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Developing Tomorrow’s
Workforce Today
March 2007
Current Snapshot of the Canadian ICT Labour Market
Branham Group Inc.
REPORTS
Information and Communications Conseil des technologies de l’information
Technology Council et des communications
Table of Contents
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Project Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Project Approach & Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Organization of Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
About Branham Group Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Profile of Employment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ICT Occupational Labour Market Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Employment Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Supplier and User Industries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Type of Occupations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Regional Distribution of ICT Labour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
British Columbia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Prairie and Northern Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Ontario . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Quebec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Atlantic Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
IT Labour Market Demographics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Internal Labour Market Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Recruitment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Supply of IT Labour Market Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Employment Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Outsourcing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Import/Export of ICT Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Recruitment Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Relocation of New Recruits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Role of Internationally Educated Professionals (IEP) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Succession Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Demand for IT Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Training and Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Need for Additional Training or Upgrading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Appendix A – Research Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Appendix B – References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Disclaimer: This document was researched and written by Branham Group Inc., of Ottawa, Canada under a contract with ICTC. The analysis, views, conclusions, and
recommendations in this document are those of Branham Group Inc. and not necessarily, those of ICTC. Branham conducted its research based on industry publications,
personal experience, and interviews with various third parties. At the time of publishing this document (February 2007), the information contained within represents the
most current publicly available data. While efforts were made by the Branham Group Inc. to verify the completeness and accuracy of the information contained in this
documentation, this documentation is provided “as is” without any warranty whatsoever and to the maximum extent permitted, ICTC and Branham Group Inc. disclaim all
implied warranties, including without limitation the implied warranties of merchantability, non infringement and fitness for a particular purpose, with respect to the same.
ICTC and Branham Group shall not be responsible for any damages, including without limitation, direct, indirect, consequential or incidental damages, arising out of the use
of, or otherwise related to, this documentation or any other documentation. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, nothing contained in this documentation is intended
to, nor shall have the effect of, creating any warranties or representations from ICTC (or its suppliers or licensors).
Executive Summary
The Information and Communications Technology Council –
ICTC (www.ictc-ctic.ca) is a not-for-profit sector council
whose mandate is to assist in building a highly educated
Canadian ICT industry and workforce. Based primarily
on secondary research, the purpose of this paper is to help
the ICTC better understand the information that currently
exists from publicly available sources that will assist it in
further determining and identifying key labour market
knowledge needs on supply and demand issues in Canada.
The information derived through this project helps lay the
foundation for the much broader and all encompassing
study, The Outlook 2012-2015 report.
Industry Canada (IC), with the support of Statistics
Canada has been tracking what it calls the Information
and Communications Technologies (ICT) sector of the
economy. IC’s analysis is based on industry sectors using
NAICS. The data sources are primarily employer surveys.
IC cites three major industry sub-sectors as comprising
the ICT sector:
This report is divided into three core sections incorporating
a current employment profile, recruitment methodologies
and strategies, and training and education.
Industry Canada reports that ICT employment is
approximately 600,000 workers, based on NAICS; this
includes both IT and non-IT related roles, and is only
within the producer/supplier industries. It is clear that a
significant number of these workers, most particularly
in the manufacturing sector, are associated with hardware.
At the same time, the labour force size for the software
occupations, based on NOC and reported by the ICTC
as of September 2006, also reports approximately
600,000 workers. These two figures are “in the same
ballpark”, although the NOC data covers a smaller set
of occupations (i.e. only IT related roles), across both
producer and user industries.
Employment Profile
The employment profile provides a current view of the
ICT (producers/suppliers) labour workforce, including
employment levels, demographics, and occupational
types, while also providing some details as it relates
to IT employment in user industries (i.e. non-ICT, such
as Financial Services, Retail, Manufacturing, etc.). The
employment numbers in this section are primarily sourced
via the North American Industry Classification System
(NAICS) and the National Occupational Classification
System (NOC). It is important to understand how these
classification systems differ.
The Information and Communications Technology Council
(ICTC) has identified 21 occupations within the NOC
system that comprise the labour force associated with
the software component of the information technology
sector of the economy, including both producer and user
industries. These occupations have been used as the basis
of an annual report on the trends in the IT labour force
and the profile of the workers in the IT labour force, using
data derived from Statistics Canada’s (monthly) Labour
Force Survey (LFS).
With its new mandate that includes IT hardware, the ICTC
will now start to expand its set of NOC IT occupations to
include jobs associated with the hardware component.
March 2007
• ICT Manufacturing;
• ICT Services; and
• ICT Wholesale, Rental and Leasing.
While reading this report please keep in mind the
following points:
— NAICS: Measures total number of employees within
ICT companies (i.e. IT and non-IT roles).
— NOC: Measures total number of IT employees across
all industry sectors. For the purpose of this report, and
based on previous analysis completed by the ICTC in
its Labour Force Survey data, NOC codes were used to
calculate total IT employment across all industry sectors
(ICT and non-ICT), with the exception of IT hardware
related employment.
Note: As stated above, while NOC data does exist for
hardware, the ICTC is currently assessing which NOC
hardware codes apply to the IT labour market workforce.
This analysis is needed to provide a more accurate
depiction of total IT employment in Canada.
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While both of these classification systems together
provide some measure as to Canadian employment
levels for IT and non-IT workers within the industry,
there is currently no single metric that accurately depicts
the entire sector. For the purpose of this document, to
distinguish from the NOC and NAICS perspectives
(and other research that follows similar boundaries),
reference to IT employment (vs. ICT sector employment)
will include those employed in IT related fields and
performing IT related functions, regardless of the
sector for which they are employed (i.e. ICT: producer
industries and non-ICT: user industries). References to
ICT employment relates to those employed specifically
in the ICT sectors, (i.e. both IT and non-IT roles).
— IT job tenure is increasing with over 50% of employment being over four years (up from 40% in 2000).
Similarly, job tenure of less than three years has
dropped from 50% in 2000 to 40% in 2006.
— Confidence that they will be able to get another
job at the same pay rate as the one they currently
hold is increasing in Canadian employees (across
all industries).
• Employees:
— Almost 50% of the IT workforce holds at least a
bachelor’s degree.
The following presents some of the key findings with
respect to current IT and ICT labour market workforce
employment in Canada:
— Only one quarter of the IT workforce is female, who
are predominately found in fields such as graphic
design and illustration, and technical writing.
• Employers:
— Over 65% of the IT workforce is between the ages
of 25 and 44.
— Canada has 32,000 ICT firms employing
approximately 600,000 people. This surpasses
the previous peak in 2001.
– Approximately 76% are computer services
companies, 12% wholesale/rental/leasing,
and 7.6% ICT manufacturing
– 80% of companies employ 1 to 9 people,
14.8% employ 10 to 50 people, 2.7% employ
50 to 100 people, and 2.5% employ 100 or more
people, 120 companies employ over 500 people
– 16% to 20% of ICT workers are self employed
• Employment:
— Employment in the ICT sector is up, accounting
for approximately 3.6% of Canadian employment.
– ICT Service sub-sector continues to see an
upward trend, currently accounting for 72%
of all ICT employment
– ICT Manufacturing sub-sector employment has
been decreasing since 2000, but has leveled off
and recently seen some slight increases
— As of September 2006, there were approximately
600,000 people employed in IT related positions
throughout ICT and non-ICT industries, with the
exception of hardware, based on ICTC LFS data.
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— IT unemployment rate is low (1.9%) compared to
the national average (6.1%).
March 2007
– There has been a 3% increase and 2% decrease in
the 55+ and 15-24 age categories respectively,
since 2000.
— Visible minorities make up only 10% of the ICT
workforce.
– Higher numbers are seen in culturally diverse cities
(e.g. 31% of ICT jobs in Toronto)
– 1.5% have disabilities
– 1.0% are Aboriginal
Recruitment
The recruitment section visits current recruitment activities
such as resource availability, sources, and alternative
means for dealing with current inefficiencies. Key details
discussed in this section of the report include:
• Supply of IT Labour Market Resources:
— The IT unemployment rate is decreasing and is at a
low of approximately 2%.
— There was an 11% decrease in university enrollment
between 2002 and 2005 in the Computer
Engineering, Computer Science, and Software
Engineering fields.
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• Employment Status:
— 95% of IT jobs are full time jobs.
– 99% of engineer positions are full time
— 92% of jobs are permanent.
– 7% of non-permanent jobs are contractual, temporary, or term employment
– Programmers, technicians, and other IT disciplines
have the highest contractual rate at 8%; managers
are lowest at 3%.
• Succession Planning: Only two thirds of organizations have
succession plans for senior IT professionals.
Training
The training section provides a look at the growing demand
for IT resources and how education, retooling, and skills
upgrades can prepare new entrants and existing employees
for the ever changing IT labour market. Important details
discussed in this section include:
• Growing Demand:
• Outsourcing: Although cost reduction is still the number one
motivator, access to a skilled labour force is an increasing
motivator for outsourcing.
— IT annual employment growth from January 2000 to
July 2006 was 2.5% compared to a national average
of 1.8%.
• Recruitment Methods:
— IT annual employment growth is projected to be 2.3%
until 2010.
— 65% of private and 71% of public workers rely on
the Internet to find jobs.
– However, only 3% to 5% of job seekers find
employment via this method
– 60% now rely on informal networks for job seeking
— Employers are currently relying on a combination of
recruitment methods including employee referrals,
word-of-mouth, informal networking, and print
media.
— Visible minorities, females, and people with disabilities have more difficulty seeking employment because
of less access to word-of-mouth and personal
networks.
• Relocation of New Recruits:
— Organizations typically relocate employees because
of management or business unit requirements.
— Over 75% of organizations do not have processes in
place for assessing success of employment relocation.
• Role of Internationally Educated Professionals (IEPs):
— Canada receives 220,000 to 245,000 IEPs every year.
— Population growth will not meet demand based on
current projections.
– A shortage of 100,000 skilled workers is expected
by 2009; 1 million by 2016
— Retirements will increase demand for skilled labour,
although this could be delayed for the IT industry
thanks to a younger workforce.
— There are projected increases in demand specifically
for IT Security, Systems Infrastructure Software,
Telecommunication Services, and Hosted Application
Management.
• Training and Education:
— Canada spends more on education than any other
country.
– Canada (regardless of industry sector) has the
highest percentage (22%) of individuals with at least
a college or university degree
— ICT industry is more than twice the national average
with an estimated 48% employees with university
degrees and 27% with college or CEGEP.
— IEPs accounted for 70% of the growth for the entire
Canadian labour workforce.
– Software and Computer Services has the highest
percentage of University graduates (52%)
— IEPs and non-permanent residents account for
approximately 10% of the ICT workforce.
– Percentage of ICT Manufacturing employees with
university degrees ranges from 27% to 47%
depending on the type of manufacturing
— Employers do not find it important to hire IEPs in
their organizations.
— 70% of newcomers trying to enter the workforce
confront at least one problem regarding transferability
of foreign qualifications.
March 2007
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• Retooling and Upgrades:
— In addition to technical skills, soft skills are a major
expectation of employers.
– 85% of employees feel personal/interpersonal
communication skills very important
– 58% indicate general IT skills are important
— Employers weigh business experience higher than
technical skills.
— 25% of private sector employees need more training.
– 69% have had informal training in the last
12 months
– Technical training needs include programming
(41%), design (36%), systems admin (31%), and
system operation (30%)
• Companies need to retain and retrain existing employees.
— There is no longer a luxury to eliminate hundreds
of “obsolete” employees and hire hundreds of new
employees with slightly different skill sets.
• Individuals need to capitalize on employer supplied
educational resources even if completion requires
personal time without compensation.
In essence, those companies that seek IT skill sets need to
address the issue before the pain points are felt. Particularly
when looking at it from an industry perspective, where on
average, other industries are home to an older workforce;
which is set to retire earlier than those in employed in the
ICT sector. If something isn’t done, these other industries
will get the jump on influencing student career direction
away from IT related fields.
– Soft skill training needs include project management (39%), people management (31%), time
management (30%), and leadership (29%)
Finally, this report concludes with a discussion of important
aspects that need to be taken into consideration before
employers feel real pain when trying to deal with a skills
shortage. Specifically,
• Shortages are not exclusive to Canada or the ICT industry.
— Employers having most difficulty finding the right
people are located in Mexico (78%), Canada (66%),
and Japan (58%).
— The top 10 Canadian jobs employers are having
difficulty filling include Sales Representatives;
Customer Services Representatives/Customer
Support; Engineers; Drivers; Mechanics; Laborers;
Chefs/Cooks; Electricians; Skilled Trades; and Nurses.
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March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
Introduction
The Information and Communications Technology Council –
ICTC (www.ictc-ctic.ca) is a not-for-profit sector council
whose mandate is to assist in building a highly educated
Canadian ICT industry and workforce. As part of this
mandate the ICTC focuses on four key areas that ultimately
help in developing the quantity and quality of IT labour
market workforce professionals needed to maintain and
improve Canada’s position as a leader in the global
marketplace. These four areas consist of skills definitions,
labour market intelligence, career awareness and
professional development for the Canadian ICT industry,
educators and governments.
In building upon its current knowledge base, the purpose
of this paper is to help the ICTC to better understand the
information that currently exists from publicly available
sources that will assist it in further determining and
identifying key labour market knowledge needs on
supply and demand issues. With a general labour market
overview assessment, the ICTC will be better equipped to
determine where gaps exist not only in the IT labour market
intelligence that is available today, but more importantly,
where the resource gaps exist across key segments of the
nation and how they can be addressed accordingly.
To help it focus its efforts on sourcing and documenting the
appropriate market research, the ICTC retained Branham
Group to conduct a study, whose findings are summarized
in this report.
Project Objectives
The underlying objective for this project is to provide the
ICTC with a current IT and ICT labour market perspective,
based on publicly available documented sources of data
and information. The information derived over the course
of this project will provide further insight as to where gaps
exist (research and resources) across key IT sectors (in
Canada), while also laying the foundation for a much
broader and all encompassing study, The Outlook
2012-2015 report, which will start up in mid-2007.
The project scope parameters (i.e. Knowledge Needs)
include, but are not limited to, the following:
— Demographic characteristics of IT workers
— How and where IT workers acquired their current
skills (the role of colleges, universities, and private
training bodies)
— Role of internationally educated professionals in
the supply of IT workers
— In what regions IT workers are employed
— In what industries IT workers are employed
— Indicators of under-employment
— Evidence of skill shortages that may be constraining
hiring and output
— Relative importance of full-time, permanent
employment in comparison with part-time and
contractual employment, and self employment
— Displacement of IT work to third party providers
of IT services (outsourcers)
— Importance of offshore sources of supply for IT services
— Importance of export markets for ICT products
and services
Project Approach & Methodology
This project was largely based on secondary research,
although some high level primary research was conducted
to source some of the required information. Specifically,
Branham endeavored to contact key decision makers within
third party organizations to solicit their input and source
additional reference material. These interviews aided in
identifying/sourcing additional information not already
identified during the initial stages of the project, while
also providing quicker access to them. This information
helped supplement Branham’s secondary research.
Branham undertook extensive secondary research,
reviewing publicly available sources of information
including, but not limited to, industry publications,
press releases, market reports, internal/third party
databases, industry reviews, web-based documentation,
etc. The secondary research phase was intended to
identify and compile the key data points for analysis.
— Types of skills in demand
— Overall employment levels by occupation
— Functioning of internal labour markets: how duties and
skills are configured into occupations, how IT work is
organized, how IT workers are recruited, and the
careers path of IT workers
March 2007
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Branham’s research efforts (primary and secondary) also
included, but were not limited to, sourcing data and
information from:
— ICT Vendors (i.e. large hardware, software and services
providers; and those that offer ICT training solutions)
— ICT Associations (i.e. CATA, NATI, ITAC, ITANS, ITAP,
SATA, BCTIA, etc.)
— Research Institutes (i.e. Centers of Excellence, NRC,
CRIM, BC Research, ICTC, technology clusters, think
tanks, Fraser Institute, etc.)
— Academia (i.e. Canadian universities, colleges,
and IT training institutions)
— Government (i.e. Industry Canada, OEDC, Statistics
Canada, Conference Board of Canada, HRDC,
Provincial ministries, other international, etc.)
— Analysts (i.e. ILO, IDC, Forrester, Gartner, Datamonitor,
Frost & Sullivan, etc.)
— IT Staffing Agencies (Robert Half, Eagle, excelHR,
RIS, etc.)
— Other (industry influencers, IT investment firms, and
standards/regulatory bodies, amongst many others).
Despite Branham’s efforts to source the required data,
there were key areas of investigation to which current
or detailed information was not available. These areas
included, but were not limited to, the following:
— 2006 employment information is not yet available.
As such 2005 information was used in addition to
employment information up to the third quarter
of 2006.
— Available employment information is typically based
on ICT companies’ total employee counts and does
not provide a complete and accurate distinction for
producer versus user industry IT employment. As such,
detailed employment information for IT jobs across all
sectors (i.e. ICT and non-ICT companies) was lacking.
— Publicly available ICT employment data is not
up-to-date for some provinces.
— Information on Canadian firms’ experiences with
outsourcing engagements is lacking. In this instance,
it is difficult to link Canadian IT outsourcing activities
with IT skill shortages in the country.
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March 2007
— While information regarding student and youth
employment programs in Canada is plentiful,
there is a lack of data that presents the findings
on a provincial or national basis.
— There is a lack of information on the relocation
activities, specific to Canadian ICT firms, as it relates
to their hiring practices. Therefore, information was
presented from an overall industry perspective.
— Although some research has been done with regards
to succession planning, there remain several grey
areas with regards to exit patterns as well as methods
companies use in confronting this challenge.
