Sylvain Côté

Senior Labor Economist

Sylvain Côté, a Canadian, joined the Secretariat as a Senior Labor Economist in February 2006. He holds Master degrees from the University of Victoria and the University of Alberta, Canada, where he specialized respectively in labor market economics and political economy. He also received a Bachelor degree in political science from the latter. Prior joining the Secretariat, Mr. Côté has occupied many senior economic research positions in both Europe and Canada where his work has focused on several aspects of labor market economics and policy such as population aging, human and social capital, labor mobility and contingent employment. Most recently, he worked at the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris, France, where he contributed to two major projects: The Thematic Review of Older Workers in the Labor Market where he prepared reports on the United Kingdom and the Czech Republic, and the Growth Project, which culminated in the publication “The Well-Being of Nations: The Role of Human and Social Capital”. The latter report became an OECD bestseller and generated a number of international initiatives involving governments, leading experts as well as international organisations . Among other positions in the Canadian Federal government, Mr. Côté led and developed research program at Human Resources Development Canada on the performance of immigrants in the Canadian labour market. As well, he led the first phase of the re-design the "General Occupational List" which is a key component of the point system used for selecting skilled immigrants . He also taught political science and political economy at the University of Alberta.