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9 ways to turn LMI into employment outcomes
Editorial by Christian Saint Cyr
National Director / Canadian Job Development Network
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Twenty-seven years ago, I created the BC Labour Market Report and the idea was to focus on labour market information that Service Canada and the provinces didn't prioritize.
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I felt the government is great at tracking information that is statistical like the unemployment rate, or data on occupations and industries, which is gathered over long-periods of time, but they aren't really good at tracking fast breaking labour market information.
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Sometimes this kind of LMI relates to companies that are expanding, new research into sectors and even government announcements about jobs, education and employment supports. These are obviously really important areas of LMI that career professionals need, but I found traditional sources weren't really good at supplying.
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This is why, 12 years ago, we created the Ontario Labour Market Report and today I'm thrilled that we have thousands of career professionals in both provinces that get these two publications.
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Three years ago, we created the Canadian Job Development Network and I've had the pleasure of getting to know hundreds of career professionals throughout the rest of Canada and when I would speak about how labour market information would impact job development, or about one of our labour market training sessions, career professionals would say, why can't you do this in Calgary, or Winnipeg or Halifax?
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It's for this reason, when we began planning the 2026 Labour Market Conferences for May and June, we included sessions for Alberta, the Prairie Provinces and Atlantic Canada. We're obviously at a pivotal cross-roads with our labour market and want to gather together speakers to address the labour market issues in these provinces as well.
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To support this, we began an effort to broaden our research and just this past week, we officially launched the:
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Just like with Ontario and British Columbia, moving forward we'll be publishing weekly reports for these regions, staying on top of the very latest labour market information.
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Two things you might notice, I haven't referenced Quebec or the territories. Personally, I wasn't gifted with languages so this is something I'm going to need support with and it will take more time to be able to both track and report on the full spectrum of labour market activity in Quebec as well as best support francophones throughout Canada.
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With the territories, having a sufficient group of subscribers to support a territorial labour market report is a challenge but something we'll be looking at in the next couple of years.
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We produced our very first issues of these three new reports last week and we're providing the first five issues for free throughout April. If you would like to see them just click on the links above or visit: www.jobdevelopment.org and select the appropriate labour market report.
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Labour market information is one of those things that helps illustrate where AI falls short of the combination of training, experience and human intuition. In preparing for this week, I asked AI:
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"What are nine sources of labour market information that career professionals in Canada can use to help individuals find jobs?"
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This is what AI provided:
- Job Bank
- Statistics Canada
- National Occupational Classification
- Provincial LMI Websites
- Local Employment Centres
- Canadian Occupational Projection System (COPS)
- Professional Associations
- Future Skills Centre
- Labour Market Information Council (LMIC)
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These are, in fact, nine strong labour market resources with lots of labour market information. Since AI uses correlation and not reasoning to provide answers, it's going to focus on 'labour market information' and 'jobs'. It's not necessarily going to consider the complex relationship between career professionals and their clients, the nuanced way we learn about our labour market or even ways we pick up leads to new job opportunities that job developers do every day.
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If I were to write an article about creating job opportunities using these sites and AI's write-up about each one of them, to someone outside the career development sector, the article might seem informed.
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To someone in the sector, the article would be a rather bland, a re-hash of an article you've seen a dozen times before. This is what people refer to as 'AI slop'.
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Career professionals provide insights. They provide specialized knowledge based on extensive experience that is being constantly shaped by new information and experience. This is why I've always placed a high value on providing LMI that doesn't just regurgitate what is already out there on the internet.
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Prior to my AI search, I spend a couple of days pondering what resources would most benefit career professionals. I shared some of my thoughts with colleagues, reviewed some resources and then justified in my mind what should and should not be on the list.
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This is how we curate information that is going to be relevant. For me this is to make the information relevant for you and everyone else reading this. For you, it's to make it relevant for your clients or students.
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After careful consideration, here are my nine best resources where the final number could have been as high as 15 or as low as seven, but after careful consideration, turned out to be nine.