— Information in determining skill requirements for
IT jobs in vertical industries, such as banking,
insurance, government and health care was lacking.
RESEARCH SOURCES: Most of the research for this report
came through various government departments (i.e. Industry
Canada and Statistics Canada), where private sector research
efforts appeared, in most cases, to be ad hoc and inconsistent
(excluding those efforts made by ICTC). Further, granular
data at the provincial or regional level was lacking across
most areas, and 2001Census data was not used based on the
significant changes IT employment has experienced since the
2000/2001 timeframe (new Census data set to be released in
March 2008). This report describes in detail the information
sources that were used, the publicly available information that
existed at time of writing, and in many cases describes the
key data points for which information was deficient or outdated.
Please refer to the information boxes (similar to this one)
throughout the report, in addition to Appendix A and B for
further detail.
Organization of Report
This report provides a review of the current ICT industry
(supplier-side) while also considering the IT skills
requirements of ‘user’ industries (i.e. non-ICT, such as
Financial Services, Manufacturing, etc.), to help determine
and identify key labour market knowledge needs on
supply and demand issues. The report is divided into
three core sections, including a current employment
profile, recruitment methodologies, and training regimes.
The employment profile provides a current view of the
Branham Group Inc.
IT labour workforce including employment levels,
demographics, and occupational types. The recruitment
section visits current recruitment activities such as resource
availability, sources, and alternative means for dealing with
current inefficiencies. The third section, deals with today’s
training regimes and their effectiveness for preparing new
entrants for the IT labour market (both ICT and non-ICT
industries), and their ability, or lack there of, to fulfill the
requirements of today’s businesses. Finally, this report
concludes with an assessment of potential skill shortages
and the availability of existing resources that are potentially
being underutilized.
About Branham Group Inc.
Branham Group provides “Go to Market” direction to
global Information Technology products and services
companies.
Since its inception in 1990, the widespread vision of
Branham’s professional team has taken the company to
all corners of the globe to assist valued clients. Branham’s
clients are based primarily in the United States, with a large
percentage in Canada and Europe. Recently the company’s
international reach has touched Latin American countries
and companies in the Asia Pacific markets.
Branham Group acts as an information channel for
the future of business in a wired world, helping clients
understand and leverage emerging and emergent
technologies.
As enterprises expand worldwide, in search of new
opportunities, the need for global and local business
intelligence increases. All of Branham’s analysis, strategies
and recommendations are based on its own primary
research that covers the global market. Branham
uncovers and documents the latest in IT developments,
following user trends and next generation IT leaders.
Over the last decade, Branham has assisted world
leaders in software, hardware and services. Through
its vast understanding of the IT Market, Branham has
been able to deliver meaningful insight to its clients in
the areas of planning, marketing, and partnering.
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
7
Profile of Employment
ICT Occupational Labour Market Overview
Employment Levels
Canada is internationally recognized for expertise in a
number of key technology clusters including, but not limited
to, aerospace, photonics, microelectronics, life sciences
and medical devices, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals,
aquaculture, nanotechnology, fuel cells and hydrogen
technologies, information technology, communications,
e-business, software, advanced materials, and ocean
technologies. Based on Industry Canada guidelines, each
of these clusters can fall into one of three ICT sub sectors:
Services; Manufacturing; and Wholesaling, Rental and
Leasing. Many of these Information and Communication
Technology (ICT) focus areas are centered in Canada’s
larger cities, which provide the required business climates,
infrastructures, and partnerships that allow businesses
to thrive.
The Canadian ICT sector is comprised of nearly 32,000
companies. Of these 32,000 companies, three quarters
of them are attributed to software and computer services
(76.2%), followed by ICT wholesaling/rental/leasing
(12.0%), and ICT manufacturing (7.6%).1 While Canada
does support some prominent larger firms including
Nortel, IBM, CGI, Alcatel, ATI (acquired by AMD), OPMCSierra, Cognos, Hummingbird, and Research in Motion,
amongst others, ninety-eight percent of these 32,000 firms
employ fewer than 100 people. Specifically 80% of these
companies employ 1 to 9 personnel, 14.8% employ 10 to
49 personnel, and 2.7% have 50 to 100 employees. The
remaining 2.5% employ more than 100 employees. There
are approximately 120 large companies to date, with over
500 employees.1
Since 1997 the ICT sector has grown at an annual rate
of 8.4 percent, twice as fast as the Canadian economy.
About two-thirds of Canada’s manufactured ICT products
(telecommunications equipment, electronics, computers,
electronic games, and software) are exported. Today,
Canada has more than 32,000 Information and
Communications Technology (ICT) firms employing over
600,000 workers which contributed over $52.3 billion
to the Canadian GDP in 2005.1
In 2005 the ICT sector employed an estimated 589,000
Canadians, up by 3.8% compared to 2004. This increase
was the third consecutive annual increase in sector
employment, which is now above its previous peak in
2001. In 2005, the ICT sector accounted for an estimated
3.6% of all Canadian employment, a number that has
remained relatively stable over recent years.2
8
135
130
Indexed Growth (1997=100)
TOTAL IT EMPLOYMENT CALCULATIONS: When it comes to
employment data, much of it is centered on total employment
figures for the ICT sector. In these calculations one must consider
that total ICT employment figures include non-IT roles (i.e.
admin, finance, HR, etc.), which is more than a representation
of total IT employment in this segment. Further, IT employment
is not limited to the ICT sector. In addition to employment
within the ICT industry, non-ICT industries also use technology
and therefore require IT related skills. This section will describe
in detail the data that exists across both of these domains.
Figure 1:
Indexed Growth in Employment for ICT Sector and
Canadian Economy
125
120
115
110
To distinguish between employment in ICT specific industries and
IT employment across all industries, the following conventions
will be used: ICT employment will refer to employment within
ICT specific industries (IT and non-IT roles); and IT employment
will include those employed in IT related fields regardless of the
sector for which they are employed (i.e. ICT and non-ICT). In
most cases ICT employment figures reflect data based on the
NAICS system, while IT employment figures (across all industries,
including ICT) are based on the NOC system.
Source: Industry Canada, ICT Branch, November 2006
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
105
100
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
Year
Total ICT Sector
Total Canadian Employment
2004
2005
Employment in the ICT manufacturing sub-sector was down
by an estimated 2.3% in 2005 as compared to 2004, a
continuation of a longer-term trend that has seen ICT
manufacturing employment decrease by nearly 24% since
2000. Despite this trend, moderate growth was observed
in the instruments industries. An estimated 90,000 people
were employed by the ICT manufacturing sub-sector in
2005. ICT wholesaling employment also saw a decrease in
2005 from 2004, of 2.9%, its second consecutive decrease.
Figure 2:
Indexed Growth in Employment by ICT Segment
170
Indexed Growth (1997=100)
160
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Year
ICT Services
ICT Manufacturing
Table 1 provides a summary of employment numbers in
the ICT industry broken down by individual sub-sectors using
NAICS. It should be noted however, that while the NAICS
codes help provide some insight into the employment levels
of, in this case, ICT organizations, these employment levels
also include non-IT related personnel such as administration,
human resources, financial, etc.
ICT Wholesaling, Rental & Leasing
Source: Industry Canada, ICT Branch, November 2006
Employment in the ICT services sub-sector grew by an
estimated 6.6% in 2005 over its 2004 level. With the
exception of a contraction from 2001 to 2002, related to
the economic readjustment, employment in the services
sub-sector has grown every year since 1997, being
57% higher in 2005 than in 1997. Nearly 423,000
Canadians worked in the ICT services industry in 2005,
accounting for almost 72% of all ICT sector employment.
Most of the 2005 growth in the sub-sector was due to an
estimated 7.2% increase in computer systems design
employment, which accounted for over half of the ICT
services employment growth. Similarly, in 2005 over
75,700 Canadians (up 7.2% from 2004 and 48% since
1997) were self-employed in the ICT services industry,
predominantly in the area of computer systems design.
As a share of total ICT services sub-sector employment,
self-employment remains relatively flat, making up
between 16% and 20% of the total since 1997.2
9
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
Table 1: ICT Employment categorized by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)2
NAICS
2002
Industry
2004
Employment1
2005
Employment1
% Change
2004-2005
% Change
1997-2005
CAGR
1997-2005
ICT Manufacturing
33331
33411
33421
33422
33431
33441
33451
33592
Commercial and Service Industry
Machinery Manufacturing
10,170
10,400
2.3%
9.9%
1.2%
Computer and Peripheral
Equipment Manufacturing
9,438
8,100
-14.2%
-40.9%
-6.4%
Telephone Apparatus Manufacturing
(Wired Communications Equipment)
7,443
6,500
-12.7%
-64.7%
-12.2%
Radio and Television Broadcasting
and Wireless Communications
Equipment Manufacturing
9,475
9,900
4.5%
30.1%
3.3%
Audio and Video Equipment
Manufacturing
1,363
1,400
2.7%
35.3%
3.8%
Semiconductor and Other Electronic
Component Manufacturing
21,408
20,200
-5.6%
10.9%
1.3%
Navigational, Measuring, Medical,
and Control Instruments Manufacturing
26,377
26,800
1.6%
5.5%
0.7%
6,325
6,600
4.3%
13.6%
1.6%
91,999
89,900
-2.3%
-9.8%
-1.3%
36,441
41,300
13.3%
93.7%
8.6%
114,346
117,056
2.4%
17.6%
2.1%
16,580
18,251
10.1%
27.5%
3.1%
Communication and Energy Wire
and Cable Manufacturing
Total ICT Manufacturing
ICT Services
511211
Software Publishers
517
Telecommunications Services (excluding
Cable and Other Program Distribution)
51751
Cable and Other Program Distribution
518111
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
6,916
8,900
28.7%
110.7%
9.8%
51821
Data Processing, Hosting, and
Related Services
14,579
14,500
-0.5%
79.5%
7.6%
Computer Systems Design and
Related Services
207,871
222,900
7.2%
81.4%
7.7%
396,733
422,907
6.6%
56.5%
5.8%
54151
Total ICT Services
1
2
10
2
Employment pertains to total employment in the industry, including non-IT employment
Including self-employment
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
Table 2: ICT Employment categorized by North American Industry Classification System (NAICS)2
NAICS
2002
2004
Employment1
Industry
2005
Employment1
% Change
2004-2005
% Change
1997-2005
CAGR
1997-2005
ICT: Wholesaling, Rental and Leasing
41791
53242
Computer and Communications
Equipment Supplies
Wholesaler-Distributors
54,490
52,705
-3.3%
11.7%
1.4%
Office and Store Machinery and
Equipment Wholesaler-Distributors
22,237
21,560
-3.0%
-4.6%
-0.6%
2,000
2,200
10.0%
-21.4%
-3.0%
78,727
76,465
-2.9%
5.4%
0.7%
567,459
589,272
3.8%
33.2%
3.6%
15,947,000
16,169,700
1.4%
18.0%
2.1%
3.6%
3.6%
N/A
N/A
N/A
Office Machinery and Equipment
Rental and Leasing
Total ICT Wholesaling, Rental, and Leasing
Total ICT Sector
TOTAL EMPLOYMENT in CANADA
(including self-employed)
ICT EMPLOYMENT as a PERCENTAGE
of CANADIAN EMPLOYMENT
2
With an accurate picture of the 2005 calendar year, partial
numbers from the 2006 calendar year provide additional
insight with respect to continuing activity in the ICT sector.3
For example, in 3Q06, employment growth in the ICT
sector (0.14%) and the overall Canadian economy (0.17%)
were relatively similar. During the same quarter, the
number of employees in the ICT sector surpassed the
value reported at the peak of 2001.
ICT services employment continues to see an overall
upward trend which has been the case since the first
quarter of 2002, and is now 7.8% above its first quarter
2002 level.
Figure 3:
Employment: ICT Sector and Canadian Economy,
Indexed Growth
140
135
Indexed Growth (97Q1=100)
4173
130
125
120
115
110
105
100
2006.3
2006.1
2005.3
2005.1
2004.3
2004.1
2003.3
2003.1
2002.3
2002.1
2001.3
2001.1
2000.3
2000.1
1999.3
1999.1
1998.3
1998.1
1997.3
1997.1
Year Quarter
ICT Sector
Canada
Source: Industry Canada, ICT Branch, December 2006
3
Full numbers for the 2006 calendar year were not publicly available at the time of writing
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
11
Although overall Canadian manufacturing employment
continued to see a decline (by 0.3%), ICT manufacturing
employment grew by 1.0% in the third quarter of 2006 (the
highest growth rate experienced since the fourth quarter of
2000). Between the first quarter of 2001 to the end of
2004, ICT manufacturing employment declined by 18%, or
1.4% per quarter. However, since the first quarter of 2005,
ICT manufacturing employment has remained fairly stable.3
When considering the unemployment rate for IT workers
across all industry sectors (ICT and non-ICT), it has been
consistently below the national average, although it has
also been more volatile. Looking back at the dot-com
boom and bust era in the early 2000s shows that the
unemployment rate soared from a low of 2 percent in the
fall of 2000 to a high of 5.8 percent in the summer of
2002. Since the spring of 2003 however, there has been
a trend downwards in the unemployment rate for all IT
workers. At the end of 2005, the rate stood at 1.9 percent.4
Indexed Growth (97Q1=100)
160
150
140
130
120
110
100
90
2006.3
2006.1
2005.3
2005.1
2004.3
2004.1
2003.3
2003.1
2002.3
2002.1
2001.3
2001.1
2000.3
2000.1
1999.3
1999.1
1998.3
1998.1
1997.3
1997.1
Year Quarter
CDN Manufacturing
CDN Services
Source: Industry Canada, ICT Branch, December 2006
All ICT manufacturing industries, except instruments,
recorded a growth in employment in the third quarter
of 2006. The most significant gains were experienced by
the computer and peripheral equipment industry and the
electronic components industry, each growing by 2.0%.
For electronic components, this was the first increase in
employment since the second quarter of 2005. Employment
in the communications equipment industry also increased,
but at a more moderate rate of 1.0%. On the other hand,
employment in the instruments industry fell by 0.7% in this
same quarter.3
In addition to high IT employment numbers, increasing
job tenure also provides additional indication of increasing
stability in the IT labour market. Specifically, the percentage
of employees with one to three years of job tenure has
fallen from above 50 percent in 2000 to less than 40
percent in 2005. Additionally, the percentage representing
those with more than four years of tenure has increased
from about 40 percent in 2000 to over 50 percent in 2005.
Further, the percentage of employees with three to four
years tenure remained at slightly less than 10 percent of
the workforce.4
Figure 5:
Job Tenure for All IT Occupations
50%
45.8
45%
Employed Labour Force (%)
Figure 4:
Employment: ICT & CDN Manufacturing & Services Industries,
Indexed Growth
ICT Manufacturing
ICT Services
consecutive quarters of employment growth (ending 2Q06),
the computer systems design industry displayed a drop in
employment. Despite the drops, the remaining services
industries recorded employment gains during the quarter.
In fact, data processing services employment grew by 4.1%
and has exhibited a positive trend since the first quarter in
2006. Employment in the software industry grew by 2.6%
in 3Q06.3
40%
37.2
35%
Mar-00
30%
Sep-06
25% 22.1
19.9
20%
16.4
13.1
15%
10%
9.0
5%
12
March 2007
6.6 6.3
4.5
5.8
0%
1-12
Employment in the telecommunication services (-1.1%)
and computer systems design (-0.6%) industries was
down in 3Q06, but was somewhat offset by the growth
in the remaining service industries. Essentially, after six
13.2
13-24
25-36
37-48
Job Tenure (Months)
Source: ICTC, Labour Force Survey, 2006
Branham Group Inc.
49-60
>60
Similarly, in August and November of 2006, Right
Management Inc. released the findings of its semi-annual
Career Confidence Index, which measures career
confidence among full-time workers around the world.
While this index is not tailored specifically to the ICT
industry (the index does not break out individual industries),
the survey’s results showed that roughly 80% of Canadian
employees felt secure in their job, and about 34% said it
would be easy to find another job at the same salary.
Thirteen countries reported higher scores than the previous
year, illustrating that increasing confidence is not limited to
Canada. The November 2006 Index marked Canada’s
highest level in the four years the survey has been
conducted.
Statistical evidence shows that the ICT and IT labour market
landscape is also improving, but it still seems to have a
tainted image thanks to its legacy of the disastrous “dot
bomb” era, which saw the rapid founding and spectacular
crashes of technology companies, particularly those in
the Internet sector. Analysts and organizations predict
a continued increase in ICT and IT job availability over
the next five years. For example, Stephen Ibaraki, Vice
President of the Canadian Information Processing Society
(CIPS) and Association of IT professionals in Toronto,
believes that over the next five years Canadian businesses
will have to fill no less than 90,000 new IT positions. Of
these vacancies, only 30,000 are estimated to be the result
of retirement in the industry. The remaining 60,000 will
be newly created positions. Given the current landscape,
it is not believed that Canadian colleges and universities
will be able to produce the required number of qualified
candidates for these positions.
RESEARCH SOURCES: At time of writing, 2006 employment
information for the full year was not available. As such, full
2005 ICT employment data was used, supplemented with
existing 2006 data to provide some insight into the trends
for the first three quarters of calendar 2006. Similarly, Census
2006 labour workforce information was not available at the
time of writing. While Census 2001 information is available,
given the significant economic readjustments that affected
those employed in IT related positions and/or the ICT sector
over the last few years, Branham decided not to use the Census
2001 for this report. Specifically, while total employment
numbers in the ICT industry may be on par with previous 2001
statistics, employment areas are proportionately different. For
example, employment based on NAICS for the manufacturing
industry was home to almost 114,000 employees in 2001.
