Message from the Chair

Welcome to the website for the Council for Automotive Human Resources (CAHR). At CAHR, the key stakeholders in Canada’s auto manufacturing industry, including business, government, academia and labour, have come together with the common goal of addressing the human resource requirements facing the sector.

Without question, the Canadian automotive industry is experiencing unprecedented challenge and absent sound policy and strong collaboration, its various stakeholders will have an uncertain future. On one hand, because current struggles are largely a function of a depressed market, it might be reasonable to assume that manufacturing jobs will bounce back in lockstep with sales. But if we look further into the future, we must also acknowledge that the increasing globalization of our industry could result in many of those jobs being created in countries other than Canada. Therefore, the survival and eventual revival of the Canadian automotive manufacturing industry is contingent on a flexible, productive, innovative workforce. So, even though our highly-skilled workforce has been hit hard by the recent economic downturn, CAHR is uniquely positioned to assist them to succeed.

CAHR was established as a way to maintain Canada’s competitive position in the world’s auto industry. Auto manufacturing still accounts for 14 percent of Canada’s manufacturing GDP. As a result, we need to strive toward ensuring we have the workforce we need to keep us on top.

Since CAHR was formally established in 2004, we have made meaningful strides in addressing the human resource issues facing our industry. In the Spring of 2008, we released our report, “Competing Without A Net: The Future of the Canadian Automotive Industry”, which provided us with the hard data we need on the HR issues facing the automotive sector. Working with our government partners to transform this information into responsive policies and programs is a priority. We have created a comprehensive strategy now known as “Leadership. Skills. Innovation.” which clearly defines our direction for future success.

If you would like to learn more about CAHR and our activities, please feel free to browse our website. We hope it will provide you not only with important information about Canada's automotive manufacturing sector and its opportunities, but that it will also expand our communications with all of the Council's stakeholders.

Sincerely,

Greig Mordue
Chairman
CAHR Board of Directors
Assistant General Manager, Corporate Planning Office
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada Inc.

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