Education, training need rethinking amid changing job market dynamics: BoC

Bank of Canada building is pictured in Ottawa. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

MONTREAL — A senior Bank of Canada official says we need to rethink our approaches to education and training as young people face a difficult labour market marked by low turnover and high long-term unemployment.

In a speech in Montreal, Nicolas Vincent, an external deputy governor at the Bank of Canada, says the job market is particularly challenging for young people.

• Latest economic news on BNNBloomberg.ca

Vincent says not only are young people overrepresented in the ranks of the unemployed, but they also make up almost a quarter of the long‑term unemployed — a share that has more than doubled since 2022.

He noted that when the economy slows, unemployment tends to rise more sharply among young people, but the magnitude of the rise in youth unemployment suggests other factors are also at work.

Vincent pointed to structural factors including an influx of young immigrants, a mismatch of skills and the growth of AI as possible reasons for the situation.

He says we need to ask how we can better prepare young people for the new realities of the job market, make it easier for those who lose their jobs to re‑skill quickly and ask what role should educational institutions play.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 26, 2026.