In 2005, it was home to less than 90,000. Similarly, employment in the ICT Services sub-sector saw an increase of over
43,000 employees over the same time period.
March 2007
Supplier and User Industries
IT employment is not isolated to the ICT sector (i.e. supplier
companies). Non-ICT related sectors (i.e. user companies)
also use technology and as such facilitate a requirement for
IT personnel and expertise. As previously mentioned, the
NAICS codes provide some insight to the number of ICT
related employees in the ICT sector, however this data
includes both IT and non-IT personnel. The following
section will provide some further insight as to IT
employment across industry sectors based on the NOC
system and other available research sources.
Note: The NOC data presented in this report is
based on the ICTC Labour Force Survey data,
which does not include IT hardware related
employment. The ICTC is currently assessing
which NOC hardware codes apply to the IT labour
market workforce. This analysis is needed to
provide a more accurate depiction of total IT
employment in Canada.
Estimates indicate that IT workers are approximately
split 50/50 between the producer and user industries.24
The issue is however, that actual employment numbers
differentiating between these distinctions is difficult to
ascertain. The reason being is that companies can span
the boundaries of producer and user industries. For
example, the financial industry is primarily considered a
user industry. However, larger financial institutions may
develop software for portfolio monitoring, stock trading,
and other online banking services, which they in turn may
resell as a product to other smaller financial institutions.
Overall, five industries account for the bulk of IT
employment. These include: Professional, Scientific and
Technical Services; Manufacturing; Information and
Culture Industries; Public Administration; and Finance
and Insurance. Table 3 shows the distribution of the
IT labour force amongst these industry sectors. As
illustrated, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services
is the largest industry sector for all IT occupations.
Predictably, engineers have a significant percentage (33%)
of the employment in Manufacturing. Technicians are
more broadly distributed across the economy, as these
five industry sectors account for only 65 percent of
their employment.4
Branham Group Inc.
13
Table 3: IT Occupations 2000 – 2005 Profile by Industry Sector4
Group
Professional, Scientific,
and Technical Services
All IT
44%
13%
8%
9%
6%
80%
Managers
44%
9%
11%
11%
9%
85%
Engineers
36%
33%
3%
10%
2%
85%
Analysts
54%
6%
11%
6%
9%
86%
Programmers
52%
11%
8%
7%
8%
85%
Technicians
28%
10%
11%
10%
7%
65%
Other IT
56%
15%
3%
12%
2%
88%
Manufacturing
Based on all occupations within a given sector (both IT
and non-IT), the financial services sector is by far the
most IT intensive of the user industries. In some branches
of the financial services industry, IT accounts for as much
as 10% of total employment.5 Similarly, the financial sector
accounts for approximately 18% of total IT spending in
Canada, followed by government at 14%.6
Public
Administration
Information &
Culture
Finance &
Insurance
Total
RESEARCH SOURCES: Labour Force Survey data, on which these
estimates (and others in this report) are based, collects information from a sample of households. This information is meant
to be an indicator for employment trends and is not necessarily
a national perspective.
Type of Occupations
Figure 6:
Industry Distribution for All IT Occupations
September 2006
Finance &
Insurance 7.5%
Educational
Services 3.9%
Utilities 1.9%
Info. &
Cultural
10.4%
Others 14.7%
Public
Administration
7.9%
Manufacturing
10.7%
14
March 2007
Prefessional,
Scientific &
Tech. Services
43.1%
Where the North American International Industry
Classification System (NAICS) provides a means for
classifying companies for statistical purposes, the
National Occupational Classification (NOC) is a
systematic taxonomy for all occupations within the
Canadian labour market.
Similar to the NOC system, when considering IT related
employment, the Occupational Skills Profile Model (OSPM)
was developed by the Information and Communications
Technology Council (ICTC), to focus on the IT sector
of the Canadian labour market as opposed to the entire
Canadian labour market. The OSPM provides an analysis
of 27 Information Technology job streams divided into
7 groupings. The OSPM provides information about each
stream including job descriptions, accountabilities, sample
job titles and required skill sets as well as dividing each
stream into varying levels of seniority. Table 4 provides a
comparison of the OSPM and NOC codes that are most
closely related.
Branham Group Inc.
Table 4: OSPM and NOC Code Comparison7
OSPM Classification
Group
NOC Best Match
Stream
Code
Software Design and Delivery
2173
Software Engineers
Analysis Design
2171
Information Systems Analysts and Consultants
Analysis Programming
2174
Computer Programmers and Interactive Media Developers
Programming
2174
Web Design
2175
Web Designers and Developers
Web Developer
2174
Application Software Implementation
2282
User Support Technicians
Business Analysis and Service
Level Management
2171
Capacity and Performance
2147
Computer Engineers (except Software Engineers)
Technical Architecture
2173
Software Engineers
Informatics Management
0213
Computer and Information Systems Managers
Informatics Consultancy
2171
Information Systems Analysis and Consultants
Problem Management
2282
Project Management
0213
Computer and Information Systems Managers
Operations Routine
2281
Computer and Network Operations and Web Technicians
Systems Programmers
2174
Audit
2171
Network Support
2281
Computer and Network Operators and Web Technicians
User/Technical Support
2282
Help Desk
2282
Security
2171
Quality Assurance
2171
Testing
2283
System Testing Consultants
Informatics
Data
Data Administration
2172
Database Analysts and Data Administrators
Database Administration
2172
Database Analysts and Data Administrators
Informatics
Education
Education/Training Management
4131/
1121
College and Other Vocational Instructors/Specialists in
Human Resources
Technical Writing
5121
Authors and Writers
Informatics
Technical
Informatics
Evaluation
Informatics
Business
Informatics
Operations
Informatics
Integrity
March 2007
Title
Branham Group Inc.
15
The Analyst labour force (incorporating NOC codes 21711,
21712, 21713, 21714, 21721, and 21722) exhibited
strong employment growth from a low of 85,000 in the
fall of 2000, growing to 155,000 workers in mid 2004,
becoming the largest IT occupational labour force at
the time. Since 2004, there has been a decline making
Analysts the third largest, with a labour force of about
120,000 at the end of 2005.
The Technical labour force (incorporating NOC codes
22811, 22812, 2282, and 2283) peaked in 2003 at
almost 175,000. Since then, this labour force has declined
to a low of about 120,000 in mid 2005. By the end of
2005, there was a slight recovery, bringing the technician
labour force back up to its highest level, consisting of
almost 140,000 people.
The Programmer labour force (incorporating NOC codes
21741, 21742, and 2175) peaked in 2001 with 165,000
workers. This work force however, declined to 115,000 at
the beginning of 2004, recovering only to 135,000 workers
by the end of 2005.
The Engineer labour force (incorporating NOC codes
2133, 2147, and 2173) exhibited a clear long-term growth
trend over the six year period from the beginning of 2000
to the end of 2005. At the beginning of 2000, there were
about 55,000 Engineers; by the end of 2005, there were
over 80,000 workers in this labour force category.
The Manager labour force (incorporating NOC codes
0112, 0213, and 6115) has been consistently the smallest,
typically around 40,000 workers.
The labour force for Other IT workers (incorporating NOC
codes 1212 and 5241) ranged from a low of 50,000
workers in the fall of 2000 to a high of 90,000 workers in
the fall of 2002. At the end of 2005, this labour force
stood at almost 80,000 workers, the same size as the
Engineer labour force.4
RESEARCH SOURCES: ICT related employment figures based on
NAICS codes provide details from the perspective of supplier
industries (i.e. ICT sector). While employment numbers based
on NOC codes, used as part of this analysis, include IT employment in both supplier and user industries, with the exception
of IT hardware related employment. Effectively, an accurate
representation of overall employment in the sector, based
on supplier and user industries cannot be provided through
existing data.
16
March 2007
NOTE: Based on NAICS, the ICT sector employed approximately
589,000 in Canada at the end of 2005. This should not be confused with the IT employment figure of close to 600,000, based
on NOC in 2006, as calculated by ICTC (IT hardware employment
not included). While the numbers appear similar, they are based
on completely different systems of data collection. An accurate
representation of Canadian IT employment would be using NOC
with the IT hardware component included.
Regional Distribution of ICT Labour
Industry Canada breaks the ICT sector into clusters (i.e.
interconnected companies, educational and research
institutes, and associations) based on geographical regions.
These geographical regions include British Columbia, the
Prairies and Northern Region, Ontario, Quebec, and the
Atlantic Region. According to Statistics Canada, the
estimated geographical distribution for labourers in all IT
occupations is 4.7% in Atlantic Canada, 21.9% in Quebec,
49.1% in Ontario, 12.7% in the Prairies, and 11.6% in
British Columbia.8 The following provides further details
on each of these regions.
British Columbia
The British Columbia ICT industries are mainly centered
in Vancouver (lower mainland), and include a few large
companies and many small service providers. For example,
87% of British Columbia’s technology companies have
fewer than 5 employees.9 In 2005, British Columbia was
home to a tech workforce of approximately 78,122
(64,600 plus 13,522 self-employed). With its strength
in Wireless, New Media, and Photonics technology,
and its geographic location, Vancouver has a strategic
advantage as an international gateway, and a multimodal
transportation hub. In 2002, the British Columbia ICT
industry represented 10% of Canada’s total ICT industry
employment10 and was responsible for 10% of ICT’s total
contribution to Canadian GDP.11
Based on current growth rates it is believed that the
province could face a severe shortage of skilled labour in
the near future if adequate measurements are not taken.
Projections indicate that the demand for skilled employees
could grow to over 130,000 by 2010. British Columbia
Technology Information Association (BCTIA), the province’s
leading IT association, has suggested that the province
needs to recruit talent from outside British Columbia as well
as develop educational and training initiatives within the
province to meet the growing need for skilled employees.12
Branham Group Inc.
Prairie and Northern Region
The Prairie and Northern Region ICT industry is focused
around Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, Regina, and
Winnipeg. This region is well represented in each of
the major segments, possessing strengths in Wireless
Telecommunications, New Media & Software (such as
e-learning, e-business, and telehealth applications).
This region has a good educational infrastructure in
place to help deliver a capable labour force to ICT
manufacturers and service providers, which utilize much
of the local talent available from its universities.
The Prairie and Northern Region has become one of
Canada’s fastest growing provincial economies. Specifically,
Alberta, with Edmonton and Calgary as the engines of
growth for the province and with the lowest overall taxes
in Canada, has lead economic growth in the country
since the mid-1990s. Calgary’s strengths are in the
Wireless and New Media sectors. In Edmonton, strengths
include Software (host to a large number of multinational
corporations) and New Media. Through initiatives such as
the Alberta SuperNet, designed to provide most of Alberta’s
residents with high-speed Internet access, the province
has become one of the most connected societies in the
country. Provincial estimates are that Alberta’s information
technology industry (43,590 in 2004) will employ over
140,000 people and generate more than $30 billion in
annual revenues by 2010. The recorded unemployment
rate for all of Alberta (ICT and non-ICT industries) in 2005
was 3.9%.13
Winnipeg holds a large focus in the New Media industry,
likely a result of CanWest Global Communications
Corporation, which has become one of the largest media
firms in Canada and a major player in the international
media world. Winnipeg’s new media industry continues to
grow with firms that are renowned worldwide for having
made contributions to Hollywood productions.
Manitoba’s ICT sector employed more than 15,000 people
in 1,549 companies across the province in 2003, exported
more than $227 million worth of goods throughout the
world, and experienced positive growth in the past five
years. Revenues of Manitoba’s software publishing, data
processing, hosting, computer systems design and related
services industries totaled $645 million in 2003. This
increase of 58% from the previous year significantly
outstripped the national growth rates of 3.8% for the
same sectors.
March 2007
The Northwest Territories’ most notable strengths lie in its
telecommunications, satellite, frame relay and networking
technologies. In 2002, the Prairies and Northern Region
ICT’s industry represented 13% of Canada’s total ICT
industry employment.10
Within Saskatchewan, Stats Canada’s Canadian Business
Patterns reveals a total of 696 firms in the ten NAICS coded
industries comprising this Information and Communications
Technology sector. Of these, 599 are found in one NAICS
coded industry (NAICS 54151): Computer Systems Design
and Related Services. With revenues of more than $805
million annually, Saskatchewan’s ICT sector employs
approximately 10,700 people in 250 companies.
Ontario
Ontario’s ICT industries are concentrated in the urban
regions of the province including Ottawa, the Greater
Toronto Area (GTA), Waterloo Region (Canada’s Technology
Triangle) and Hamilton. The Ottawa area (including both
Ottawa and Gatineau) is particularly recognized for its
Telecommunications, Photonics, and Software industries,
while the GTA is known as a software development
powerhouse with additional focus in e-business, new
media, communications equipment, and microelectronics.
The Waterloo Region has developed a large number of
high-technology companies born from the commercialization
of research done at local universities, particularly the
University of Waterloo.
Ottawa is home to 1,841 high tech companies, with high
tech employment totaling 78,147 employees, 853 people
short of the tech “boom” in 2000/2001.14 Of these
companies, approximately 60% are focused on IT Services.
Government is a major customer in the region.
While Hamilton has historically focused on traditional
manufacturing areas, such as agricultural food products
and services, steel production and the automotive industry,
it has shifted its focus towards advanced manufacturing,
biotechnology, information technology, and more. This
rapid shift towards ICT industries is in part thanks to its
proximity to the Greater Toronto market, the U.S./Canadian
border and, high-quality post secondary educational
institutions such as McMaster University and Mohawk
College, who have spent millions of dollars building
and modernizing facilities to accommodate existing
and emerging information technology courses.
Branham Group Inc.
17
In 2002, Ontario’s ICT industry represented 50% of
Canada’s total ICT industry employment10 and was
responsible for 49% of ICT’s total contribution to GDP.11
The ICT Industry represents 4.7% of total employment for
Ontario, the highest level in Canada15. Ontario’s ICT
industry is very involved in R&D – in 2002 it was
responsible for 70% of all ICT R&D expenditures in
Canada, which represented 64% of total R&D expenditures
in the province making ICT industries the most R&D
intensive sector in Ontario.
Quebec
Quebec is home to a number of ICT industries including
Telecom, New Media, Photonics, software, and e-business,
with some emphasis shifting to emerging markets. The
Montreal Metropolitan Community is home to over 2,500
ICT companies with 110,000 employees, including many
multinational enterprises and large companies (mainly
focused in the services area). In addition to its strong ICT
industry, clustered around Montreal and Quebec City,
Quebec also represents 52% of Canada’s total venture
capital funding, with 61% of the available funds invested
in ICT. In 2002, Quebec’s ICT industry was responsible for
23% of ICT’s total contribution to GDP11 with $5.8 billion
in exports (2002), 85% of which went to the United States.
The ICT sector is an integral part of the Quebec economy.
Atlantic Region
Representing the smallest percentage of the ICT labour
workforce (18,382)17, the Atlantic ICT industries are
centered in Halifax, Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton,
Sydney, Charlottetown, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Halifax, in Nova Scotia, which is a hub for air, sea, rail
and telecommunications services with strong connections
to eastern North America and Europe, has long been
a software and ICT services cluster. Also, e-business,
telecommunications services and equipment, and new media
are emerging as clusters in Nova Scotia in their own right.
18
Overall, while the Canadian ICT workforce is distributed
across the nation, Central Canada (Ontario and Quebec)
is home to almost three quarters of the ICT labour force.
RESEARCH SOURCES: Provincial IT labour force and ICT employment related information was inconsistent across the provinces
and territories. Some provinces provide more up–to-date information than others. Generally, the more recent information is
provided from provinces where ICT is more prevalent and as such
more important to the provincial economy. This observation is
likely due to the fact that these ICT rich employment regions are
designated higher budgets to provide prospective organizations
with the marketing materials to entice them to setup shop
within these provinces. With a few exceptions, most information
typically made available through the provinces and the respective
IT associations, was sourced through Industry Canada and the
Labour Force Survey data, respectively. Only in rare circumstances
was information based on proprietary sources.
IT Labour Market Demographics
While employment numbers continue to change, the
demographics within the IT labour market workforce has
held respectively constant with respect to characteristics
such as gender diversity, educational levels, and job
permanency. In general, IT employment across Canada is
made up of predominantly permanent, full-time positions,
filled by a relatively young, predominately male, highly
educated workforce.
The province of New Brunswick, bolstered by the National
Research Council’s Institute for Information Technology –
e-Business (with New Brunswick locations in Fredericton,
Saint John, and Moncton and Sydney in Nova Scotia),
is a centre for e-business and e-learning. Prince Edward
Island has a small but vibrant ICT industry poised for
growth around the new Atlantic Technology Centre in
Charlottetown. The advanced technology industry in
Newfoundland and Labrador consists of approximately
200 specialized small to medium-sized enterprises
that export innovative products and services to over
40 countries. Newfoundland and Labrador’s ICT strengths
lie in the areas of marine communications, e-business
and e-learning.
In 2004, a Statistics Canada and ICTC survey found that
the average age of IT workers was 36.4 years, which was
significantly below the national labour force average.
Consequently retirements are not expected to contribute
significantly to replacement demand in the very near future.
However, comparing September 2006 to March 2000
figures (Table 5), there has been a 2% decrease in the
number of youth entering the IT labour workforce
(15-24 age range). Similarly, university enrollment for IT
related fields has also seen a 1.7% decrease. There has
also been a significant decrease (5%) in the 25-34 year
age category which is likely attributable to both worker
exit from the ICT industry thanks to the previous economic
adjustment and graduates from 5-6 years ago maturing.
