'This trade war has real impacts on the real lives of people working and making our economy strong'
With Mark Carney securing the Prime Minister’s seat following Canada’s 45th general election, the Chartered Professionals in Human Resources (CPHR) is calling on winners to prioritise the cause of workers amid the current economic climate.
“We understand the context with everything happening down south and the geopolitical global context right now,” says Philippe de Villers, chair of CPHR Canada's board of directors, in conversation with HRD Canada.
“The workplaces, right now, are being impacted quite a bit by those things. And not only those, but artificial intelligence, wellness in the workplace, immigration—all those topics are actually impacting the day to day of all workers and businesses across the country. We wanted to make sure that we don't forget that in the context... this trade war has real impacts on the real lives of people working and making our economy strong.”
U.S. tariffs are having a negative impact on small and mid-sized firms across Canada, according to a previous report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB).
Specifically, CPHR Canada wants newly elected officials to focus on a productive economy, a future-proof workforce,
“When we look at the productivity gap, it’s increasing in time,” says de Villers.
“The tools are changing quite a bit, with artificial intelligence (AI), and we need to make a conscious effort to regulate those tools.”
Right now, there’s “no straightforward regulation on the matter,” he says.
“It's becoming too far west, a little bit. And we need to make sure we integrate those tools properly in our workplaces to generate productivity, ease the pain on the workers, but also do it in an ethical and moral manner.”
AI assistants will soon be available to many workers, and employers must urgently establish ethical guidelines around their use, according to one Canadian academic.
The second priority is future-proofing Canada's workforce to ensure employees can adapt to technological change. De Villers stresses that rapid AI deployment has generated fear among many workers.
“As those new tools come into place in the workplace right now, there's a lot of fear among people. They don't know how to use those tools,” says de Villers.
“We need to make sure we adapt our training activities… to make sure that they understand what they're good at, that they understand their limitations and can use them to bring value in the data they work in right now.”
He notes that, as of now, CPHR has heard of "very few initiatives" that are moving in that direction.
AI upskilling is now a workplace necessity across industries, according to a previous report.
CPHR Canada's third action item is ensuring healthy, supportive, and inclusive workplaces. While acknowledging backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in other countries, de Villers said Canada must continue its momentum.
“We want to make sure we keep all the efforts we built in the past few years on DEI and that we keep with what we got, and make sure we continue moving in that direction, in the perspective of social justice,” says de Villers.
He emphasises that promoting inclusive workplaces is not just an ethical imperative but a business necessity, linking worker well-being to organisational productivity.
“Make sure we maintain inclusive workplaces, reduce harassment, and work on the well being of workers. Ultimately, the wellbeing of workers creates more productive workplaces. So everyone wins when we have those inclusive workplaces.”
To achieve these goals, CPHR shares the following action points:
An innovative and productive economy:
A future-proof workforce: skills and availability:
Healthy, supportive and inclusive workplaces:
