Although substantial growth in employment will occur in occupations that require skill and training, strong growth is also envisioned in particular occupational streams where 12 years or less of education is sufficient. For example, employment in personal and household services should grow 2.8% annually.

The challenges in shaping Canada's labour supply arise from several factors. The "greying" of Canada's population is producing a diminishing pool of young people entering the labour force. Combined with constant competitive pressures on employers to adapt to technological change, this will shift the emphasis to retraining current staff rather than searching for highly qualified new workers.

In addition to upgrading workers' skills in known high-value-added job sectors, a way must be found to prepare workers for emerging occupations, such as environmental engineering and biotechnology. Professional education and workplace training will have to encompass a sufficiently broad range of technical and scientific skills to accomplish this.

Options for enhancing skills are not necessarily restricted to the so-called "leading-edge" occupations or those requiring advanced education. Even workers in some primary industries may benefit from advanced training. Job growth in the mining sector, for example, is projected to be negative; however, Breaking New Ground: Human Resource Challenges and Opportunities in the Canadian Mining Industry (Steering Committee of the Human Resources Study of the Canadian Mining Industry, HRD, 1993) points to a need to upgrade the technical skills of miners, so that existing workers can maintain their levels of productivity. This need extends to several occupations in manufacturing industries, where the number of workers will shrink, but the quality of their skills must be improved to meet changes in the work environment.