While there was not a significant increase in the 35-44 age
category in 2006 compared to the 2000 findings, there
is a significant increase in the 45+ demographic which
does show an aging workforce. Focusing on the 55+ age
category, there was almost a 3% increase in this category
as compared to March 2000 showing a higher growth rate
than those entering the market, illustrating the potential
for a skills shortage if the trend is not reversed.
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
Table 5: Age Distribution for All IT Occupations18
Age Range
March 2000
September 2006
15 – 24
9.8%
7.8%
25 – 34
37.6%
32.8%
35 – 44
32.6%
33.1%
45 – 54
16.3%
19.8%
55+
3.8%
6.5%
For all IT occupations, women typically make up only one
quarter of the workforce, and this may be decreasing. For
example, in June of 2005, 27% of the IT workforce was
female, and in September 2006 women accounted for
a little over 25%. This decrease is likely related to the
categories of IT jobs that women typically dominate
including technical writing and graphic design/illustration.
As the number of these positions are reduced or remain
constant, while the number of other IT positions increase,
the female to male ratio decreases.4
Similarly, visible minorities currently occupy a small
percentage of IT jobs. As of June 2005, visible minorities
held only 10% of IT jobs across the country (according to
the 2001 Census, visible minorities made up approximately
13% of Canada’s population at the time). However, the
numbers fair better in large populated areas which are
typically more culturally diverse. For example, visible
minorities occupied 31% of the jobs in Toronto, 25% in
Vancouver, and 10-15% of the jobs in each of Calgary,
Edmonton, Ottawa, Gatineau, and Halifax (in 2005,
Toronto, Vancouver and Montréal were home to
73 percent of the country’s visible minorities19). Though
underrepresented in management, members of visible
minorities are well represented in technical occupations
like programming, hardware and software engineering,
and data management. Meanwhile, 1.5% of IT workers
were people with disabilities, and 1% were Aboriginals
(a high of 2.7% in the Prairies).20
of all ICT workers had a university degree, compared to
a national average of 22%. The software and computer
services industries appear to have the most educated
workforce (52% with university degrees) followed by
the communications equipment manufacturing industries
(47%). All industries, except communications equipment
manufacturing, experienced an increase of educated workers
from their 2004 values: the highest increases (6%) were from
the computer equipment and the software and computer
services industries.1
According to the publication, ‘Canada’s Information
Technology Labour Market 2005: Issues and Options’,
from the Information and Communications Technology
Council, the IT workforce has “an insatiable thirst for
continuous learning.” Many IT workers enjoy learning new
and upcoming technologies on their own time. The typical
motivation is likely more general interest as opposed to
specifically for job sustainability or advancement. This can
be substantiated by a study of UK workers that shows that
IT workers do a lot of learning on their own, reading books
and manuals and practicing new skills at work and at
home. Indeed, such self-help approaches are by far the
most popular.
Despite the number of self-employed workers, a significant
portion of IT jobs are full time (95%) and permanent (92%)
positions. Similarly, a regular work week (excluding paid
overtime) is typically 31 to 40 hours.4 This is true for 85
percent of workers, combating a negative connotation that
those employed in the ICT field are required to work long
and extraneous hours to retain employment.
Employees in the ICT sector are also well compensated.
These workers earned on average $54,915 in 2005, or
45% more than the economy-wide average of $37,865.
Employees in the software and computer services industries
are the most highly paid. In fact, average earnings in these
industries were $60,643 in 2005. Despite being the lowest
paid workers in their sector, employees in the electronic
component manufacturing industries still earned 24%
above the national average.22
IT Employment is characterized by a high level of
education, with 48% of the current IT workforce holding
at least a university bachelors degree.21 Another 27% are
community college or CEGEP graduates. In 2004, 41%
4
While Branham did not have the actual numbers in this case, it is likely that the actual number of female IT workers has remained relatively level, while the
ratio has decreased as more positions opening up are filled by male employees.
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
19
Figure 7:
Weekly Wages for All IT Occupations
30%
24.5
25%
21.0
20%
18.2
15%
13.8
15.1 15.0
13.6
15.0
12.2
10.7
10%
Mar-00
11.2
8.9
Sep-06
5.8
5%
4.3
3.4
1.6
5.0
0.6
0%
0-200
201-400
401-600
601-800
801-1000
1001-1200
1201-1400
1401-1600
1600+
Weekly Wages ($’s)
RESEARCH SOURCES: When examining internal labour market
demographics, the majority of available information was related
to Labour Force Survey data. Based on the scope of this documented research, it should be noted that the presented data
merely provides an indicator of the market and not necessarily
a national perspective.
Internal Labour Market Dynamics
When it comes to occupations, there seems to be a
disconnect between employers and employees when
describing the job that the employee performs. For
example, where employers recorded an occupation as
‘data administrator’, 44% of the employees agreed with
this occupational title. However, 14.3% perceive themselves
to be data analysts, 14% computer/information system
managers, 5.8% computer/network operators, etc. Of
25 positions surveyed, job function agreement between
employers and employees exceeded 60% in only nine
occupational categories, and 80% in only one.20 Along
the same lines, multi-tasking among IT workers is very
high. Asked to select their areas of work from a list of
nine (multiple answers permitted), 40% or more selected
each of the following six: software, web/Internet/intranet,
database, network, systems, and hardware. It is thanks to
these reasons that occupational definitions and standards
are important.
20
March 2007
The National Occupational Classification or NOC codes
provide the facilities for grouping individual positions that
are sufficiently alike, as to kind or subject matter of work,
level of difficulty and responsibility, etc., for the entire
Canadian labour market. As previously compared to
NOC codes, the Occupational Skills Profile Model (OSPM)
provides a more granular analysis of 27 Information
Technology occupations, providing information including
job descriptions, accountabilities, sample job titles, and
required skill sets.
While the NOC and OSPM classifications provide the
facilities to classify occupations and provide some insight
for job futures, employer expectations and skill set
requirements can still vary. Specifically, regardless of
educational major, in addition to the requisite technical
skills, employers expect a broad knowledge of, and
experience with, computer systems and technologies,
strong problem-solving and analysis skills, and good
interpersonal skills. For jobs in a business environment,
employers increasingly want a background in business
management or a closely related field. Because of this,
entry-level employees enhance their employment
opportunities by participating in internship or co-op
programs offered through their schools. A related
background in the industry in which the job is located,
such as financial services, banking, or accounting,
can give an applicant an edge.23
Branham Group Inc.
Employers will continue to seek professionals who can
provide the complete “package”, combining strong
technical skills with good interpersonal and business
subject matter expertise. However, these employees are
in short supply and as such enjoy premium compensation.
Even with the expected increase of positions over the next
three to five years, employers will still be in a position to
exercise a preference for previous experience. Initial entry
into the IT labour market, therefore, will continue to be a
significant challenge for many new graduates and recent
internationally educated professionals depending on the
occupational targets; operations, developer, or hardware.
Operational occupations are not typically tied to specific
projects but are instead tied to support for business
processes. The overall demand for employment in these
occupations can be tied to increases (or decreases) in the
installed base of systems and applications. Significant and
unanticipated increases in demand and skill shortages in
these occupations are uncommon. These occupations serve
recent graduates well as employment can start at the entry
or intermediate level and advance into positions involving
more planning and managerial responsibility. The advent of
outsourcing however, has negatively affected the availability
of these positions.
Developer occupations are typically tied to specific projects
and as such can provide considerable volatility with respect
to the number of hours (expected long hours are not
universally attractive) and levels of employment in these
positions. Skill requirements for these positions are typically
specific to the project (programming language, hardware,
technology, etc.) and employers cannot typically afford time
for skills acquisition through experience.
There is no precise line separating hardware occupations
from software occupations as many, such as firmware
developers, straddle the boundary. Hardware related
employees however, are more likely to have a professional
engineering degree or engineering technology training with
primary sources being recent graduates and internationally
educated professionals. Demand for these positions
however is difficult to forecast as they depend on user
investment into products.24
March 2007
Career paths for the IT labour force also have the
potential to be unpredictable. Typically, professionals
such as Systems Analysts may be promoted to senior or
lead systems analysts with experience. Similarly, those
who show leadership ability also can advance to
management positions, such as manager of information
systems or chief information officer. Computer engineers
and scientists employed in industry may eventually advance
into managerial or project leadership positions. Those
employed in academic institutions can become heads
of research departments or published authorities in
their field. Computer professionals with several years
of experience and considerable expertise in a particular
subject area or application may find lucrative opportunities
as independent consultants or choose to start their own
computer consulting firms.
The issue is however, that technological advances come
so rapidly in the computer field that continuous study is
necessary to keep skills up to date. As technology becomes
more sophisticated and complex, a higher level of skill
and expertise is demanded by employers in all areas.
Employees may need continuing education to polish skills
or ascertain technical or professional certification in the
hopes of promotion. At the same time however, changes
in technology, demand for more popular skill sets, changes
in outsourcing policies, or a decrease in the installed base
of technologies can stall career paths unless skills are
updated to meet the needs of the new demands.
RESEARCH REPORTS: The material in this section is based primarily on qualitative analysis as opposed to quantitative. While
existing occupations can be classified based on the NOC or OSPM
classifications, career advancement is difficult to quantify based
on its unpredictability; job promotions can be situational.
Branham Group Inc.
21
Recruitment
Up until now, although it may seem the labour market
has responded well regarding the growing demand for IT
employees, current projections and growth indicators point
out that Canada is going to experience a significant skilled
labour shortage in the near future. An unemployment rate
of 1.9% may be good news for Canada’s economy as a
whole, but it has also lead those seeking IT resources to
scramble in recruiting the remains of a declining number
of highly skilled and specialized workers. With increasing
concern as more baby boomers of the IT workforce
approach the retirement age, a surprising number of
workers also need more training in core IT and
management skills.
workforce, for reasons such as retirement, career changes,
or ‘stopping out’ also affect the supply of IT resources for
the industry.
Supply of IT Labour Market Resources
Presently, employers are looking for the complete IT
employee who has it all when it comes to computer
knowledge and business management skills along with
a wealth of experience – sometimes as much as 10 to
15 years.27 At the same time, companies seem to be
unwilling to make necessary investments in the workforce
to better prepare them for IT jobs, and this is contributing
to the problem. Not only do companies then have
difficulties finding skilled and experienced workers, but IT
workers have difficulties finding jobs in the industry as well,
especially recent graduates lacking experience. This has
unfortunately built on the misconception about the lack of
prospects of an IT career, and hence the declining number
of enrolments in IT related programs.
ICT industry revenues grew by 3.2% in 2005 from 2004.
In terms of dollars, total revenues increased from $97.3
billion in 1997 to $135.6 billion in 2005, an annual
growth rate of 4.2%.1 During the same time period, the
number of ICT sector jobs in Canada increased from
442,510 to 589,272 between 1997 and 2005, an increase
of 33.2% or 146,762 new jobs.1 Employment in the ICT
sector has experienced an average annual growth rate of
3.6% (1997 to 2005)25 and the overall IT unemployment
in 2005 was at 1.9%, much less than the overall industry
unemployment rate of 6.1%.
The flip side of the coin is that as unemployment rates
decrease it becomes harder to find skilled workers in
the IT workforce. Forecasts approximate an increase of
58,000 new IT jobs over the next three to five years, and
compounded with the replacement demand for employees
who leave IT jobs because of retirement, career reasons,
family reasons, etc., the total rises to 89,000 new jobs.24
With a record low unemployment rate, the big question
which rises is will the supply of ICT resources be able to
respond to the demand?
22
Over the last few years, enrollments in IT related programs
such as computer engineering, computer science, and
software engineering have declined by 11% (from 2002
to 2005) and remains on a downward trend (Table 6).
The main reason behind this decline has been the
misconception amongst students, parents, and career
counselors about the lack of job and career prospects in
the IT field. This misconception actually started in the postdot-com and post-Y2K era and has been building since.
Table 6: Actual Enrollment in Computer Engineering, Computer
Science and Software Engineering28
Academic
Year
Total
Enrollment
Foreign
Students
Female
Students
2002 – 2003
17290
1009
2485
2003 – 2004
16873
1188
2333
2004 – 2005
15427
1179
2622
% Change:
-11%
17%
6%
In order to answer this question, four key drivers of the
supply of IT resources in Canada must be understood
and analyzed. Firstly, enrolment and graduation trends
in colleges, universities and private training indicate the
number of available IT workers both for current and
future industry needs. Secondly, internationally educated
professionals also play a major role in providing Canada
with skilled workers, not just in the ICT industry, but nationwide as well. In 2004, Canada’s immigration levels were
twice that of the United States and internationally educated
professionals accounted for 70% of Canada’s net labour
force growth (across all industries).26 Another important
driver for supply is in-career training and upgrading as
employers need workers who are up-to-date with
technology as well as business developments in the industry
to remain competitive. Lastly, employee exits from the IT
The government, academia and industry need to work
together to make IT “sexy” again, simultaneously
eradicating current misconception. The CATA Alliance
is an IT association which is presently working to put
together resources which assist employers in finding
qualified personnel both in Canada and abroad for the
enhancement of the Canadian IT Industry. These tools
and resources in turn have helped the IT Industry in
trying to bridge the gap between supply and demand
in the market.29
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
Table 730
Rank
Job Searches
1
Information Technology
2
Engineering
3
Computer Software
4
Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical
5
Computer Services
6
Computer Hardware
Table 830
Rank
Job Searches
1
Information Technology
2
Engineering
3
Computer Software
4
Electronics
5
Energy/Utilities
6
Telecommunications
RESEARCH SOURCES: Educational enrollment data for IT programs is reported to Industry Canada by Canadian universities.
Enrollment numbers do not include data from college programs
for IT related skills training. As such, an accurate picture
of enrollment numbers may be somewhat disjointed when
considering the differences in programs offered by universities,
versus those offered through colleges and/or other IT related
training institutions. Specifically, for updating existing programming skill sets, enrollment at the university level may
not be required; college level programs (or other IT training
facilities) can provide the required training to address and
update knowledge in specific areas.
Employment Status
Statistics Canada defines full-time work as working
more than 30 hours per week.4 Figure 8 compares the
distribution of full-time and part-time workers in the years
2000 and 2006. Presently, the majority of the IT workforce
(based on NOC codes) is comprised of full-time workers
(95.5%). Part-time employees make up only 4.5% of the
total IT workforce, which is only a marginal increase (0.1%)
in six years.
Figure 8:
Full Time vs. Part Time Employment for All IT Occupations
Part Time
One initiative that the CATA Alliance has undertaken is the
development of the Advanced Technology Index, which it
operates in coordination with Monster Canada.30 According
to the Advanced Technology Index, the following categories
had the most job searches and job postings for Advanced
Technology positions during the month of November 2006:
4.4
Mar-00
4.5
Sep-06
95.6
Full Time
Similarly, the following provinces are the top six in terms of
online job availability during the month of November 2006
according to the Advanced Technology Employment Index
(total working populations considered):
95.6
0%
Table 930
Rank
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
Job Searches
1
Alberta
2
Ontario
3
British Columbia
4
Nova
5
Manitoba
6
Quebec
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
23
A study which further details the distribution of full-time
and part-time IT employees is ICTC’s “Analysis of Labour
Force Survey Data for Information Technology Occupations
2000-2005.” Table 10 displays some of the findings by
segmenting the IT workforce into the general occupation
categories of Managers, Engineers, Analysts, Programmers,
Technicians and Other IT to show a more detailed
distribution of full-time and part-time workers. As expected,
the majority of Managers are full-time (98%), and only 2%
confirmed that they are part-time employees. Engineers
have an even higher percentage of full-time workers with
99%. Out of all the occupations listed, the Other IT
occupational category has the highest percentage of
part-time worker with 13%. This emphasizes the fact how
companies need full-time workers over part-time as these
jobs need more stability and carry more responsibilities.
Table 10: Analysis of the LFS Data for the
IT Occupations 2000-200531
Group
Full-Time
Part-Time
All IT
95%
5%
Managers
98%
2%
Engineers
99%
1%
Analysts
95%
5%
Programmers
96%
4%
Technicians
94%
6%
Other IT
87%
13%
Figure 9 divides the hours employees worked per week into
the three categories of less than 30 hours, 30 to 40 hours
and more than 40 hours. Comparing the findings of 2006
and 2000, the 30 to 40 hours worked category has
increased slightly while the more than 40 hours category
has decreased by nearly the same percentage. This shows
how an increasing number of IT workers prefer and are
looking for full-time jobs.
The Labour Force Survey also asked respondents the
following question to distinguish permanent employees
from contracted employees: “Is your job permanent, or
is there some way that it is not permanent?”31 Statistics
Canada defines and provides data for non-permanent
job categories including: Seasonal; Temporary, Term or
Contract; Casual; Work done through a temporary help
agency; and Other.
Figure 10 illustrates the results to this question with 92% of
IT workers confirming they are permanent employees with
their respective organizations. 8% of employees confirmed
that they are non-permanent and of those, 7% confirmed
they are contractual, temporary or term employees.
Figure 10:
Permanent vs. Contract Employment
Contract 7%
Other 1%
Permanent 92%
More than 40
Figure 9:
Hours Worked Per Week for All IT Occupations
9.8
7.8
30-40
Mar-00
84.0
Sep-06
Less than 30
85.7
Source: Analysis of Labour Force Survey Data for the Information Technology
Occupations 2000-2005, ICTC, April 2006
6.1
6.4
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90% 100%
24
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
Table 11 breaks out employees into the general occupation
categories, once again to display the distribution of
permanent and contract employees in more detail.