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These are nine resources where you can gather employer intelligence that may result in employment outcomes:
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1. Business Publications
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These could certainly be large provincial or city publications, but often it's just the newsletter of your local chamber of commerce. These publications reveal companies that are changing what they do, expanding, taking on new roles or specializing.
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This allows you to approach an employer with a more informed understanding of what they do and perhaps connect with them before they've considered publicly advertising roles they will want to staff.
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2. Google News Alerts
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I believe Google News Alerts are great ways of scouring out community for information about our preferred employers. You can search for the names of local employers, industries or occupations and by adding the name of your town, get these listings localized to your community. You can set up hundreds of News Alerts where the information is being gathered from traditional news sites, as well as blogs and even social media.
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Similar to business publications, these alerts allow you to catch the employer prior to beginning the search but rather when the need to hire is emerging.
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3. Scanning Social Media
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I encourage job developers to choose their 100 preferred local employers that they are regularly meeting with, reaching out to and following up with. By following them on social media (both the company and the individuals) you're able to gain unique insights into their organization.
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4. Realtors and Lawyers
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Educate local realtors and lawyers about the services your provide. Prior to any hiring activity, businesses will be visiting both lawyers and realtors to set things up and you can be a resource these professionals direct local employers to connect with.
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5. Financial Institutions
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Similar to the support realtors and lawyers provide new companies, financial institutions such as banks and credit unions are financing business expansion for existing employers.
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They will often be working with local businesses to expand their operations, open new locations or get into new business lines. We want to be a resource your local finance manager recommends to the business that is expanding their operations.
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6. Networking Groups
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While the chamber of commerce or board of trade is a critical organization to participate in, it's just as important to use networking groups to gather employer data.
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I would encourage all job developers to join their local Rotary Club. This is a professional organization which specifically supports business leaders. Membership will go far to legitimize you, but it's also a weekly opportunity to gather information about what the local business community is doing.
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7. City Business Licence Listings
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Most cities produce a monthly list of the new business licences issued. This is valuable resource for exploring new businesses and opportunities where hiring is going to happen.
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I would encourage you to also review the complete set of business licences in your city. This is a great way of looking beyond high-profile businesses and seeing the ones that are often hidden away in office buildings and industrial parks.
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8. Government Bid Tenders
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Reviewing local, regional, provincial and national government bid opportunities as well as contract awards is a fantastic way of learning about businesses and non-profits that have secured funding but not yet begun the hiring process.
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9. Development Applications
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It may take years for a development application to travel through city hall, but as this process occurs, your community is changing. New businesses and even new sectors are emerging.
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There are certainly job opportunities with developers, contractors and with the final organization that moves into the location.
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Attending city hall meetings and speaking with developers will provide unique insights into the future labour market you won't find anywhere else.
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In developing this list, I wanted to focus on the 'emerging' employment opportunity. Once a job is posted it literally becomes a 'competition' and so often our clients are out of the running because they lack experience, qualifications and consistent employment. It's not to say they can't do the job, they're just not the most obvious candidates.
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By focusing on these emerging employment opportunities, we can market our clients free of competition and argue their case based on their unique strengths.
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We’ll be discussing opportunities to make networking less transactional and more relational at our #MotivatingMondays meeting of the Canadian Job Development Network, Tuesday April 7th at 8:30am Pacific; 9:30am Mountain; 10:30am Central; 11:30am Eastern; 12:30pm Atlantic and at 1pm in Newfoundland.
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On the morning of Tuesday April 7th 'Click this Link' to join the session.
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TOMORROW IS THE LAST DAY...
Canada Strong:
16 ways trade is changing our labour market
The 2026 Labour Market Conferences
30% Discount Until
Thursday May 14, 2026
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We're excited to be hosting five separate online conferences for five separate regions of Canada:
Alberta (May 28th/29th);
British Columbia (June 4th/5th);
Canadian Prairies (June 11th/12th);
Ontario (June 18th/19th)
Atlantic Canada (June 25th/26th)
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To learn more, email Christian Saint Cyr, at: csaintcyr@labourmarketonline.com
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