2020 Schedule | Roundtable Forum | JDI Roundtable | UNB

Global Site Navigation (use tab and down arrow)

JDI Roundtable on Manufacturing Competitiveness in New Brunswick

2020 JDI Roundtable Forum Webinar Series Schedule 

Product of Canada? Trends in Food Production and Domestic Employment

Oct. 30, 2020

This presentation will examine how Atlantic Canadian agricultural producers and processors are handling labour supply challenges and discuss the long-term viability of this sector. The labour challenges facing the agriculture sector are also relevant for producers and processors in New Brunswick’s aquaculture and fisheries sectors.

In some parts of the country, the decline in small farmers over the past century has led to consolidation into large industrial farms – in Atlantic Canada, some consolidation has occurred, but this has not staved off a general decline in productive farmland. The exit of small farmers and their unpaid family members has resulted in an abundance of relatively low-paying jobs that are difficult to fill using local labour supply, leading to:

  • Trends in wage growth;
  • Capital investment; and
  • Employment of temporary foreign workers.

Recently, the pandemic has raised questions about how to accommodate labour shortages amid large domestic unemployment. In New Brunswick, labour supply issues related to COVID-19 prompted farmers, seafood processors and aquaculture firms to speak out about the effects of such challenges on their competitiveness.

What is the long-term viability of local producers and processors, and what policy options could help them respond or adapt to pressing labour supply challenges?

Presented by:

Robert Falconer – Research Associate in Immigration and Refugee Policy, School of Public Policy, University of Calgary

 

Innovation and Productivity in New Brunswick: Trends, Linkages and Policy Directions

Nov. 6, 2020

This presentation will touch on three elements related to innovation and productivity:

  1. A comprehensive overview of the current state of innovation in New Brunswick, including an analysis of trends in a number of innovation indicators (e.g. R&D spending and personnel, patents, investment. etc.).
  1. An examination of the province’s productivity performance, looking at labour productivity levels and growth rates at the aggregate and industry level, both in absolute terms and relative to the national average.
  1. A discussion about the linkages between innovation and productivity growth, including both the impact of R&D on productivity and the role of the adoption of best practices technologies in productivity growth.

The presentation will conclude with discussion of the directions for public policy that arise from the analysis of the innovation and productivity situation in the province.

Presented by:

Dr. Andrew Sharpe - Executive Director, Centre for the Study of Living Standards

 

Manufacturing Technological Maturity

Nov. 27, 2020

How are the province’s manufacturers doing in their drive towards Industry 4.0? Join Herb Emery and Martin Davis for a first look at the data describing the maturity of our province’s manufacturers and to be part of a discussion about what those data suggest are the opportunities for improving their competitiveness. The data come from a survey instrument built from Martin Davis’s 6 dimension model describing the path to Industry 4.0.

Presented by:

Martin Davis - Managing Partner, DUNELM Associates

Herb Emery, JDI Roundtable Chair and Vaughan Chair in Regional Economics

 

Manufacturing Competitiveness as Our Strategy for Post-COVID Economic Recovery

Dec. 10, 2020

This webinar will feature a panel discussion on what we could do for the economy of New Brunswick with a renewed focus of policy on ensuring the competitiveness of manufacturers in the province. Panelists Adrienne O’Pray, Sheri Somerville and Cathy Simpson will assess how much potential we have to create growth and good jobs in this sector, and will discuss the actions and policies that they see as the key for New Brunswick to capitalize on its traditional strength.

Moderator: Sarah McRae – Postdoctoral Fellow, UNB

Presented by:

Adrienne O’Pray – CEO, New Brunswick Business Council

Sheri Somerville – CEO, Atlantic Chamber of Commerce

Cathy Simpson – CEO, TechImpact