Similar to the comparison between full-time and part-time
employees, Manager and Engineer jobs have a high
percentage of permanent employees with 97% and 96%
respectively. Occupation categories with larger portions of
contract employees include Programmers, Technicians and
Other IT, all with 8%. Again this stresses the importance of
having permanent employees in jobs such as managers
and engineers as these are hard to replace because of the
skill required and they carry more responsibilities as well.
On the other hand, jobs such as Programmers, Technicians
and other IT jobs do not carry as many responsibilities and
are therefore are easier to replace.
Table 11: Analysis of the LFS Data for the
IT Occupations 2000-200532
Group
Permanent
Contract
Other
All IT
92%
7%
1%
Managers
97%
3%
0%
Engineers
96%
4%
0%
Analysts
94%
6%
1%
Programmers
91%
8%
1%
Technicians
90%
8%
2%
Other IT
90%
8%
2%
RESEARCH SOURCES: Because 2006 IT employment information
is not yet available, 2005 information was used in addition
to employment information up to the third quarter of 2006.
Furthermore, information on the division of full-time against
part-time and permanent against contracted employees by more
specific job types is required for in-depth analysis. Information
presented is by general job types.
Outsourcing
Although progress has been slow, Canadian companies
have come a long way from 2001 when companies were
much more conservative in adopting the outsourcing model
than their counterparts and neighbours in the U.S.33 The
case was even slower when it came to outsourcing non-IT
functions to third party specialists. A study conducted by
the Centre of Outsourcing Research & Education (CORE)
reports that although their experiences have varied based
on the activities outsourced, there has been an increasing
number of companies looking to outsource both their
information technology and business process functions.
Companies outsourcing their IT functions have reported
a satisfaction rate from 75% to 80% whereas this rate
drops to below 50% when it comes to Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO).34
Despite these varying rates of satisfaction, as Canadian
companies gain more experience and as outsourcing
becomes more sophisticated, employers will indeed look to
engage in ITO and BPO practices as a means to improve
performance and competitiveness.34 The following are
major outsourcing trends amongst Canadian organizations
outlined in the study:
— Companies are realizing with experience that there are
other advantages to outsourcing other than cost reduction, such as access to skilled labour and freeing up
internal resources for other core processes and business
functions. Other benefits also include improved quality
and product or process innovation. All of these benefits
allow companies to focus more and better meet their
organizations’ goals and objectives.
— Value creation is taking priority when Canadian
companies look to manage/develop relationships
with outsourcing service providers. Unlike before when
meeting performance levels took priority, companies
are now increasingly engaging with service providers
in trying to add value to their products or services for
the advancement of their organizations.
— Building on the last point, more organizations are looking
to assess outsourcing engagements by how effectively
they have combined with service providers as partners.
By expanding the relationship from just delivering
services, companies realize that working as partners
and developing a good relationship helps the company
achieve long term goals rather than just short term.
— More companies are looking to take on outsourcing
as a large-scale transformation rather than just a
service contract.
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
25
As mentioned, although cost reduction is still the primary
reason why Canadian companies outsource, other major
reasons are emerging such as gaining access to skilled
labour. Canadian companies are increasingly beginning to
look elsewhere, other than Canada perhaps, to help fulfill
their IT demands for skilled and talented labour. This could
be due to the skills shortage (i.e. low IT unemployment
rate) Canada is currently experiencing and which is likely to
increase with time unless some pertinent actions are taken.
Currently however, there is a lack of information or studies
supporting whether there is indeed a connection and/or if
any actions need to be taken.
RESEARCH SOURCES: Information on Canadian firms’ propensity
to outsource and their experiences with outsourcing engagements is lacking (IT and non-IT related). In this instance, it is
difficult to link Canadian IT outsourcing activities with IT skill
shortages. While access to skilled workers is an increasing motivator for outsourcing, additional investigation is required to
determine the impact IT outsourcing is having on the supply as
well as demand of IT employment resources in the country.
Import/Export of ICT Work
Import and export trends of ICT products and services are
continuing to have a significant impact on the demand for IT
workers in Canada. After declines in the earlier years of the
millennium, total ICT exports grew at a rate of 9.6% in 2004
but slowed in 2005 to 6.5%. During this same period, total
ICT imports grew at 1.4%.1 Export of ICT goods grew by
8.8% and ICT services remained constant in 2005.35 Figure
11 groups ICT products and services together and divides
them according to ICT industry sub sectors. As expected,
software and computer services have the largest share with
19.2% followed by wire communication equipment with
15.6% and electronic components with 13.7%.
The export market plays a major role in the employment
growth in the Canadian ICT hardware and software
sectors. In recent years, the manufacturing sector has relied
heavily on the export market with as much as 70% of its
manufactured ICT products being exported.36 Figure 12
provides the distribution of exported ICT goods (software
and hardware) by destination.
Figure 12:
Exports of ICT Goods by Region, 2005
2005 Share of Total (2000 share in brackets)
Figure 11:
Total ICT Exports by Product/Service Group, 2005
(Total: $30.6 Billion)
Computer
Equipment
13.3%
Wired
Communications
Equipment
15.6%
Commercial
Industry
Machinery 7.5%
Communications
Service 5.6%
Asia-Pacific
(4.7%)
11.8%
Software
and Computer
Services
19.2%
Wireless
Communications
Equipment
8.6%
Electronic
Components
13.7%
European
Union (8.7%)
13.5%
Other ICT
Goods and
Services 4.1%
Source: Statistics Canada, Trade Data Online
Instruments 12.4%
Source: Industry Canada, Canadian ICT Statistical Overview
26
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
Other
(2.8%)
6.4%
United States
(83.9%)
68.3%
Approximately 15% of ICT services in Canada were
exported, and 10% of ICT services were imported in
2005.37 Canada as a country still incurs a sizeable ICT
trade deficit but this has stabilized since early 2000-2001.
Figure 13:
Exports, Imports and Trade Balance of ICT Goods and
Services, 1997-2005
70
60
50
Although there are no studies or statistics indicating
these trends and how they might affect the ICT export and
import markets of Canada, their role can not be ignored.
The Canadian ICT sector comprises of nearly 32,000
companies of which three quarters (76.2%) are attributed
to software and computer services (76.2%) and it’s also
the category generating the most revenue from exported
revenue from ICT good/services (19.2%).1 Furthermore, and
as mentioned previously, the Canadian ICT manufacturing
sector accounts for 10.7% of all ICT jobs in Canada and
relies heavily on the export market (as much as 70%). This
in turn illustrates how a negative impact on the export/
import market will also have a significant impact on ICT
manufacturing employment in Canada.
$ Billions
40
30
20
10
0
-10
-20
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
Year
Imports
Exports
RESEARCH SOURCES: While Statistics Canada does provide
some high level data, primary research is required to determine
whether the listed emerging trends are directly or indirectly
affecting the Canadian ICT import and export markets.
Furthermore, information on the skills involved in the ICT import
and export markets is also lacking. Detailed information in this
respect will allow Canadian firms to plan more effectively and
increase their competitiveness compared to other countries.
Trade Balance
Recruitment Methods
Source: Industry Canada, Canadian ICT Statistical Overview
Although the presented figures suggest the market has
been relatively stable over recent years, some trends
causing concern are emerging which may play a big role
in the near future. The following describes these trends38:
— From a cost perspective, the appreciation of the
Canadian dollar compared to the U.S. dollar,
although good for the economy, makes it less
attractive for organizations outside to invest or
do business within Canada.
— The reputation of offshore ICT suppliers of goods has
increased significantly, which is indirectly affecting
Canada’s exports. These offshore suppliers include
India and China, amongst others.
— Outsourcing is increasingly being adopted by companies around the world, especially the U.S. As displayed
in Figure 5, the U.S. is the primary customer for
Canadian exported ICT goods, and there is a possibility
that other destinations providing more benefits may
lure the U.S. away from Canada.
March 2007
The Internet is the most used source for finding job
information for IT workers.20 IT workers rely heavily on
websites when searching for employment because it is the
method with which they are most familiar. In 2005, 65%
of private sector workers relied on the Internet to find job
information from employers’ websites and 71% of public
sector employees went to government websites to do the
same. However, it has emerged that only three to five per
cent of job seekers actually find new positions through
online sites and other recruitment methods are proving
to be far more effective.27
Studies reveal that employers are currently relying on a
combination of recruitment methods including employee
referrals, word-of-mouth and informal networking.20 IT
workers are realizing this trend and current figures indicate
60% are now relying on informal networks as a process
which allows both the IT worker and employer to connect
directly, which can lead to potential future opportunities.
Print media continues to be another major recruitment
method used both by IT job seekers (over 50%) and
employers.20 However, employers from large firms are
pointing out that they are now looking to prioritize online
Branham Group Inc.
27
recruitment methods over informal networks, perhaps as
means to make the playing field level for all IT job seekers.
Figure 14 and Figure 15 support the preceding facts and
display the usage of different types of recruitment methods.
Figure 15:
Percentage of Employers Reporting Which Recruitment
Methods They Use (Public Sector)
Public sector official
staffing procedures
Figure 14:
Percentage of Employers Reporting Which Recruitment Methods
They Use (Private Sector)
Employee referrals
Unsolicited résumés
64.9
Informal networking
64.2
Methods of Recruitment
Your firms’ website
60.2
Help wanted ads
(print media)
University, college or
IT institutes
57.5
55.1
30.8
Informal networking
28.8
Word-of-mouth
27.8
Unsolicited résumés
22.1
All methods
22.0
Government
employment centres
19.0
Internet websites
12.2
Job fairs
12.1
Internet recruiting agencies
50.8
Internet websites
Internet recruiting
agencies
Head hunter or
personnel agency
User groups and
professional associations
email list
Government employment
centres
46.9
32.1
Employee referrals
University, college or
IT institutes
Methods of Recruitment
73.1
64.8
Government websites
Help wanted ads
(print media)
84.5
Word-of-mouth
76.6
7.9
6.8
Not aplicable (don’t recruit)
33.4
Head hunter or personnel agency
User groups and
professional associations
email list
Other
33.1
14.2
4.2
4.2
3.2
13.9
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
11.7
Job Fairs
Percentage of Employers
Other
2.1
Not applicable
don’t recruit
1.2
0
20
40
60
80
100
Source: The Information Technology Labour Market in Canada: Results From
the National Survey of IT Occupations, ICTC, April 2005
Source: The Information Technology Labour Market in Canada: Results From
the National Survey of IT Occupations, ICTC, April 2005
Although, these recruitment methods work well for many
groups seeking IT jobs, it’s not so advantageous for
groups such as aboriginals, visible minorities, people with
disabilities, and women as they tend to have less access
to word-of mouth and personal networks. Perhaps this
explains the lower percentage of workers from these groups
in the IT workforce. Women only have 27% of Canadian
IT jobs, visible minorities have 10%, people with disabilities
have 1.5% and aboriginals have 1%. Some of these groups
also have to depend on traditional recruitment techniques
such as formal employer recruiting, personal initiative and
advertisements both online and off.
28
March 2007
From a hiring and a management perspective, employers
are looking for talented individuals with multiple skills sets.
They need to possess the ability and willingness to develop
a variety of management technical skills. Individuals must
also be able to adapt to the changing environment as
skills, especially technical ones, need to evolve with the
business and technology developments.
According to ICTC, employers are looking for the complete
employee who “has it all”.27 This might include someone
“who can program in C++, understands the theory of long
tail and also knows how to rationalize business processes
so they meet necessities of Sarbanes-Oxley and the
Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents
Act (PIPEDA)”.27 In some cases, the “complete employee”
must also possess the ability to resolve business problems
with innovative technological ideas, bear a resume with
Branham Group Inc.
90
10 to 15 years of experience, and possess communication
and leadership skills which will allow him/her to equally
deal with IT and business workers.27
It is important to note that proficiency in French, or a
second language, becomes a more important factor
during recruitment when employees in the private sector
want to join the public sector. This is especially true for
management level positions in the public sector and this
severely limits the sector’s ability to bring in new and
talented employees who may have previously worked
in the private sector as senior managers.39
RESEARCH SOURCES: While there is an abundance of anecdotal
evidence for recruitment methods, there is limited empirical
evidence in general, especially where it pertains specifically to
the ICT industry. Similarly, while information regarding student
and youth employment programs in Canada is plentiful, there is
a lack of data that presents these findings on a provincial or
national basis. Investigation and analysis is required at the student level so adequate measurements regarding skills shortages
can be taken from the ground up. The National Survey of IT
Occupations, April 2005, by ICTC provides the most up-to-date,
wide-ranging, and detailed information regarding recruitment
methods used by those employing IT workers and is used in this
section.
A key ongoing trend observed from 2003 through 2005
regarding a company’s goals for relocating, is the
emphasis on cost and quality of service. Nonetheless, the
main and overriding goal of a corporation’s relocation
policy is still cost containment, as illustrated in Table 12.
Employers also look to relocate IT workers to fulfill specific
and varying business needs and these are pointed out in
Figure 16.
Figure 16: Main Reasons for Relocating Employees
Category
Percentage
Merger/Acquisition
22%
Management/
Business Unit Requirements
80%
Succession Planning
40%
Skills Transfer
60%
Business Expansion
29%
Business Downsizing
16%
Transfer of
Organization’s
Culture
10%
International
Business Start Up
20%
Other
Relocation of New Recruits
There is a lack of analytical information in general when
investigating Canadian companies’ trends for relocating
employees. This is even more so the case when the topic of
relocation of IT employees in Canadian firms is brought up.
The following information and data presented is from a
survey conducted by the Canadian Employee Relocation
Council (CERC) entitled, “2005 Employee Relocation Policy
Survey” and presents relocation policy information adopted
by Canadian firms in general.
7%
Source: Canadian Employee Relocation Council, 2005 Employee Relocation
Policy Survey
The graph reveals the main reason organizations look to
relocate employees is because of management or business
unit requirements. Other top reasons include skills transfer,
succession planning and business expansion. When it
comes to the relocation of new recruits, the following are
facts and figures of interest from the surveys:
— 12% of organizations offer signing bonuses to new recruits,
while 59% offer signing bonuses only on occasion.
Table 12: How Organizations Rated the Goals of the Policy
Most
Important
Very
Important
Somewhat
Important
Cost containment
29%
39%
29%
3%
0%
Greater quality of benefits
15%
48%
29%
4%
0%
9%
47%
35%
9%
0%
21%
40%
27%
8%
0%
Reduced administration
Greater flexibility
Least
Important
Not at all
Important
Source: Canadian Employee Relocation Council, 2005 Employee Relocation Policy Survey
March 2007
29
Branham Group Inc.
— 43% of organizations choose to offer signing bonuses
occasionally instead of assistance with relocation.
— 15% of organizations provide assistance for “hard
to hire personnel”, and 41% provide assistance
on occasion.
— 52% of organizations have processes in place to
evaluate the performance of relocated employees, while
97% use a similar process to that of regular employees.
Figure 17 illustrates that most organizations look to
relocate their employees mainly because of a particular
management request/requirement. Other reasons include
career development, succession planning, employee
training/skills development, future global leadership
development, management request/requirement and
employee request.
Figure 17: Main Reason for Relocating a Particular Employee
Category
Percentage
Career Development
62%
Employee Training/
Skills Development
40%
Figure 18: Reasons cited by Employees for Rejecting Relocation
Category
Percentage
Children
47%
Spousal/Partner Career
65%
Schooling
20%
Aging Parents/Elder Care
21%
Safety Issues
4%
Weather
3%
Cultural Issues
5%
Not a Promotion
13%
Compensation Concerns
54%
Other
21%
Policy Survey
Figure 19: Factors Used to Determine Success or Failure
of a Relocation
Category
Percentage
Management Request/
Requirement
69%
Early Repatriation
38%
Succession Planning
41%
Missed Objectives
38%
Employee Request
19%
Cost Overruns
33%
Future Global
Leadership Development
Incomplete Projects
24%
24%
Negative impact on
relationships and
workplace culture
48%
Other
19%
Other
7%
Policy Survey
Policy Survey
The number one reason why employees reject relocation is
because of their spousal or partner’s career. Figure 18 cites
additional reasons such as compensation concerns and
children.
Domestically, Western and Central Canada account for the
bulk of all relocations. The U.S. and Europe account for the
majority of international relocations. The following breaks
down relocation facts into the three categories of domestic,
cross-border and international relocations.
— Domestic: Average cost ranges from $40,000 to
$60,000 to relocate a homeowner in Canada. The
major obstacles while relocating include family and
housing issues. Employees primarily cite family issues
as the main reason when rejecting a move.
30
March 2007
— Cross border: Results confirmed that organizations
doing business between Canada and the U.S. transfer
management and technical staff regularly. Also, average
cost ranges from $50,000 to $100,000, with 15% of
reported relocations exceeding $100,000.
— International Relocation: 52% of Canadian businesses
relocate employees internationally and average cost
can vary on a country to country basis.
Results from the survey also revealed that over 75% of
organizations do not have processes in place for assessing
how successful their employee relocations have been. In
actuality, most organizations have no formal measures in
Branham Group Inc.
place and purely judge the success of relocation by getting
employees’ opinions about the process. Out of all the
companies who do have evaluation processes for relocations,
77% experience a success rate ranging from 76% to 100%.
Figure 19 displays factors used in reviewing relocation
procedures. Employers reported the biggest factor in
analyzing a relocation of one or more employees is
assessing how they affect relationships and the workplace
culture at the new location.
RESEARCH SOURCES: Information on Canadian firms’ experiences with relocation activities is lacking in general across all
industry segments (ICT and non-ICT). Further investigation and
analysis through primary research efforts are required to determine relocation activity patterns and the impact they have on
an ICT firms’ hiring practices (as well as on IT job seekers).
