Knowledge and skills for 21st century manufacturing

The high quality of the steel products made in Canada depends on the skilled men and women who work in each of our member facilities.

Advances in technology applicable to steel production are important, but so too is a well-trained workforce to produce consistently world-class steel, now and well into the future.

Like many other industrial sectors, the Canadian steel industry faces a growing demographic “crunch”—as a generation of skilled employees retires, there are prospective shortages of skilled trades, engineers, managers, and other key jobs for the steel industry.

Of note, more than half of Canada’s steel workforce is over 45 years of age.

A new generation of highly skilled industrial workers must be developed and attracted to the steel and other manufacturing sectors.  This is evidenced by the recent report of the Canadian Steel Trade and Employment Congress (CSTEC), an industry-labour sector council that recommends a range of actions by industry, universities, community colleges, and research institutions.

Click here to view the CSTEC report

Innovation for Canada’s Steel Sector

Canadian steel is a driving force in innovation and advancement.  The industry has invested more than $2 billion since 2005 in new technologies and better processes to make Canadian steel more innovative, less expensive and stronger than ever.  These investments are paying dividends.  More than half of all types of steel did not exist 15 years ago.   Meanwhile, we have significantly decreased our environmental footprint.  The energy required to produce a tonne of steel has dropped 25% since 1990, and in the same period the steel industry’s greenhouse gas emissions have been cut by 17%.

One key measure that encourages industrial innovation is the Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) tax credit.  The SR&ED is a positive and essential incentive for industrial innovation, but some features of the program and its implementation reduce its potential as an incentive to increase applied industrial R&D.  A re-orientation of the SR&ED program could spur further industrial innovation to bolster Canada’s productivity across a broad range of Canadian industry.  Policy decisions flowing from the federal panel on business R&D programs should give strong priority to strengthening the SR&ED from a business innovation perspective.