Ottawa/IBNS: Statistics Canada's new report that Canada is reportedly facing a widespread labour shortage that has led economists to argue that high job vacancies aren't due to a shortage of workers.

According to the Statistics Canada analysis, there are no labour shortages for jobs that require high levels of education, and factors such as a mismatch in skills and pay are to be blamed for a high number of empty positions.

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, labour shortages from coast to coast reportedly resulted in businesses advertising more job openings, and at one-time job vacancies skyrocketed to more than one million at one point last year.

This countrywide labour shortage has pressured governments to help businesses find workers, including by increasing Canada's immigration targets.

But this week's published report which looked at labour data between 2016 and 2022 compares unemployment and job vacancies by education level and provides a more subtle picture of the labour market casting doubt on the hiring challenges faced by firms trying to recruit workers with lower levels of education.

"Things look really different depending on whether you look at vacancies that require a high level of education, versus those that require a high school diploma or less," Rene Morissette, the assistant director of the social analysis and modelling division at the federal agency was reported as saying.

The federal government has kept an open ear to business groups raising alarm bells about labour shortages.

In the fall, Ottawa announced new immigration targets that would see the country welcome 500,000 immigrants annually by 2025. Immigration Minister Sean Fraser acclaimed the new plan as a solution to the country's labour woes.

Canada has also experienced a surge in the number of temporary foreign workers brought into the country to help businesses fill vacant positions.

"The goal of immigration policy should not be to solve the recruitment problems faced by low-wage employers, or any employers for that matter," Morissette reportedly said.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)