Availability, comprehensiveness, relevance, and accessibility are the key dimensions of our proposed new system. Availability of labour market information will be ensured by the establishment of local employment opportunities databases, consolidated in a national employment opportunities database. Comprehensiveness will be maximized if employers are offered incentives to reveal job openings and record them in the database. Relevance will result from employers' willingness to state clearly the criteria and competencies required for the jobs. Accessibility will be achieved by coordination of the parties at all levels of collection and diffusion of the information. We have tried to provide as precise directions as possible for the development of this new labour market information system.

Availability of labour market information

We propose that three-databases be compiled to form the essential elements of a labour market information system that would support an effective transition system:

• local employment opportunities databases, combined to produce a national employment opportunities database;
• a job seekers database;
• a record of hirings and separations by industry and

The rationale for these elements is based on four fundamental principles:

• Information is most needed to serve local needs; most transitions involve only limited geographic moves.
• Compared with people in other developed countries, Canadians show a high level of geographic mobility; thus, labour market information must be available nationwide.
• Employers and job seekers alike need appropriate information to make hiring decisions, career choices, and training or retraining decisions.
• Sound labour market analysis is essential to provide an understanding of the environment to be used in decisions by employers and individuals, in the definition of government policies, and in the adjustment of human resource development in the medium and longer term.