This paper is part of the FOCAL Initiative’s response to commentary we heard about
youth recruitment and retention from automotive sector employers during this
project’s initial round of sectoral engagements in the fall of 2019.

The demographic shift toward an older labour force in Canada presents automotive manufacturing employers with significant challenges. An aging labour force means a loss of the accumulated skill and knowledge of older workers simultaneous along with increased pressure to compete with other sectors in the hiring and retention of young workers.

It is clear that youth recruitment and retention will be a necessary focus for the sector in the coming years. FOCAL’s baseline occupational forecasts for automotive manufacturing in Ontario indicate that for the period 2021-2030, the sector’s projected recruitment gap is 30,000 employees, almost a fifth of the province’s current automotive manufacturing workforce. Our forecast for Quebec’s recruitment gap for the same time period is just under 5,000 employees (about a third of the current provincial sectoral workforce).

This paper provides readers with broad context around youth employment and wages in Canada’s automotive labour force. It also reviews research literature on public opinion around youth and manufacturing employment and summarizes employer feedback received during this project’s sectoral engagements in the autumn of 2019.