Role of Internationally Educated
Professionals (IEP)
Canada receives between 220,000 and 245,000 IEPs every
year, who are highly skilled and their role has proved to be
important for the Canadian economy.40 In 2004, Canada’s
immigration levels were twice that of the United States.
Figures reveal IEPs were responsible for 70%41 of net labour
force growth from 1991 to 2001, and 80% of all IEPs
arriving during this period resided in Canada’s five largest
urban centres, comprising Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa,
Calgary, and Vancouver. It is predicted that this group of
employees will be the single most important source of
labour force growth in the country by 2011.42
Figure 20:
Managers’ and Labour Leaders’ Views on the Importance of Hiring
New Immigrants as a Way of Addressing Labour and Skills Needs
100%
When it comes to hiring IEPs, the Canadian IT sector employs
the highest percentage of IEPs compared to all other job
occupations in Canada.42 IEPs and non-permanent residents
made up approximately 10% of the IT workforce in 2004.43
However, it is difficult to directly relate the productivity of IEPs
to the views of managers and labour leaders when it comes
to the question of hiring new IEPs as a solution to address an
organization’s labour and skill requirements. The Workplace
Partners Panel has tried to address this issue with their 2005
Viewpoint Leadership Survey and Figure 20 displays some of
their findings with regards to how important managers and
labour leaders view the role of IEPs in Canada.
As the figure shows, there was not a significant portion of
managers from either the private or public sectors who
found the need or importance of hiring new IEPs as a way
of addressing labour and skills requirements. About half the
managers surveyed (combining results from both private
and public sectors) indicated that they find it “not important”
when it came to hiring IEPs. Organizations’ managers from
urban centres, who get a disproportionate share of IEPs, also
reported that they don’t’ find it important to hire new IEPs in
addressing skilled labour shortages.
As Figure 21 details, 51% of managers from the private
sector and 38% of managers from the public sector,
both from urban centres with populations over 500,000,
agreed that they didn’t find it important to hire IEPs in their
organizations.44 More and more managers agree with this
viewpoint when analyzing organizations in communities
with smaller populations of 30,000 or less (67% of public
sector managers and 70% of private sector managers).
Figure 21:
Managers’ Views on the Importance of Hiring New Immigrants as a
Way of Addressing Labour and Skills Needs, by Size of Population
Where Organization is Located. % saying hiring new immigrants is
“not important” in addressing the organizations’ human resources
and skill requirements.
90%
100%
80%
90%
70%
60%
Not
Important
56
40%
30%
20%
49
48
50%
48
36
36
16
Very
Important
32
29
15
Somewhat
Important
20
15
80%
70
70%
60%
50%
67
51
55
45
38
40%
34
100K to
499K
30 to 99K
30%
Less than
30K or rural
20%
10%
500,000+
60
10%
0%
Private Sector
Managers
Private Sector
Labour Leaders
Public Sector
Managers
Public Sector
Labour Leaders
Source: Workplace Partners Panel, Viewpoints 2005
March 2007
0%
Private Sector
Managers
Public Sector
Managers
Branham Group Inc.
31
Table 13: Managers’ and Labour Leaders’ Views on Barriers Relating to the Hiring of New Immigrants44
Barriers
Private
Sector Managers
Public Sector
Managers
Canada’s immigration selection system
does not focus enough on the skills/occupations
required by my organization.
49%
42%
61%
54%
Immigrants often lack the necessary language
and communication skills to be hired by
my organization.
58%
57%
68%
59%
In my organization, immigrants often face
barriers to employment because their foreign
credentials are not recognized by regulatory bodies.
44%
45%
53%
55%
There are not enough resources and services
available to my organization to help assess
immigrants’ education and credentials.
50%
51%
70%
66%
Immigrants’ lack of Canadian work experience is
a major problem for my organization when
considering new job candidates.
38%
42%
48%
35%
In my organization, immigrants are more likely
to require additional training than new employees
who grew up in Canada.
33%
55%
51%
57%
Compared to new employees who grew up in
Canada, immigrants have a difficult time adjusting
to the workplace culture of my organization.
30%
33%
48%
39%
There should be more community supports to
help integrate immigrants into the workforce
and the community.
61%
77%
72%
76%
All these findings collectively suggest that immigration or
hiring new IEPs is not a sought after solution for many
employers in Canada. Perceived barriers and challenges
related with the recruiting of internationally trained
workers may be a major reason behind this generalization.
These perceived barriers and challenges include areas
of language, work experience and difficulties matching
foreign qualifications.
The federal government reported that although IEPs may
have higher education levels, they more often have a
difficult time in the job market and suffer as a result of their
education not being recognized. In 2001, Statistics Canada
stated that about 70% of newcomers trying to enter the
workforce confronted at least one problem regarding either
transferability of foreign qualifications, lack of a contact
network or language issues.40
32
March 2007
Private Sector
Labour Leaders
Public Sector
Labour Leaders
Table 13 reveals the views of managers and labour leaders
in Canada pointing out barriers when it comes to hiring
new IEPs. As expected, more than half the managers and
labour leaders from both the public and private sector
indicate “immigrants often lack the necessary language
and communication skills to be hired by their organization”.
A little less than half also pointed out those IEPs applying
for a job in their organization often face barriers to
employment because their “foreign credentials were not
recognized by regulatory bodies”. Other major barriers
pointed out by managers include the “lack of resources
and services available to help organizations assess
immigrants international education and credential levels”
and the fact that IEPs lack Canadian work experience.
Branham Group Inc.
These challenges, confirmed by the managers and labour
leaders of Canadian organizations, have also been raised
previously in surveys by the Workplace Partners Panel in
2002, as adequate measurements have not been
introduced yet to solve this problem.45
The Canadian Career Development Foundation has also
investigated the barriers IEPs face in the Canadian IT
Industry in its 2005 study, “Researching Careers in
Information Technology for Immigrants” and points out
the following key points in confronting these barriers:42
— Recognizing foreign credentials has been the major
barrier for IEPs looking for employment in the IT industry. Canadians need to have a standard procedure in
assessing foreign talent and skills; moreover, Canada
should look to assess IEPs before they enter the country
to integrate them more effectively and efficiently into
the industry.
— IEPs often face inequitable recruitment methods and
hiring practices which can lead to barriers to career
advancement. Canadian companies need to realize
that a culture of inclusion in the workplace can motivate
highly skilled immigrant employees to contribute for
the advancement of the company.
— Canada needs to ensure that bridging programs are in
place allowing IEPs to take the necessary courses to gain
required credentials and upgrade their technical skills.
Bridge programs further enable IEPs to improve their language and communications skills, and it also allows them
to learn about the typical Canadian work environment.
— The Internet needs to be fully utilized by recruiters as it
is a valuable tool for IEPs. Other information resources
such as fact sheets, workshops and work practice
programs also need to be in place for IEPs before
and after they enter Canada.
The Canadian Career Development Foundation also
recommends a systems approach as the key to reducing
or removing the barriers IEPs face in Canada. The systems
approach should ensure participation of all stakeholders
in working together to inform IEPs “what is available,
where it is available and who will recognize programs they
complete”.42 This approach, however, requires significant
leadership and collaboration but will prepare and benefit
Canada in the future.
March 2007
RESEARCH SOURCES: It is difficult, in general, to measure
the productivity of IEPs when determining their successes
and failures upon hiring them and investigation and analysis
needs to be conducted to address this area. Furthermore, 2006
IT IEP workforce information is not available yet and as such,
information up to 2005 was used.
Succession Planning
The need for succession planning has emerged over
the years with the realization that baby boomers are
approaching retirement age. Other major reasons for
developing succession plans include employees who
choose career changes and those who ‘stop out’.24 Stop
outs are temporary withdrawals from job employment for
reasons that include furthering education, health problems,
legal problems, or other personal problems that need to
be dealt with.
A survey conducted by Robert Half Technology revealed
that a third of the companies who participated did not do
much when it came to succession planning.46 At the same
time however, another study by ITBusiness.ca reported
that two-thirds of IT executives have adopted succession
planning so that when they lose a senior IT professional,
they have a process in place that makes sure there is
a “continuity in leadership”.46 Based on these studies
it is clear that in some cases succession planning is
being assessed, but to what extent across the ICT
sector in Canada, is still unclear. Succession plans being
implemented by organizations include Management
Training, Mentoring Programs, and Soft Skills.
Declining enrollments further signify the need for succession
planning as the value of current IT employees increases
with the increasing shortage of IT skilled employees.
Forward-thinking managers are also now focusing on
hiring employees not just for fulfilling short-term needs but
for long-term goals as well. However, there is still a lack of
available information when it comes to exit patterns and
more investigation needs to be done in this area so that IT
executives can better understand and plan for the future.
RESEARCH SOURCES: Although some research has been done
with regards to succession planning, there remain several
grey areas with regards to exit patterns, particularly in the ICT
industry. Information regarding methods adopted by companies
to prevent, as well as confront, these challenges is also lacking
and requires further investigation through primary research.
Branham Group Inc.
33
Training
The training gap between employee upgrade skill goals
and the employers’ perceived need or willingness to invest
in upgrade training is a cause for serious concern for the
future of the industry. Furthermore, as small to medium
enterprises (SMEs) become increasingly dependent on
technological developments the demand for skilled
and specialized talent has intensified excessively. Other
significant factors, such as declining enrollments in
information technology related programs and existing
barriers for IEPs looking to integrate into the workforce,
raise the need for the government to combine forces with
the industry and academia in laying out a plan for the
future while competing in the emerging battleground
for global talent.
Demand for IT Resources
Amongst the G7 countries, Canada had the greatest
employment growth for the period 1997 to 2004.47 Today,
the IT unemployment rate is estimated as low as 2%
compared to a national average of 6.1%. With indications
of such a tight labour market, it is difficult to see how the
ICT industry will fulfill its IT resource demands.
From January 2000 to July 2006, demand for IT
employment grew by approximately 2.5% annually, a rate
significantly higher than the Canadian economy average
of 1.8%. IT employment growth is projected to continue to
grow on a 2.3% annual basis until 2010.24
According to population projections from 2006 to 2056 by
Statistics Canada, Canada will not have enough workers to
run and support continued living standard improvements
at the national growth rate of 1.85%. Such shortages can
lead the Canadian economy to have stagnant economic
growth and slow improvement in living standards. This
also projects Canada to have significant shortage of
100,000 workers by 2009 for all industries (ICT and nonICT). Furthermore, at the current rate, Canada is expected
to have a shortage of one million workers in general by
2016.48 Specific to the IT workforce, the Canadian ICT
industry, educational institutions and the government all
need to get involved in planning a more secure future
for the ICT industry and Canada’s economy.
Universities and ICT industry associations need to target
students now, swaying them to enroll in computer science
and other IT related programs. Companies like EDS and
Nortel are already collaborating with various colleges and
universities in taking a proactive approach to dealing with
the skills shortage issue on the horizon.49
34
March 2007
The issue however, is that the ICT sector is being hit by a
“double whammy.” The Information Technology Association
of Canada (ITAC) is one of many groups that believe this.
Specifically, aging baby boomers, along with the false
perception among students that “there are no jobs in IT”
are intensifying the problem of IT skill shortages in
Canada. According to Statistics Canada, employees in
the 65-plus age group will increase to 30% in 2056 from
15% in 2006 (not exclusive to the ICT labour market). The
effect will be felt over the next decade as growth of labour
supply decreases while baby boomers reach retirement
age. Furthermore, the situation is likely to get worse before
getting any better as it typically takes four years of post
secondary education to effectively and fully prepare
students to compete in such a sophisticated and educated
labour force.
But predicting demand and specific skill sets that will be
required can be difficult. Specifically, unexpected changes
in technology such as new introductions and increasing
popularity of existing technologies (increasing deployment
and installed bases) can alter the demand for skills. Other
factors to consider include changes in IT spending by IT
user industries, changes in net exports for products and
services, and changes in investment for R&D in the IT
industry.24 IDC Canada has made some predictions with
respect to growth in specific IT areas, including:50
— The IT Security market grew by 16.6% from 2004 to
2005 and spending in this area was estimated to be
$949 million in 2005. These figures indicate that IT
security is still a top priority among Canadian organizations as the market for IT security hardware, software,
and services is predicted to grow at a compound
annual growth rate of 14.2% and is expected to
reach $1.8 billion by 2010.
— The System Infrastructure Software (SIS) market is an
integral part for the overall growth of the software
market in Canada. Identity and access management
along with secure content management will continue to
outpace all other software markets and is expected to
drive SIS at a 10.5% Compound Annual Growth Rate
(CAGR) until 2010.
— The Telecommunications Services Sector market grew
to revenues of $34.4 billion in 2005 based on a CAGR
of 3.6% and it is predicted to continue to grow at a
3.9% CAGR until 2010. This will include spending of
$41.7 billion driven both by wireless and non-voice
(data) services.
Branham Group Inc.
— With an increase of $10 million in 2005, the Hosted
Application Management market grew up to approximately $101 million at 11.0% CAGR. The forecasted
CAGR for this market is 9.0% from 2006 to 2010.
Figure 22:
Distribution of the IT Workforce Across 25 Occupations
(Private and Public Sectors)
18.0
Computer Programmer
— The SME market comprises 25% of the total Canadian
IT market and significant growth is predicted. Driven
by factors such as increased spending on software,
hardware and services, the small businesses market is
expected to grow to $4.6 billion from 2005 to 2010.
Similarly, the medium businesses market is expected to
grow beyond $6.5 billion during the same time period.
13.9
12.4
Info Sys BA/Consult
19.2
9.9
Software Engineer
2.5
8.0
User Support Tech
15.9
7.8
Comp/Info Sys Man
These predictions and current employment trends can be
used to help narrow the scope for potential skills demand
in the future. Current IT employment distributions and the
associated skills within these occupations can help provide
indicators towards the skills that will be in demand in
the near future. Specifically, high density, in terms of
employment numbers, for IT occupations will typically
facilitate a higher demand for resources. Conversely,
low density IT occupations will facilitate a lower demand
for human resources.
6.5
7.0
8.0
IT Project Manager
4.0
Comp/Network Oper
5.5
3.3
Comp/Tele Hard Eng
1.5
Web Design/Dev
3.2
Net Sys/Data Com eng
3.1
2.6
5.4
2.8
Correlating IT occupation density with the necessary job
skills provides an assessment to what skill sets are likely to
be in demand for the near future. Figure 22 illustrates the
distribution of the IT workforce (as of April 2005) by 25
of the main IT occupation categories. Private and Public
sectors are broken out to provide insight into the different
skill requirements for these sectors. Table 14 provides the
same 25 IT occupation breakout, outlining the specific job
title and essential skills typically associated with employers’
expectations for fulfilling these occupations. In other words,
these are some of the criteria a good resume has for a
specific IT job.
25 Occupations
Graphic Design
0.6
2.6
1.7
Info Sys QA Analyst
2.5
Data Analyst
4.2
2.3
E/E Eng Techno/Techni
na
2.0
E/E Eng (exc. Comp Eng)
0.9
1.9
2.2
Data Admin
IT Trainer
1.4
0.8
Tech Writer
1.4
0.4
1.2
Sys Test Tech
na
1.0
1.6
Sys Secure Analyst
0.8
Inter Media Dev
0.2
e-com Manager
0.7
0.5
Illustrator
0.6
0.1
Web Technician
0.4
na
Private Sector
Public Sector
na Not Available
0.3
Systems Auditor
na
0
5
10
15
20
Percent of Employees
Source: The Information Technology (IT) Labour Market in Canada: Results
From the National Survey of IT Occupations, ICTC, April 2005.
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
35
Table 14: Skill Requirements for IT Occupations51
Title
36
NOC
Comp. and Tech. Knowledge
Computer
Programmer
2174
Flash, Adobe Photoshop, Windows
Environment, Unix and Linux.
Problem solving, working with others, oral communication
and critical thinking.
Information Systems
Analysts and
Consultants
2171
Windows, database software, Word
processing software and networking
software.
Problem solving, working with others, oral communication,
critical thinking, job task planning and organizing, decision
making, reading and writing skills, continuous learning,
finding information, document use and numerics.
Software Engineer
2173
Software development, networking
software, programming languages
such as SQL, C++, C and Java as
well as knowledge of MS Windows
and Linux operating systems.
computer use, critical thinking, job task planning and
organizing, reading and writing skills.
User Support
Technician
2282
Windows, Internet and hardware.
reading text, critical thinking, finding information and
continuous learning.
Comp/Information
System Manager
0213
Problem solving, working with others,
oral communication, reading text,
critical thinking, finding information
and continuous learning.
Computer use, problem solving, oral communication,
working with others, job task planning and organizing,
critical thinking, decision making, reading text, writing,
finding information, document use, continuous learning,
significant use of memory and numerics.
IT Project Manager
0213
Problem solving, working with others,
oral communication, reading text,
critical thinking, finding information
and continuous learning.
working with others, job task planning and organizing,
critical thinking, decision making, reading text, writing,
finding information, document use, continuous learning,
significant use of memory and numerics.
Computer and
Network Operators
and Web
Technicians
2281
Computer and Network Operators and
Web Technicians
Problem solving, computer use, oral communication,
working with others, continuous learning, critical thinking,
decision making, reading text and job task planning and
organizing.
Comp/Tele
Hardware Engineer
2147
HTML, C, C++, Java Script, LAN,
WAN, TCP/IP, Ethernet, MS Windows
95/98/NT/2000, environment –
Client/Server and MS Exchange.
Problem solving, oral communication, working with others,
critical thinking, reading text and decision making.
