What does the future hold for employment in Canada? Using strategic foresight research methods, this report explores a broad range of trends with the potential to impact Canada’s labour market.
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
1. AI EVERYTHING: AI may impact and potentially disrupt every industry.
2. VR + AR EXPERIENCES: Virtual and Augmented Reality may transform the way Canadians engage with a range of experiences, from training to gaming.
3. BLOCKCHAIN: Blockchain adoption may change the security and authenticity of important transactions including banking, land rights, high value goods, insurance and voting.
4. DIGITAL DETOX: Finding the cost of digital connectedness too high, Canadians are making deliberate decisions to unplug from technology to achieve a healthier life balance.
5. 3D PRINTING: 3D printing is gearing up to change the way we produce and consume goods in the future.
6. WE ARE FAMGA: Facebook, Amazon, Microso , Google, Apple (FAMGA) are rede ning the technology industry and dominating multiple markets, leaving limited space for others.
7. DIGITAL IDENTITY: Information about us and our families is being used to create digital identities.
8. HUMANS, AUGMENTED: Brain enhancements may elevate human capabilities.
9. TECHNOLOGICAL FEAR: The pervasiveness of our digital connections is leading to deep fear and anxiety about technology.
10. RIGHTS OF AI: AI may transition from being understood as so ware to being considered beings, therefore achieving a new status and basic rights.
11. CREATIVE AI: Creative AI has the potential to automate creative tasks typically deemed automation-resilient.
GLOBALIZATION
12. TECH TALENT IMMIGRATION: Canada is using creative mechanisms to address tech talent shortages.
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
18. RESOURCE SCARCITY: Clean air, water, sand may all become scarce and extremely valuable resources.
19. WILDFIRES, FLOODING + MUDSLIDES:
Climate change may increase the instances of wild res, oods and mudslides in Canada.
20. CLIMATE REFUGEES: Canada may see an in ux of refugees due to major climate change disruptions in the rest of the world.
21. ALTERNATIVE ENERGY: Experimental and sustainable energy sources could provide abundant, a ordable energy for all.
URBANIZATION OTHER
22. SUBURBAN BOOM: Canada’s suburban
areas are growing faster than the overall population.
INCREASING INEQUALITY
23. DISAPPEARING MIDDLE CLASS: The middle class may be disappearing and overstretched by debt, increasing the polarization between rich and poor.
24. REBALANCING GENDER EQUALITY: The rebalancing of gender equality could disrupt private and public institutions.
25. PERSONAL DATA OWNERSHIP: Concerns over personal data may create new ownership and revenue models.
26. DECLINE OF CAPITALISM: Millennials may push for a new economic system to replace capitalism.
POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY
27. INTERNATIONAL TENSIONS: New sources of international tensions may drive investment in security, including security applications of AI.
28. ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT:
Entrepreneurship-related work and the entrepreneurial spirit may become the dominant career path with many Canadians creating their own opportunities rather than commi ing to a single employer.
29. MANDATORY CREATIVITY: Creativity could become critical for all Canadians, not just for the arts and design community.
30. EDUCATION REIMAGINED: Work is changing, driving demand for learning how to learn instead of memorizing information, paving the way for new models of education for K-12 learners.
31. CANNABIS ECONOMY: Canada becomes second nation in the world to legalize marijuana, creating immense new market opportunities.
Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Turn and Face the Strange: Changes impacting the future of employment in Canada – Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship
Job Market Monitor 
Discussion
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
Pingback: Future of Work in Ireland – Six groups with the largest number of persons employed whose jobs were at high risk of automation | Job Market Monitor - August 27, 2020