  First Nations, as part of the licensing approval
  process.
• Socio-economic impacts - the Nunavut Impact
  Review Board has the mandate to screen and review
  projects that may have significant adverse
  socio-economic effects on northerners or projects
  that generate significant public concern.

6
Providing employment opportunities facilitates
successful business joint ventures with
Aboriginal communities.

• Key Facts
• Community infrastructure - the growth and
  revitalization of many Aboriginal communities is
  generating significant growth of community
  infrastructure, providing opportunities for joint
  ventures in construction and other areas of
  infrastructure development (Figure 16).
• Aboriginal Business Procurement Policy - the
  policy is designed to increase the number of
  Aboriginal businesses and joint ventures bidding
  for federal government contracts. All federal
  departments are encouraged to set aside
  opportunities for Aboriginal suppliers.
  Aboriginal firms are given first opportunity to
  supply goods and services in contracts servicing
  Aboriginal communities. Aboriginal joint ventures
  must be 51 percent Aboriginal owned and firms of
  six or more employees, 33 percent of full-time
  employees must be Aboriginal.

7
Aboriginal employees bring knowledge and values
that can assist corporate change and growth.

• Key Facts
• Aboriginal values - Aboriginal peoples place a
  high value on consensus and respect for others.
• Diversity in decision making - Aboriginal
  employment increasing diversity in the workplace.
  This, in turn, yields richness of ideas,
  better-informed decisions and enhanced
  performance within the organization.
• Respect for land - land is a valued legacy to
  future generations. Traditional philosophy of
  land management is based on long-term protection
  of the environment.
• Traditional knowledge - the United Nations
  Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
  (UNESCO) has noted that "the indigenous peoples
  of the world possess an immense knowledge of
  their environments, based on centuries of living
  close to nature. Living in and from the richness
  and variety of complex ecosystems, they have an
  understanding of the properties of plants and
  animals, the functioning of ecosystems and the
  techniques for using and managing them...."

8
Aboriginal employment helps companies meet their
legal obligations and improves their access to
federal contracts.

• Key Facts
• Employment Equity Act - the Act requires
  federally-regulated employers to achieve a
  representative workforce. Organizations that fall
  short of this goal may face complaints under the
  Canadian Human Rights Act on grounds of
  employment discrimination.
• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - the
  Charter (and provincial and territorial human
  rights statutes) permits employers to take
  special measures to achieve equitable
  representation of Aboriginal peoples and other
  groups in the workforce.
• Provincial surface lease agreements - such
  agreements may set conditions that require mining
  companies to create and improve employment
  opportunities for Aboriginal peoples.
• Federal Contractors Program - major contractors
  to the federal government are required to
  implement and report on their employment equity
  initiatives.

9
Aboriginal employment opens international
opportunities, especially in the resources area.

• Key Facts
• New mining opportunities - as the likelihood of
  large surface mines in traditional mining areas
  diminishes, the exploration focus in on new
  frontiers such as Canadas northern territories,
  Latin America and Asia-Pacific, all areas with
  significant indigenous populations.
• Investment risk - community support or opposition
  significantly impacts the risk and costs of large
  capital projects. Corporate risk-management
  strategies place more emphasis on initiatives to
  achieve long-term community support.

10
References

• Aboriginal Workforce Participation Initiative
  (Employer Toolkit book), c 1998 Indian and
  Northern Affairs, CanadaGraphics reproduced by
  Barry Andrie, A.Sc.T., GIS Unit, IT, Saskatchewan
  Education, with the permission of the Minister of
  Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2002.

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