Updated April 13, 2004

The labour force

Before he entered national politics and ultimately came to run the country, former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien worked summers at a paper mill while earning a law degree. Margaret Atwood did a stint as a waitress prior to becoming one of Canada’s best known authors. Jim Carrey was a janitor before becoming one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors. Canadians, whether famous or not, have opportunities to change jobs and careers by getting more education, building on their experiences, or simply trying something new. The job market is wide open today, unlike during the Second World War, when a severe labour shortage meant that quitting your job or leaving your industry sometimes required a government permit.

Our jobs form a pivot upon which our daily lives, family lives and even leisure time revolve. Sometimes we spend more time with our co-workers than with our families. And we often share the pain when a friend or loved one is out of work—a frequent occurrence throughout the early 1990s, and a problem that continued to a lesser extent in 2001 and 2002 as average annual unemployment rates rose.

Fortunately, things have been looking up on the job front of late, with unemployment falling again. In the meantime, technology is affecting Canada's labour force in two ways: by enabling us to work from home and be more productive, but also by forcing us to acquire new skills or risk being left behind.