A Place-Based Lens to the Future Of Work in Canada

An urban-rural scan of potential long-term effects of the future of work shows the negative effects of a displaced workforce will be felt disproportionately among rural residents, who make up the majority of high-risk employment sectors that will succumb to technology-induced disruption. Understanding how these changes could affect urban centres vs. rural areas is a crucial ingredient to long-term policymaking and key to creating an effective place-based policy agenda for Canada to manage those disruptions and keep an urban-rural economic divide that already exists from growing.

The “future of work” has become the subject of considerable research and scholarship in regards to technological trends such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation. Scholars may disagree on the magnitude of impending technology-induced disruption to our labour markets, but few believe the effects will be minimal.

Place-based analysis of what these trends will mean for different communities is still nascent. Yet early signs indicate the impacts could differ significantly between urban centres and rural areas. This could exacerbate pre-existing urban-rural variance in economic outcomes and labour market performances.

This report for the Public Policy Forum endeavours to fulfil this scan. It applies a place-based lens to data to examine the present urban-rural economic divide in Canada, how technology-induced disruption may amplify it, and what Canadian policymakers can do about it. The intention of this analysis is to identify potential urban-rural trends and begin to develop policy options for Canadian governments.

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ISBN: 978-1 -77452-006-2