Region must prepare for future challenges: Solberg

While Canada today sits on a strong foundation for building a better future for its citizens, preparations are still needed in order to face future obstacles.

This was the advice given by Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, who spoke during the Atlantic Canadian economic development conference hosted by Mount Allison last week.

Boasting a strong economy and the rise of wages and new jobs, Solberg was still quick to point out that one of the greatest challenges looming on the horizon is to find enough skilled workers to meet labour market needs.

While this is a huge challenge, it is also a fantastic opportunity, said Solberg during his speech on Friday afternoon.

Solberg emphasized the necessity to ensure that people get the skills they need in order to advance and improve their way of life.

The minister was also quick to point out that, contrary to popular belief, graduates of Atlantic Canadian universities are more likely to remain in their region of study rather than moving away.

Solberg noted that, in a study released recently by the Maritimes Higher Education Commission which detailed the progress of a 2003 grad class to 2005, the results indicated that roughly 70 per cent of graduates from New Brunswick remained in the province.

A seminar prior to Solbergs speech detailed the regional labour recruitment issues that are currently prevalent in Atlantic Canada, and was particularly aimed at the younger generation about to replace the retiring baby boomers.

Noel Baldwin, who spoke on behalf of the Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation, said that two obstacles currently stand in the way of improving access to post-secondary education - demographic and student debt trends in Atlantic Canada. This becomes increasingly important as more new jobs in the economy begin to require at least some post-secondary education.

Baldwin says that, in general, the region is doing fairly well with regards to graduates completing post-secondary education, yet emphasized that things will get a bit trickier in the future.

New jobs that will replace baby boomers retiring are also going to demand people have advanced skills and to have taken some post-secondary education, he said.

Baldwin noted that about 65 per cent of new jobs, as well as those being vacated by retiring baby boomers, require some post-secondary education.

The problem is, enrollment rates are continuing to drop in post-secondary institutions, rates which Baldwin says will become dangerously low in the next decade.

Another concern is the amount of debt that people are in upon pursuing post-secondary education.

Debt aversion for some people is a very significant barrier that discourages them from education, Baldwin said. The foundation commission also studied the impact of student aid with regards to completion and persistence rates at six universities across the country and found that the impact can be quite dramatic.

The results showed the more loans a student receives, the less likely they are to complete their program, said Baldwin.

The moment you step over the $3,000 mark, if youre receiving loans, the percentage is only 28 per cent who complete their program, he said.

The foundation, which began in 1998 as a means of providing aid to students seeking post-secondary education, has been discussing policies on how to modernize the student aid system for the present economic status.

The Department of Human Resources and Social Development have recently initiated a nation-wide conversation about the modernization of student assistance in Canada.

Were hopeful that all sectors are involved in this conversation, said Baldwin. Because if we dont do a good job in making sure that young people can pursue post-secondary education then we are going to have problems in all other sectors, from all parts of the economy.