Web
Design/Developer
2175
TML editing software, Internet; PHP,
XML, Adobe Photoshop, Flash, Adobe
Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Java
Script and ASP.
working with others, critical thinking, reading text, job task
planning and organizing, writing, finding information and
decision making.
Network
Systems/Data
Computer Engineer
2147
HTML, C, C++, Java Script, LAN,
WAN, TCP/IP, Ethernet, MS Windows
95/98/NT/2000, environment –
Client/Server and MS Exchange.
Problem solving, oral communication, working with others,
critical thinking, reading text and decision making.
Graphic Designers
and Illustrators
5241
Photoshop, Illustrator, QuarkXpress
and Corel Draw.
Computer use, working with others, oral communication,
reading text, problem solving, job task planning and
organizing, critical thinking, continuous learning, decision
making, finding information and writing.
March 2007
Essential Skills
Branham Group Inc.
Table 14: Skill Requirements for IT Occupations51
Title
NOC
Comp. and Tech. Knowledge
Information Systems
QA Analyst
2171
software.
making, reading text, writing, continuous learning, finding
information, document use and numerics.
Database Analysts
and Data
Administrators
2172
Software, MS Access, MS SQL Server,
Oracle/PL-SQL/CASE/Developer
2000/Ingres and data Warehouse.
Computer use, problem solving, working with others, oral
communication, critical thinking, job task planning and
organizing, reading text, numeracy, finding information,
writing, document use and decision making.
E/E Engineer
Technology/
Technician
N/A
N/A
N/A
E/E Engineer (exc.
Comp. Eng.)
N/A
N/A
N/A
Database Analysts
and Data
Administrators
2172
Software, MS Access, MS SQL Server,
Oracle/PL-SQL/CASE/Developer
2000/Ingres and data Warehouse.
Computer use, problem solving, working with others, oral
communication, critical thinking, job task planning and
organizing, reading text, numerics, finding information,
writing, document use and decision making.
IT Trainer
4131
N/A
Oral communication, working with others, problem solving,
reading text, writing, computer use, job task planning and
organizing and critical thinking.
Technical Writer
5121
N/A
N/A
Systems Test
Technician
2283
N/A
N/A
Systems Secure
Analyst
2171
software.
Interactive Media
Developer
2174
Flash, Adobe Photoshop, Windows
Environment, Unix and Linux.
Problem solving, working with others, oral communication
and critical thinking.
E-com Manager
N/A
N/A
N/A
Illustrator
5142
Photoshop, Illustrator, QuarkXpress
and Corel Draw.
Computer use, working with others, oral communication,
reading text, problem solving, job task planning and
organizing, critical thinking, continuous learning, decision
making, finding information and writing.
Web Technician
2281
Computer and Network Operators
and Web Technicians
Problem solving, computer use, oral communication,
working with others, continuous learning, critical thinking,
decision making, reading text and job task planning and
organizing.
Systems Auditors
2171
software.
March 2007
Essential Skills
Branham Group Inc.
37
RESEARCH SOURCES: 2006 IT workforce information is not
yet available and the next census will not be released until
March 2008. As such, 2005 information was used in addition
to IT workforce information up to the third quarter of 2006.
Furthermore, although information on skill requirements by
job type is readily available, information on skill requirements
by industry vertical is lacking. Further investigation through
primary research is required to determine the different IT skill
requirements amongst jobs from one industry vertical compared
to another. The National Survey of IT Occupations, April 2005,
by ICTC provides the most up-to-date information regarding the
division of IT jobs by public and private sectors and is used in
this section.
Training and Education
Canada spends more on education than any other country
in the world (across all industry sectors). This correlates well
with the fact that Canada has one of the highest percentages
of individuals who have at least a college or university
education. A continuously growing and evolving Canadian
economy requires a high-caliber and skilled workforce.
Canada’s universities have played a major role as it relates
to the development of needed IT skill sets for all industries.
An estimated 41%52 of those employed in the ICT sector or
48% of those employed in IT related positions across all
industry sectors have at least a university degree, more than
double the national average of 22%. An additional 27% of
IT employees are graduates from a community college or
Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP).20
In all, about 40,000 students graduate in Canada every year
in IT related programs such as mathematics, engineering,
and pure and applied sciences.1
38
March 2007
Figure 23:
Education Level for All IT Occupations: March 2000 and
September 2006
40%
In general, the skill requirements for these occupations
can be categorized into seven broad categories including:
leadership and management skills; interpersonal and
teamwork skills; communication skills; problem solving
skills; computer skills; technical, professional, or job
specific skills; and basic skills such as literacy and
numeracy. These skill sets are also commonly identified
as areas where additional training or skill upgrades
are required.
35%
33.6
30.5
30%
27.2 26.2
25%
Mar-00
Sep-06
20%
15%
16.2 15.9
10%
13.4 14.5
7.7
5%
5.6
5.1 4.3
0%
Secondary Trades Community University Bachelor’s Graduate
Education certificate college certificate degree
degree
or
or
CEGEP,
below
(Masters
lower
diploma
etc
bachelors
or Phd)
Level of Education
Broken down amongst various IT occupations (illustrated
in Figure 24), software and computer services have the
highest percentage of employees with university degrees
(52%) followed by manufacturing. The percentage of
manufacturing employees with university degrees varies
depending on the nature of the manufacturing. Specifically,
communications equipment manufacturing is the highest
with 47%, followed by computer equipment manufacturing
(42%), electronic component manufacturing (37%), and
finally instruments manufacturing (27%). When compared
to 2004, all of these segments, with the exception of
the communications equipment manufacturing sector,
experienced an increase in the number of workers with
degrees; the highest being the computer equipment and
software and computer services industries.
Branham Group Inc.
Figure 24:
Percentage of Workers with a University Degree
by Major ICT Industry, 2005
Software & Computer Services
52.4
Communication Equipment Mfg
47.4
Computer Equipment Mfg
42.3
Electronic Component Mfg
Technology Accreditation Council (ISTAC) is the lead
Council at CIPS which formulates and maintains the
standards for undergraduate degrees in areas like
Computer Information Systems (CIS), Information
Management (IM), Information Technology (IT), Information
Resource Management (IRM), and Management Information
Systems (MIS). Together with CSAC, they are responsible for
the review and accreditation of IT related baccalaureate
programs in Canadian universities. Their roles are
significant as employers are likely to exercise preference
for a complete educationally qualified degree.
37.0
Communications Services*
RESEARCH SOURCES: 2006 IT workforce data relating to training
and education information is not yet available. As such, 2005
information was used in addition to IT workforce information
up to the third quarter of 2006.
28.0
Instruments Mfg
27.2
Total ICT Sector
40.6
All Canadaian Industries
Need for Additional Training or Upgrading
22.3
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
* Including Cable and Other Program Distribution
Source: Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2005
In addition to educational institutions continual curriculum
updates to meet the changing skill demands of the IT
industry, organizations such as the Canadian Information
Processing Society (CIPS) are trying to set standards for IT
professionals through certification and accreditation. CIPS
is a non-profit organization working in conjunction with
educational institutions. Specifically, CIPS councils, such as
the Computer Science Accreditation Council (SCAC) and
the Information Systems and Technology Accreditation
Council (ISTAC), are responsible for the review and
accreditation of baccalaureate university programs,
helping to make sure graduating IT professionals meet
the necessary criteria for tomorrow’s job IT requirements.
Presently, the Computer Science Accreditation Council
(CSAC) is the lead council in CIPS which formulates and
maintains high educational standards for Canadian
universities offering undergraduate degrees in IT related
programs such as Computer Science and Software
Engineering. Similarly, the Information Systems and
March 2007
While Canadian education institutions are working to
prepare students to meet the technical skill requirements
for the ICT industry, there is a serious concern amongst
managers and labour leaders in Canada regarding the
skills shortage issue the country is going to face in the years
to come. Even today, 44% of managers in the Canadian
private sector experience an occupational shortage in their
firms and 10% are already anticipating a shortage of
skilled labour in the next two years at least.53 Complicating
the matter further is the fact that employers are also
looking beyond just the technical requirements, and
consider business skills a key need.
Employers have stressed that interpersonal
communications, teamwork, project management, and
leadership are critical in addition to technical skills; and
rightly so. In a study performed by the ICTC, 85% of
employees indicated they found personal/interpersonal
communication skills very important at their job. 58%
indicated that general IT skills are significant and 45%
stressed the importance of business skills which includes
time management, planning, and project management.
Branham Group Inc.
39
In addition to these skills, employers are also looking
for experience (illustrated in Figure 25 and Figure 26),
something that is difficult to find in recent graduates.
In fact, business level experience appears to far outweigh
the need for relevant technical and interpersonal skills.
Effectively, IT workers who are most likely to be hired and
have the greatest career potential have the “total package”.
These employees provide a combination of technology
skills, business skills, subject matter expertise, strategic
thinking, a leadership mentality, interpersonal and
communication skills, organizational and project
management skills, and personal skills such as
entrepreneurialism, creativity, initiative, and flexibility.
Predictably, these employees are in short supply but
are compensated accordingly.20
4.0
Average of 3.2
3.5
3.1
3.2
3.1
3.2
3.1
3.4
3.4
3.0
The ability for graduates to meet these employer
expectations may lie in creating and expanding co-op
programs and internships. These programs provide
students with business experience in parallel with
educational curriculum, allowing students to exercise
new theories in a practical manner. While these programs
do exist, IT companies can afford only a small amount of
co-op students every year without the aid of government
funding to compensate for potential lost productivity.
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
Provincial and
territorial
Public Administration
7 NAICS
Federal Government
Public Administration
Computer Systems
Design and
Related Services
Professional,
Scientific and
Technical Services
(excluding 5415)
Finance
and Insurance
Information
and Cultural
Industries
0.0
Computer and
Electronic Product
Manufacturers
Importance of Experience vs. Education
Figure 25:
Importance of Experience vs. Education When hiring,
by 7 NAICS (Private & Public Sectors)
Surprisingly, with employers’ stringent expectations for new
recruits, many existing IT employees also need more training
when it comes to technical and soft skills. A survey conducted
by the Canadian Workplace Partners Panel found that “too
many IT workers are lacking in skills such as leadership,
interpersonal and/or business management.”53 In all,
respondents felt upgrading current skill levels of employees
was the most important action that could and would need to
be taken in meeting skill requirements for the near future.
Source: The Information Technology (IT) Labour Market in Canada:
Results From the National Survey of IT Occupations, ICTC, April 2005
Figure 26:
Factors Making It Difficult for Employers to Hire Staff, by 11 Regions (Private Sector)
90%
79.4
80%
74.2
70%
60%
73.9
71.2
61.8
64.5
57.5
65.7
62.9
61.2
60.0
56.5
50%
41.2
40%
30%
27.3
24.1
26.0
20%
10%
Relevant
Experience
33.7
10.4
8.1
22.6
16.6
12.0
13.0
9.1
15.6
22.4
11.8
14.5
12.0
16.217.3
19.5
14.0
9.4
17.119.0
Better
Location
0%
Vanvouver
BC and
Territories
Calgary and
Edmonton
Prairies
Toronto
Ontario
OttawaGatineau
Montreal
Quebec
Halifax
Atlantic
Hiring Factors by 11 Regions
Source: The Information Technology (IT) Labour Market in Canada: Results From the National Survey of IT Occupations, ICTC, April 2005
40
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
Relevant
Education
Average
Figure 27:
Skill Sets of Current Employees in Need of Improvement
(Private Sector Managers’ Response)
Communication
skills
Leadership and
management skills
16%
56%
17%
Problem Solving skills
57%
21%
Interpersonal and
teamwork skills
Technical, professional,
or job specific skills
28%
52%
20%
26%
55%
25%
Computer skills
27%
25%
57%
29%
56%
Basic skills such as
literacy and numeracy
53%
0
10
20
30
No improvement
needed
18%
40
50
15%
37%
60
70
Some improvement
needed
80
90
10%
100
These views are also substantiated by a study conducted
by ICTC, finding that an average of 25% of private sector
respondents indicated that they need more training. This is
despite the fact that 40% of the surveyed employees had
formal job training and 69% have had informal training in
the last 12 months. In the survey, thirty-one specific topic
areas were investigated ranging from skills like leadership,
to computer skills such as systems maintenance. In terms
of core IT skills, respondents felt they needed more training
with respect to programming skills (41%), design (36%),
systems administration (31%) and system operation (30%).
In addition to IT skill sets, respondents also felt that they
needed additional training for soft skills such as project
management (39%), people management (31%), time
management (30%), and leadership (29%).31 Thankfully,
many IT employees typically have a sustainable desire to
continually learn.
Much improvement
needed
RESEARCH SOURCES: Because 2006 IT workforce information
relating to additional training requirements is not available
yet, 2005 information was used.
Figure 28:
Skill Sets of Current Employees in Need of Improvement
(Private Sector Labour Leaders’ Response)
Leadership and
management skills
9%
Communication skills
9%
Problem Solving skills
36%
55%
39%
11%
Interpersonal and
teamwork skills
Technical, professional,
or job specific skills
52%
50%
10%
54%
11%
Computer skills
39%
37%
60%
20%
Basic skills such as
literacy and numeracy
60%
33%
0
10
20
30%
30
No improvement
needed
20%
51%
40
50
60
Some improvement
needed
70
80
17%
90
100
Much improvement
needed
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
41
Conclusions
Thanks to media coverage of the ICT “dot bomb” period,
many negative perceptions have formed about job
availability and stability in the ICT sector. And although the
ICT industry is thriving, having surpassed the employment
and unemployment numbers of the previous boom, these
perceptions persist, culminating in a noticeable decline in
educational enrollment for IT related fields. Additionally,
the labour workforce is aging, potentially adding additional
skill shortage issues to the mix.
Compared to the national average, the IT labour force is
relatively young. As a result, the ICT industry does not
expect to experience the retirement crunch until later, as
compared to other industries. This retirement crunch is also
potentially being delayed by provinces having eliminated
or eliminating mandatory retirement. The issue is, however,
that because other industries will potentially experience
their retirement crunches sooner, it provides them with a
luxury of first crack at the youth entering the educational
system, potentially increasing the deficit for graduates in IT
related fields later on. For example, to attract youth to the
healthcare industry, the government of Ontario announced
on May 8th 2006, that it will guarantee every nursing
graduate in Ontario a full-time job in the province, starting
in 2007.
While the ICT industry currently has a low unemployment
rate which might be expected to attract youth to the
IT field, it is not an isolated case. Other industries are also
experiencing potential labour shortages. For example, a
Manpower survey of 33,000 employers (not exclusive to
the ICT industry) across 23 countries and territories in
late January 2006 was conducted with respect to talent
shortages. The results revealed that 40 percent of employers
worldwide are having difficulty filling positions due to lack of
suitable talent available in their markets. Employers having
the most difficulty finding the right people to fill jobs are
those in Mexico (78% reporting shortages), Canada (66%),
and Japan (58%).
The top 10 jobs that employers are having difficulty filling
across the 23 countries and territories surveyed include
(ranked in order): Sales Representatives; Engineers;
Technicians (primarily production/operations, engineering
and maintenance); Production Operators; Skilled Manual
Trades (primarily carpenters, welders, and plumbers); IT
Staff (primarily programmers/developers); Administrative
Assistants/Personal Assistants; Drivers; Accountants; and
Management/Executives. Specific to Canada, the top
10 jobs that employers are having difficulty filling, ranked
in order, include: Sales Representatives; Customer Services
Representatives/Customer Support; Engineers; Drivers;
Mechanics; Laborers; Chefs/Cooks; Electricians; Skilled
Trades; and Nurses. Of the 1,000 Canadian respondents,
42
March 2007
66% indicated difficulty filling positions and 34% indicated
no difficulty filling positions. There were no indications of
actual shortage numbers.
As indicated, difficulties in filling positions are not limited
to the ICT industry or IT related employment in non-ICT
companies. However, even with 66% of Canadian
respondents indicating issues filling positions, employers
still hold out when looking for new “total package”
employees. The issue is that as employers hold out for the
perfect new employee, existing employees may be strained
by increased work loads when trying to maintain expected
outputs. Specifically, existing employees could potentially
see extended hours in efforts to address the additional
work loads caused by lack of personnel. This also has the
potential to increase burnout rates, increasing turnover
and leaves of absence, exacerbating the problem.
Admittedly, today’s unfilled IT positions are related more
to new technology and skill requirements rather than
offsetting retirees or other exits. Technology advancements
are reducing demand for some jobs and eliminating
routine jobs and once in-demand skills, potentially leaving
employees jobless. For some time now, Canadians have
been hearing that future generations will have several
different jobs, even careers, in the course of their working
life. This trend only continues to grow stronger as time
passes. Both employees and employers must take steps to
ensure they capitalize on all available opportunities for
retooling and retraining.
Today, hiring managers are looking for the most talented
employees that provide an attractive mix of soft skills and
knowledge of business fundamentals, familiarity with the
latest developments, on-the-job experience, track records
of successful projects, etc. Employers want new personnel
with the ability to immediately contribute to the bottom
line. They are having trouble finding this either through
new graduates or in the current pool of available talent,
which continues to shrink. At the same time, employers
seem unwilling to make the necessary investments in
the workforce to develop the skills they are looking for,
addressing some of the disparity between the kinds of
skills they need and the kinds of workers actually available.
While some employers do provide access to training
materials to help maintain existing employee skill sets,
many no longer send employees to offsite corporate
training centers for several weeks. Instead, training is
offered at night, on weekends or over the lunch hour.
Unfortunately, employees are ignoring these resources
because of the requirement to relinquish their personal time.
