APEC Report Looks At What Will Help Indigenous Workforce Recover From Pandemic
HALIFAX–Covid-19 has had serious economic effects on Indigenous businesses and communities.
The Atlantic Province’s Economic Council’s (APEC) latest report, which looks at Atlantic Canada’s Indigenous communities and businesses as part of a series on Covid-19 recovery, says that while much of that recovery has taken place, more is necessary.
Nationally, Covid-19 caused a sharp decline in Indigenous employment. For instance, off-reserve Indigenous women’s labour force participation took eighteen months to recover to pre-pandemic levels. Indigenous men and non-Indigenous people’s recovery, by comparison, took only six months.
Citing those challenges, Fred Bergman, APEC’s senior policy analyst (and the report’s author) says a focus on education and training, access to capital, and better partnerships would help address high unemployment rates and a high concentration of indigenous labour in low-wage industries.
Like many Canadian businesses, Indigenous business closures have been commonplace due to Covid-19 lockdowns and falling revenues.
Nationally, about four in 10 Indigenous businesses had to close temporarily during the pandemic, according to a Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business’ Indigenous Business Survey. Two percent of respondents reported that their business is now permanently closed.
In APEC’s report, Bergman outlines how the region’s Indigenous population offers unique skills and perspectives for the economy; that begins with Atlantic Canada’s young indigenous population, which continues to grow.
The median age of the country’s Indigenous population was 29 in 2016, compared to the median age of 41 years in the non-Indigenous population. By 2041, it’s projected that Atlantic Canada’s Indigenous population will grow to around 207,000, up from 133,000 in 2016.
“We can rely on more immigration but we have such a significant labour shortage problem in terms of unfilled job vacancies and aging demographics for the non-Indigenous population,” said Bergman in an interview.
More partnerships and access to capital needed
One well-documented success in helping expand possibilities for the region’s indigenous workforce is Fredericton’s PQA Testing, which specializes in software testing and works alongside sister company, PLATO Testing, to increase Indigenous participation in the tech sector.
“Companies like Plato and PQA do a lot of training for people from various indigenous communities to be software testers — and of course, in the middle of the pandemic that’s not a bad job to have because you can work remotely,” says Bergman.
Bergman notes organizations like New Brunswick’s Joint Economic Development Initiative (JEDI), and Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaw Economic Benefits Office (MEBO), have provided training and fostered economic development opportunities.
But he still sees some sectors where the need is great for new hands.
“There’s lots of other examples of opportunities to tap into the indigenous workforce, whether it’s in construction, manufacturing, whether it’s in digitalization and automation, or the IT sector,” says Bergman.
He also says there’s also an opportunity for Indigenous businesses to grow exports, highlighting Ottawa’s commitment to a new mandate that at least five percent of federal procurement must be sourced from Indigenous-owned businesses.
The National Indigenous Economic Development Board also identified barriers to accessing capital, which, as Bergman relays, include the higher costs of doing business that Indigenous businesses face, lower rates of financial literacy, and complex government funding regimes that can make it difficult for many to find programs for which they are eligible.
Bergman writes that simplifying the application process for targeted funding and improving financial literacy are two ways to help Indigenous business owners access sources of capital.
Broadband access still an issue
As Atlantic Canada’s economy changes, Bergman says a younger and rapidly growing Indigenous workforce could help meet the immediate demographic labour needs for the region, though access to technology and connectivity remain barriers for many First Nations communities.
Areas that still require connection and access to high-speed internet, Bergman says, have slowed the ability for Indigenous businesses to adapt to an increasingly digital economy.
“There are a number of communities still in Nova Scotia that have ongoing broadband projects that are not fully developed,” says Bergman. He points to the federal government’s connectivity strategy under Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada as helpful in meeting those objectives.
The strategy features two main objectives: that all Canadians have access to broadband at speeds of at least 50 Megabits per second (Mbps) download / 10 Mbps upload, and to provide mobile wireless coverage is available where Canadians live and work, and along major road corridors by 2030.
Bergman says remote First Nations communities in Newfoundland and Labrador face the largest gap in fulfilling broadband service, something APEC plans to examine in greater detail in relation to other Atlantic provinces as part of a subsequent report coming later in March.
Tyler Mclean is a Huddle reporter based in Fredericton. Send him your feedback and story ideas: [email protected].