What happened
Canada cannot cut its economic dependence on the United States just by signing more trade agreements, according to a new report from the Public Policy Forum, as reported by Canadian Manufacturing. The report, published on Sep. 10, was written by Steve Verheul, Canada's former chief negotiator for CUSMA and CETA.
It calls for a two-track approach. Canada should keep as much access to the U.S. market as it can, while building the infrastructure, investment capacity and commercial machinery to compete elsewhere. The report makes seven recommendations, including backing major projects that expand resource, manufacturing and export capacity, a national strategy for trade-enabling infrastructure such as gateways and corridors, and a competitiveness test for major tax and regulatory decisions that affect exporters.
The report also warns that the shift will involve hard choices. Reaching non-U.S. markets may favour energy and natural-resource exports at first, while highly integrated industries such as automotive manufacturing will find it harder to move production and supply chains. Verheul describes diversification as a long-term effort, not a quick pivot.
Why it matters if you are hiring
Nothing in the report changes your hiring overnight. It does signal where demand for people is likely to build, and where it will not.
If you make parts or product for export, the case for a second market is getting stronger. That puts pressure on roles most plants have kept lean: export and logistics coordinators, supply chain planners, trade compliance specialists, and quality people who know the certification rules of other markets. Operations leaders who can re-route a supply chain without losing delivery performance will be scarce.
Plants tied closely to U.S. assembly lines, automotive above all, should expect the slowest and hardest adjustment. Hiring there will lean toward flexibility: multi-skilled operators, maintenance technicians and planners who can handle changeovers and new customer specifications.
Project-driven growth in resources and infrastructure, if it comes, would draw on the same pool of skilled trades, engineers and project managers that manufacturers already compete for. The report does not give timelines or job numbers, so treat all of this as direction, not forecast.
One thing to do this week
List the three roles that would be hardest to fill if you had to serve a second export market in the next 12 months. Check whether you have them today, and if not, decide whether you build, borrow or hire for each.
Traverse has placed operations and manufacturing people with Canadian and U.S. employers since 1997, from plant and supply chain leaders to the skilled operators and technicians who keep production moving when the plan changes.