Abstract

LABOUR MARKET DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENTS: CHANGING GOVERANCE MODELS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR POLICY COHERENCE

Erin Gray and Donna Wood

For many years both federal and provincial governments have been involved in providing labour market services to help Canadians prepare for, find and maintain employment. The federal focus has largely been on Employment Insurance (EI) recipients, youth and aboriginal persons. Provincial/territorial efforts have primarily focused on social assistance (SA) recipients.

The 1996 Employment Insurance Act introduced sweeping reforms to labour market policy in Canada. One of the most significant policy shifts was an offer by the federal government to transfer responsibility for the design and delivery of active measures for EI claimants to provinces/territories. Since then, 12 of the 13 provinces/territories and the federal government have signed Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs) marking a historic devolution of responsibility for active labour market programs. While 7 jurisdictions have implemented fully devolved LMDAs, in 5 jurisdictions Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC) still delivers active measures, with defined provincial/territorial partnerships. Ontario is the only province without an LMDA.

This research is informed, in part, by interviews with respondents from different sectors, including federal and provincial governments, public and private service institutions, labour, business, and local community organizations. This presentation examines, on a preliminary basis, how the introduction of LMDAs has affected policy coherence among federal and provincial labour market policies and programs. It will look at how labour market services are delivered, how programs are co-ordinated, who is being served, and whether the introduction of LMDAs and the type of LMDA have improved partnerships. Labour market services in Alberta, British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Ontario will be examined, representing jurisdictions with a fully devolved LMDA, co-managed LMDAs and no LMDA. The presentation will also examine indicators and best practice models of policy coherence, and compare these with actual practices in the selected jurisdictions.

Bios

Erin Gray has been an assistant professor with the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary since 1999. Erin has a bachelor of social work degree from the University of Calgary, and a master of social work from Wilfrid Laurier, where she received a graduate gold medal in 1992. Erin is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Wales, Swansea. Her doctoral research explores the devolution of social policy through a comparison of federal and provincial priorities and positions pertaining to Labour Market Development Agreements in Alberta and Nova Scotia. As an academic social worker, Erin’s interests in labour market policy include issues related to the availability of high quality labour market services for social assistance recipients across provincial jurisdictions. Her other related research interests include the history of social welfare, and the interplay between federalism and the development of social policy in Canada.

Donna Wood has worked for the Governments of Alberta and the Northwest Territories in social policy analysis and development for over twenty years. Her areas of focus have included income support and welfare reform; apprenticeship and labour market issues; social services, and workplace issues. Since 1993 Donna has been the Director of Intergovernmental Relations with the Government of Alberta, responsible for promoting relationships between the province, the federal government and other provinces and territories on issues such as the National Child Benefit, Labour Market Development Agreements (LMDAs), labour mobility, international labour agreements and supports and services for disadvantaged groups (persons with disabilities, immigrants, Aboriginal Persons). Donna has a bachelor of social science degree from the University of Ottawa and a master of public management from the University of Alberta. In the fall of 2003, Donna will be starting PhD studies at the University of Edinburgh focused on managing social policy when this field is shared in a federation or some other type of multi-governance system.

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