Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am presenting this morning on behalf of Canada's extensive network of colleges, CEGEPs, polytechnics, and institutes that serves over 3,000 urban, rural, and remote communities from coast to coast to coast.
In the current economic climate, we recognize that the government must give priority to its investments in order to better meet the needs of Canadians.
I will therefore focus my remarks on three specific ways that colleges and institutes can contribute to Canada's economic and social success in the short term.
Our recommendations for budget 2016 are all in line with the government priorities. They are as follows. First, make targeted strategic investments in infrastructure at colleges and institutes to ensure that Canada has the training and innovation infrastructure to support economic growth and social development. Second, increase funding for college applied research, as the other witness spoke about, to strengthen the innovation capacity of small companies and communities. Third, provide funding to support more co-op and internship opportunities and expanded pre-apprenticeship training to improve the employability of young Canadians.
I also want to mention to this committee that we have submitted a written brief to the committee. You will note that the key priority for colleges and institutes is increasing access to post-secondary education and skills upgrading for indigenous peoples as essential to support reconciliation.
In regard to infrastructure funding, our members recommend that the government establish a dedicated envelope for post-secondary institutions to address deferred maintenance and infrastructure needs to meet the increased employer demand for college and institute programs and make a difference in their community.
A recent CICan study found that 60% of existing infrastructure currently exceeds its 40-year life cycle and requires replacement or significant maintenance. Aging infrastructure limits enrolment capacity at colleges and institutes, resulting in wait lists for programs in high-demand fields such as trades, health care, and engineering technologies.
Although the 2009 knowledge infrastructure program was of great assistance, the needs continue to grow. At the moment, the colleges and institutes are ready to launch 800 maintenance projects, valued at $1.6 billion. We feel that 75% of those projects will allow the institutions to increase their energy efficiency and to reduce their environmental footprints. In addition, 200 new construction projects, valued at $6 billion, are ready to be launched and are just waiting for funding to be available.
Second, as the government works to fully develop its innovation agenda, we want to highlight two specific investments in college and institute applied research that will immediately strengthen the innovation capacity of small businesses and communities across the country.
The tri-agency college and community innovation program and the SSHRC community and college social innovation fund pilot are two key programs that support college and institute applied research. These granting agency programs are not meeting the growing demand from industry and community partners for applied research services, nor are they leveraging the substantial untapped capacity among faculty and students.
We recommend that the government increase the annual budget of the CCI program by $17 million per year so that colleges and institutes are not required to turn away so many requests from small and medium enterprises for innovation support.
We also recommend that the SSHRC social innovation pilot of $5 million be made permanent with an increased budget of $10 million per year. The early results from this program are very exciting but the pilot funding will be tapped out when the second competition is completed this spring. It has responded to a huge pent-up demand from community partners who see great opportunities for social innovation related to education, crime prevention, environment, and responding to the needs of newcomers to Canada.
Finally, in difficult economic times we must all do more to improve employment opportunities and outcomes for young Canadians.
So we recommend that the government design new programs to encourage employers to offer more internship opportunities and co-op programs.
As primary providers of pre-apprenticeship training programs, colleges and institutes are ready to ramp up their offerings, in particular, for high-demand Red Seal trades.
We hope that our recommendations will be of use in the committee's work. Colleges and institutes are ready to work with the Government of Canada in order to encourage skills development in response to the labour needs in growth sectors, to support innovation for SMEs and communities, and to stimulate youth employment.
Thank you.