ARE ADULTS MAKING USE OF CAREERS SERVICES IN CANADA?
An Insight Report from the Labour Market Information Council
and the Future Skills Centre, Canada
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a historic disruption in the job market, bringing renewed attention to the availability and access of services to support Canadians in their career choices.
- Almost one in five adults aged 25–64 have received career services in the past five years, compared to half of youth aged 18–24.
- Among adults, the likelihood of using career services differs significantly between groups. Men, those with post-secondary education, immigrants and unemployed people are more likely to use career services:
- Men (23%) are more likely to use career services than women (18%)
- Adults with post-secondary education (29%) are more likely to use career services than those with less education (17%)
- Immigrants to Canada (27%) accessed career services more than Canadian citizens (17%)
- Unemployed persons (27%) accessed career services more than the employed (24%) or those not in the labour force (10%)
- Career services are used about equally across regions
- Nearly everyone who engaged with career services reported some positive impact, although many report key gaps in the provision of labour market information. Yet large numbers of Canadians are not accessing career services, either because they are not aware of them, don’t feel the need for them or face access barriers. And compared to other OECD countries, the use of career services is much lower in Canada.
- Wider awareness about career services is needed in Canada, especially for groups most vulnerable to career disruptions. Equipping career service providers with labour market information tools, skills and capacity to better serve the needs of Canadians will be critical moving forward.
To download this report – https://lmic-cimt.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Are-Adults-Making-Use-of-Career-Services-in-Canada.pdf