Too many individuals only choose training if it is during
business hours, paid, or tied directly to financial gain.
Branham Group Inc.
Individuals need to realize that the skills with which they
enter the labour force will not necessarily be sufficient to
take them through their entire working life. Continuous
skills development and training are a requirement.
While provision will need to be a joint responsibility of
governments and employers, it will be up to individuals
to seize every available training and upgrade/retooling
opportunity that is offered to them, making themselves
suitable candidates in the emerging future world of work.
For example, development organizations that may be shifting
from C or C++ languages towards the increasingly popular
Java language have two choices; retool existing employees
or replace them with new employees with Java experience.
Based on cost, existing developers are already educated in
programming algorithms, development practices, and know
the business. It would likely be easier and cheaper to retool
these developers with a new programming language than it
would be to find and hire Java developers who would need
to learn the employer’s specific business. This is supported by
the fact that employers rate experience as more important
than technical skills.
Figure 29: The Talent Supply/Demand Disconnect
Finally, there is also a wealth of unemployed or underemployed individuals in other industries who could be
retooled for the IT labour force. These include the
disaffected jobless youth; single mothers and disabled
people; part-time employees who would prefer full-time
employment; internationally educated professionals; and
early retirement workers needing to subsidize their
shrinking pensions.
$ per hour
Lack of resources
creates tension on the
high-skills market
Oversupply of low-skill
resources generates
unemployment
Men
Women
Number of people available by skill level
Demand for skill
Employers should be determining now how to alleviate the
problems these shortages may cause and planning to
confront the challenges they will face as the trends become
more pronounced. Inevitably, there will need to be pain
associated with the looming talent shortage before people
take the issue seriously and integrate it in their strategic
thinking; without pain, it is just too easy to keep putting it
off and leaving it for someone else to resolve.
Supply of skill
Source: “Confronting the Coming Talent Crunch: What’s Next?” – Manpower
Similarly, employers need to do all they can to retain
potentially useful and adaptable talent, whatever its current
role in the organization. With pending skill shortages,
employers cannot afford the luxury of eliminating hundreds
of employees with obsolete skills one day and taking on
hundreds of new employees with the needed skills the next.
Instead, employers must give careful and timely thought to
retooling and upgrading the skills of soon-to-be redundant
or obsolete employees to fill new positions. As previously
noted, the IT workforce is highly educated. This labour
force has already demonstrated it has the intellectual
capacity for retooling.
March 2007
RESEARCH SOURCES: Potential skill shortages are not limited
to the ICT industry. While some information is available for
existing skill shortages, this information is not ICT specific
and is at a high level; granularity into specific numbers of
IT skills shortages is not available. Additionally, observations
related to the potential for existing skill sets becoming
obsolete and as a result the potential for labourers becoming
unemployed is anecdotal. Quantitative data is not available,
in general or IT specific, to reflect the number of recently or
soon to be unemployed due to the obsolescence of skills, down
sizing, or otherwise. Even if current data was available, the
number of employees expected to become unemployed due to
skill obsolescence is difficult to predict based on the ability
for personnel to evolve and adapt as technology changes or
advances. Similarly, like predicting the potential employment
requirements for the demand of new or unexpected technologies, it is difficult to know if current “hot” technologies will
quickly fall out of favour for another, thus reducing the need
for a defined skill set.
Branham Group Inc.
43
Appendix A – Research Sources
ICT Vendors
Academia
Over the course of this assignment, Branham approached
several ICT vendors (Software and Professional Services
companies) to source additional secondary research not
already identified in the public domain. Through these
efforts Branham found that most vendors either utilize
existing research reports available through public entities,
such as Industry Canada, or through paid subscriptions
to analysts such as Forrester, IDC, etc. If an organization
had completed an internal project (IT skills related), it
was not disclosed.
Universities and colleges across Canada were contacted
to collect information relating to Canadian IT workforce
information and trends. Those approached were:
IT Associations
— University of Winnipeg
Leading IT associations from all Canadian provinces were
contacted to retrieve IT workforce information for the
compilation of this report (with the exception of New
Brunswick). These associations included CATA, ITAC
Ontario, OCRI, InfoTech Alberta, NATI, ICTAM, ITANS, ITAP,
SATA, BCTIA, Technology PEI, RPGTI, Inter LogiQ, and
CommuniTech. The following presents the information
retrieved from these leading IT organizations:
— University of Victoria
— University of British Columbia
— University of Manitoba
— University of New Brunswick
— Memorial University of Newfoundland
— Acadia University
— University of Waterloo
— University of Ottawa
— University of Carleton
— University of Guelph
— CATA: In coordination with Monster Canada, the CATA
Alliance runs a regularly updated Advanced Technology
Index providing information such as top job types
searched as well as posted online.
— University of PEI
— ICTAM: Provided information relating to Manitoba’s
ICT sector and workforce needs.
— Algonquin College
— SATA: Provided information relating to Saskatchewan
IT industry current strengths and workforce size.
Universities and colleges, in all cases, confirmed they
did not have information with regards to IT workforce
information and trends, apart from past and current
enrollment numbers in IT related programs. In these cases,
universities and colleges pointed to annual review reports
as well as online institutional analysis links.
— BCTIA: Provided information relating to British
Columbia’s IT industry strengths, workforce size,
projected growth, contribution to Canada’s GDP,
and future IT labour market strategies.
— OCRI: Provided information relating to Ottawa’s IT
industry strengths, workforce size, employee skill sets
and education levels.
— Technology PEI: Provided information relating to
PEI’s small to medium sized IT firms and the province’s
current and future labour market strategies.
Relevant data from each of the studies provided was used
in the compilation of this report. In cases where information
was not provided, organizations cited reasons such as
they didn’t track such information and/or looked to
other organizations, including ICTC, to retrieve related
information/data.
44
— Concordia University College of Alberta
— University of Alberta
March 2007
— McGill University
— University of Regina
— CDI
Research Institutes
Research Institutes across Canada were also contacted
to collect information relating to Canadian IT workforce
information and trends. Those approached were:
— NRC
— BC Research
— ICTC
— NAIT
— SAIT
— Info-Tech Research Group
Branham Group Inc.
— CRIM
Industry Analysts
— CIAR
A number of industry analyst sources were investigated for
the availability of information pertaining to the Canadian
ICT sector and overall employment data. While these
organizations do offer reports for purchase, most focused
their research exclusively on the US market and did not
have data specific to Canada. Those approached included,
but were not limited to:
— UOIT
— RCC Institute of Technology
ICTC proved to be a key source of information in the data
collection phase of this report. Apart from ICTC, Research
Institutes confirmed they did not have information with
regards to IT workforce information and trends except
for past and current enrollment numbers in IT related
programs.
— IDC
— Forrester
— Gartner
Government
A number of government departments and agencies were
investigated for publicly available and relevant information
pertaining to IT employment. These included both federal
and provincial resources. While several groups were
approached and investigated, not all sources provided
valuable information. In many cases information was
inconsistent, vague, and dated. Additionally, information
found in a number of government sources was generally
traced back to only a few key groups including Industry
Canada (Strategis) and Statistics Canada. Those agencies
included, but were not limited to:
— Industry Canada including Strategis
— Ottawa Economic Development Corporation
— Statistics Canada
— Services Canada
— Human Resources and Social Development Canada
— HR for Employers
— Job Futures
— Job Bank
— Invest In Canada
— Alberta Advanced Education and Technology
— Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities
— Manitoba Science, Technology, Energy, and Mines
March 2007
— Datamonitor
— KnowledgeStorm
— Jupiter
— Cowles/Simba
— Mercer Human Resource Consulting
— KPMG
IT Staffing Agencies
Agencies that focus on staffing IT related skills requirements
were investigated for information regarding observed
trends or other internal information used in their planning
or marketing activities. A few agencies, such as Robert Half
Technology and Monster (in conjunction with CATA Alliance)
were able to provide information through marketing
material and articles. Otherwise, very little formal or
structured (non-anecdotal) information was available
publicly through these agencies.
Media
Many articles are available that either focus on, or deal in
some manner with, expected skills shortages and current
employment trends. Other than those directly related to
subscription based analyst reports, many of the articles
provided direction to additional sources of information
that fell within the other research groups outlined above.
Branham Group Inc.
45
Appendix B – References
1
Canadian ICT Sector Profile. (2006, October).
Industry Canada, Information Communications
Technologies Branch. Retrieved January 2007 from
strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/ict-tic.nsf/en/h_it07229e.html.
13
2005 Annual Regional Labour Market Review. (2006,
April). Alberta Government. Retrieved January 2007
from www.hre.gov.ab.ca/documents/LMI/LMILFS_2005_aarlmr.pdf.
2
Canadian ICT Sector Profile. (2006, November).
14
High tech employment in Ottawa just shy of that during
the boom: OCRI Survey. (2006, June). OCRI. Retrieved
January 2007 from www.ocri.ca/email_broadcasts/
newsreleases/061506news_e.html.
3
Quarterly Monitor of the Canadian ICT Sector. (2006,
December). Industry Canada. Retrieved January 2007
from strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/ict-tic.nsf/en/
h_it06100e.html.
15
Ontario. (2006). Industry Canada. Retrieved
January 2007 from strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/
ict_c-g_tic.nsf/en/h_tk00062e.html
16
Ontario. (2006). Industry Canada. Retrieved
ict_c-g_tic.nsf/en/h_tk00062e.html
17
ICT Sector Regional Report – Atlantic Canada. (2004).
strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/ict-tic.nsf/en/it07185e.html.
18
ICTC Labour Force Data (2006, September).
Information and Communications Technology Council.
Retrieved January 2007 from www.ictc-ctic.ca/en/
content.aspx?id=426.
19
Carrington, C. (2005, March). Small Business
Financing Profiles. Government of Canada. Retrieved
January 2007 from dsp-psd.pwgsc.gc.ca/Collection/
Iu188-4-3-2006E.pdf.
20
Ticoll, D. (2005, June). Canada’s Information
Technology Labour Market 2005: Issues and
Options. Information and Communications and
Technology Council. Retrieved January 2007 from
www.ictc-ctic.ca/en/content.aspx?id=676
21
Information and Communications Technology
Council. Retrieved January 2007 from
www.ictc-ctic.ca/en/content.aspx?id=426.
4
5
O’Grady, J. (2006). Outlook for Canadian IT
Occupational Employment. ICTC & Prism Economics
and Analysis, Autumn 2006.
6
7
A Comparison of the SHRC Occupational Skills Profile
Model (OSPM) to the HRDC National Occupational
Classification (NOC). (2004, March). Information and
Communications Technology Council. Retrieved January
2007 from www.ictc-ctic.ca/en/content.aspx?id=676.
8
46
Wolfson, G. W. (2006, April). Analysis of Labour
Force Survey Data for the Information Technology
Occupations 2000-2005. Information and Communications
Council. Retrieved January 2007 from
9
2006 Impact – A Snapshot of British Columbia’s
Technology Industry. (2006). BCTIA. Retrieved January
2007 from www.bctia.org/Knowledge/Publications.
10
British Columbia. (2006). Industry Canada. Retrieved
ict_c-g_tic.nsf/en/h_tk00004e.html.
22
Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours (SEPH).
(2006). Statistics Canada. Retrieved January 2007
from http://www.statcan.ca/english/sdds/2612.htm
11
British Columbia. (2006). Industry Canada. Retrieved
ict_c-g_tic.nsf/en/h_tk00004e.html.
23
12
Jobs Galore in BC Technology industry, but talent
shortage threatens growth. (2007, March 1). BCTIA.
Retrieved March 2007 from www.bctia.org/files/
Whats_New_Files/TechTalentBC_Feb_07_News_Release.pdf.
Occupational Outlook Handbook: Professional and
Technical Operations. (2006). TwinCities-Home.
Retrieved January 2007 from
www.canadatotwincities.com/sa.html
24
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
25
Canadian ICT Sector Profile. (2006, October). Industry
Canada, Information Communications Technologies
Branch. Retrieved January 2007 from
35
26
The Right Place to do Business. (2006). Location
Canada. Retrieved January 2007 from
www.locationcanada.com/art_1.htm.
36
27
Khanna, P. (2006, August 4). Action Needed on Skills
Shortage. Business.ca. Retrieved January 2007 from
www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/ComputerCanada/News.
asp?id=40308.
37
A Framework for Developing an Industry Outlook on
Human Resources in the IT Labour Market. (2006,
December). Prism Economics and Analysis & ICTC.
38
A Framework for Developing an Industry Outlook on
Human Resources in the IT Labour Market. (2006,
December). Prism Economics and Analysis & ICTC.
39
Meckbach, G. (2006, December 19). The evolving public
sector IT job. ITBusiness.ca. Retrieved January 2007
from www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/ ComputerCanada/
News.asp?id=41605.
40
Skills Agenda. (2004). The Canadian Chamber
of Commerce. Retrieved January 2007 from
www.chamber.ca/cmslib/general/S042.pdf
41
Skills and Skills Shortages: The Views of Business,
Labour, and Public Sector Leaders in Canada. (2006,
September). Workplace Partners Panel. Retrieved
January 2006 from www.wpp-clbc.ca/files/PDF/
viewpoint2006_clbc_EN_13sept.pdf.
42
Researching Careers in Information Technology
for Immigrants. (2005, May). Canadian Career
Development Foundation.
43
44
Options. Information and Communications
Technology Council. Retrieved January 2007
from www.ictc-ctic.ca/en/content.aspx?id=676.
45
Options. Information and Communications
Technology Council. Retrieved January 2007
from www.ictc-ctic.ca/en/content.aspx?id=676.
28
29
30
31
32
University Engineering Enrollment Survey: A Summary of
Findings. (2005, April). Information and Communications
Sutton, N. (2006, October 17). IT employment index
shows growth in consulting. Business.ca. Retrieved
January 2007 from www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/
ComputerCanada/News.asp?id=40875.
Advanced Technology Employment Continues to Soar—
Index up 32 percent in Robust Labour Markets. (2006,
December 28). CATA Alliance. Retrieved January 2006
from www.cata.ca/pvwc8ae40/print/media_and_events/
press_releases/cata_pr12270601.html.
Occupations 2000-2005. Information and
2007 from www.ictc-ctic.ca/en/content. aspx?id=676.
Occupations 2000-2005. Information and
2007 from www.ictc-ctic.ca/en/content. aspx?id=676.
33
Eisner, A. (2001, October 22). EDS VP says Canadian
Firms Slower to Adopt Outsourcing. Whir News.
Retrieved January 2007 from www.thewhir.com/
features/eds-canada.cfm.
34
Optimizing Value from Outsourcing. (2006,
November). CORE. Retrieved January 2007 from
www.core-outsourcing.org/index.htm.
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
47
48
46
Himmelsbach, V. (2006, August 24). IT succession
planning: Have you started yet? ITBusiness.ca. Retrieved
January 2007 from www.itbusiness.ca/it/client/en/
home/News.asp?id=40428
51
Job and Skill Requirements. (2006). Service
www.labourmarketinformation.ca/
standard.asp?ppid=119&lcode=E.
47
The Right Place to do Business. (2006). Location
www.locationcanada.com/ art_1.htm.
52
48
Yuen, T. (2006). Shoring up a dwindling workforce.
CAmagazine.com. Retrieved January 2007 from
www.camagazine.com/3/4/9/9/0/index1.shtml.
ICT and Canada: The Future is Here. (2006).
http://www.industrycanada.ca/cmb/welcomeic.nsf/
cea5f9724cd107f485256fc8006a6df9/85256a5d006b
97208525723c0059fdd6!OpenDocument.
53
49
De Guzman, M. (2006, August 18).Teens target
for creative recruitment. itWorldCanada. Retrieved
January 2007 from www.itworldcanada.com/Pages/
Docbase/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=idgml-c130121e-2597446c-8f2b-1b63e079498a.
Skills and Skills Shortages: The Views of Business,
Labour, and Public Sector Leaders in Canada. (2006,
September). Workplace Partners Panel. Retrieved
January 2006 from www.wpp-clbc.ca/files/PDF/
viewpoint2006_clbc_EN_13sept.pdf.
50
Canadian ICT Industry Growth Drives Strategic Business
Advantage, According to IDC Canada. (2006, June 5).
IDC Canada. Retrieved January 2007 from
www.idc.ca/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prCA20199206.
March 2007
Branham Group Inc.
The Information and Communications Technology
Council (ICTC) is a non-profit sectoral council dedicated to
creating a strong, prepared and highly educated Canadian
ICT industry and workforce. ICTC is a catalyst for change,
pushing for innovations that will provide labour market
intelligence, life-long professional development and quality
education and training for the Canadian ICT industry,
educators, governments and the ICT workforce. We forge
partnerships that help develop the quantity and quality of
ICT professionals needed to improve Canada’s position
as a leader in the global marketplace.
To achieve its goals, ICTC focuses on four areas that are
proven building blocks of a healthy, forward-looking sector:
• Skills Definition – defining the skills required to be a
professional in the ICT sector.
• Labour Market Intelligence – providing up-to-date
statistics and analyses of human resource developments
in the ICT sector.
• Career Awareness – providing programs and tools to
explore the career possibilities in Canada’s ICT sector.
• Professional Development – dedicated to continuous
learning for ICT workers so they can maintain and
improve their skills sets and increase their opportunities
within the sector.
Council (ICTC)
116 Lisgar Street, Suite 300,
Ottawa, ON K2P 0C2
Phone: 613-237-8551
Fax: 613-230-3490
Email: [email protected]
www.ictc-ctic.ca
This project is funded by
the Government of Canada’s
Sector Council Program.

Visit Website - Information and Communications Technology Council

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