This report examines both the planning for the replacement of retirees and the priority given to hiring youth. It uses economy wide evidence from the CLMPC (now the Canadian Labour and Business Centre) Leadership Survey (described below) and supplements this with some workplace examples of practical actions and programs that have already been implemented.

The case study work was commissioned and financially supported by Human Resources Development Canada. It represents one of the first attempts to systematically gather information about the level of strategic awareness of the implications the changing demographic profile of Canadian workplaces.

Demographic change is a long-term phenomenon that is slow but inexorable. It is however a pressure that both businesses and uni ons are likely to experience with greater force, as time marches on. The evidence presented here therefore provides a snapshot of leaders views in a time of high youth unemployment and before the full impact of an aging workforce has been felt.