- Shrinking the Knowledge Gap

SEDI continues to work to ensure that the interests of modest income, self-employed Canadians are integrated into policy-making at the federal, provincial and municipal levels.   We support change to provincial labour market programs so that no self-employed person who wants to participate is left out of a program by virtue of being self-employed.

SEDI believes the challenge for governments is to integrate self-employment into national and regional employment policy agendas that have been focused on traditional models of employment.   The federal government should implement a two-step process to address the knowledge gap on self-employment and develop informed and relevant policy responses to the concerns of self-employed Canadians.  

1. The first step would be to compile and analyze the available information on self-employment, drawing distinctions amoung different sub-gourps of self-employed persons while, paying particular attention to older entrepreneurs, persons with disabilities, aboriginals, women and new immigrants.

2. The second step would be develop policy options based on existing federal programs available to self-employed persons, options to make benefits and income insurance accessible to self-employed Canadians, and examples from other OECD countries.

The government should create an advisory body with the mandate and resources required for this work.   This might take one of the following forms: an inter-departmental working group;  national task force on self-employment, based on Ministerial, Prime Ministerial or Special Parliamentary committee examples; and/or supporting outside expert organizations to engage in the required research and analysis.

Policy Papers:

A self-employment policy discussion policy on trends, challenges, barriers and conclusions - November 2004