Toronto, Ontario — March 5, 2017 — The Automotive Industries Association (AIA) of Canada has officially announced the launch of a new labour market intelligence project for the automotive aftermarket in Canada. The project, formally known as the Aftermarket Labour Market Intelligence (ALMI), aims to provide unprecedented access to functional and timely labour market information and, more importantly, shed light on the lack of knowledge pertaining to skill gaps, labour shortages and compensation. The announcement was made during a special event at Centennial College.
Collision Repair magazine first reported on this in February when the intent of the project was first announced. For more on this, please see “AIA Canada launches labour market project.”
“This project is of great importance to the automotive aftermarket because, as an industry association, we regularly receive requests for information on the labour market from governments, industries and the media. Regrettably, the information just isn’t available,” explains Jean-François Champagne, President, AIA Canada. “The knowledge gap means that decisions, in regards to policy development, curriculum planning and strategic hiring for example, are made without a complete and accurate picture of the current state of the aftermarket. “
Funded by the Government of Canada’s Sectoral Initiatives Program, the research stage of the project is well under way. Researchers are already working to outline the state of the current labour market, as well as provide a gap analysis to identify the missing labour market data. The end result will be an online bilingual interactive tool that tracks significant labour information in the industry. The tool is expected to launch in the last half of 2018.
“We are here today to promote leadership and innovation in an industry that is evolving rapidly,” said the Honourable Patty Hajdu, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour. “Tracking job market information and make it more accessible to workers and employers will grow our middle class and help those working hard to join it.”
The automotive aftermarket employs nearly half of the occupations in the automotive industry, equal to over 388,000 people.
“This investment will create more jobs and opportunities in the $21 billion automotive aftermarket industry,” said the Honourable John McKay, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of National Defence and Member of Parliament for Scarborough–Guildwood. “The Labour Market information collected will provide a bridge between employers, the close to 400,000 workers, and post-secondary institutions – such as Centennial College – to identify the skills necessary to meet the demands of an industry experiencing unprecedented growth.”
AIA Canada and project stakeholders believe that the ALMI tool will make a significant impact in supporting access to functional and timely labour market information for the industry, and will be essential for industry employees and employers, job seekers, and students.
“Right from the start we’ve had the support of both the mechanical and collision sectors, colleges and other learning institutions, as well as from the government at all levels,” explains Champagne. “The project has a lot of ground to cover but the support is there. As the project progresses, it’ll be interesting to see how the tool will grow and help change how we understand labour in the automotive aftermarket.”
