The Brookfield Institute releases new data insights report identifying regional economies most susceptible to automation, such as Woodstock, Ont., and Quesnel, B.C.
TORONTO, June 8, 2017 /CNW/ - Canada's complex and varied economy means that the effects of automation will not be evenly distributed across the country, according to a new report entitled Automation Across the Nation: Understanding the potential impacts of technological trends across Canada from the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship (BII+E).
This report provides a new way to understand the regional effects of automation, following BII+E's highly cited study The Talented Mr. Robot: The impact of automation on Canada's workforce, which indicates that nearly 42 percent of the Canadian labour force is at risk of being affected by automation in the future.
As technology rapidly advances, it drives economic growth, but simultaneously poses potential risks for workers in industries such as food services, manufacturing, transportation, agriculture, and oil and gas extraction, within which a growing number of tasks can be automated.
The report states that smaller regional economies specializing in mining or manufacturing are most vulnerable to automation. These economies are primarily concentrated in southwestern Ontario, southern Quebec and the Canadian Prairies. Small regional economies with a large hospital, post-secondary institution or public sector presence, however, are less vulnerable. Larger regional economies, like big cities, with diversified economies and large pools of highly skilled labour may also be cushioned from the effects of automation; however, for most, a sizable portion of their labour force is still highly susceptible.
"We expect that the impact of automation will vary considerably across Canada's towns and cities," said Sean Mullin, Executive Director of BII+E. "By better understanding the geographic distribution of this trend, we believe the country will be much better prepared to weather the risks and reap the potential benefits of automation."
Report Key Findings:
Also included as part of the report is a data visualization map, which shows the susceptibility of Canadian cities and towns to automation impacts.
The findings contained within Automation Across the Nation: Understanding the potential impacts of technological trends across Canada are based on data from management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, mapped against local employment data from Statistics Canada's National Household Survey.
The Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship (BII+E) is a new, independent and nonpartisan institute, housed within Ryerson University, that is dedicated to making Canada the best country in the world to be an innovator or an entrepreneur. BII+E supports this mission in three ways: insightful research and analysis; testing, piloting and prototyping projects; which informs BII+E's leadership and advocacy on behalf of innovation and entrepreneurship across the country. For more information, visit brookfieldinstitute.ca.
Ryerson University is Canada's leader in innovative, career-oriented education. Urban, culturally diverse and inclusive, the university is home to more than 44,500 students, including 2,400 master's and PhD students, 3,200 faculty and staff, and nearly 170,000 alumni worldwide. For more information, visit www.ryerson.ca.
SOURCE Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship
MEDIA CONTACT: Coralie D'Souza, Director of Communications, Community Relations + Events, Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship │ Ryerson University, [email protected] │ Office: 647-390-3178
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