Human Resources Committee on March 26th, 2012

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

So they're all done? The projects have all been completed?

[Shane Williamson]

The extended projects had until the end of January to provide us with all of their audited reports and their statement of substantial completion. Of the 520, we had 189 that were extended past the original deadline, so we are still in the process of completing our review of the audited financial statements, etc.

The plan for the government is to provide an overall report for the economic action plan in the future. We are working with our colleagues as well in Infrastructure Canada, who delivered a large part of it through the infrastructure stimulus fund, and there will be a global accounting of the impact and the results that were achieved.

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Okay, so all of that information isn't available right now?

[Shane Williamson]

That's correct.

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

Okay. The other thing is that at the conclusion of the round table, you had what we could call recommendations. Based on the recommendations and looking at the labour shortage right now, I'm just wondering what your view is with respect to the best way to address the labour shortages we're facing right now.

We know there are a lot of people who are still unemployed. I know we've heard over and over again that immigration has to be streamlined to better assist people to come forward and to be able to get into the job market. I'm just wondering if you're able to provide a little bit more of your view with respect to dealing with the labour shortage.

[Alain Beaudoin]

Thank you.

With regard to your question, the round table agreed to identify five parties that, they thought, warranted actions by all the partners in order to help address the situation. As I mentioned, first and foremost, they wanted to work towards increasing enrolment and graduation over time. This is not a short-term priority. It will take participation and close collaboration between academia and the industry in order to address this issue.

The second was to increase collaboration between academia and the industry in order to improve the curricula to ensure that the curricula would better meet the industry's needs, which are ever-changing because of technological issues and because of various externalities.

The third was to work towards continually improving training on the job, because companies felt that it was really important to continue that training in order for their staff to keep pace with technological changes, as well as to help increase their competitiveness and to allow them to keep innovating.

The fourth one was to work towards improving immigration and accelerating entry.

The fifth was the issue of data. It's a very complex issue with regard to the ICT sector, and other sectors as well. In our case, there are various subsectors. There is a different reality from one to the other—the issues the digital media industry is facing are different from those that the telecom equipment industry is facing.

Their stakeholders recognized that this was a complex issue that warranted collaboration to move forward, so that's what we're going to work on in the next few months.

[Carol Hughes, NDP, Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON]

We have heard in other aspects of studies—just before your presentation as well as at different committees that I sit on—about Internet access. Being from industry, I am just wondering if there is a movement to address the shortage or the need to have better access to the Internet. There is still a big shortage out there with regard to high-speed Internet.

[Alain Beaudoin]

I'm not an expert on high-speed Internet. Today, with regard to the ICT sector, it's a question of technology itself. You spoke about shortages. At the end of the day, in our case, we're looking at the data.

As I mentioned, we think we need to do more work and to work with various partners to have a better sense of what the supply and demand dynamics are, moving forward. We feel that we don't have sufficient data to allow us to identify, specifically, where the needs are.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Komarnicki]

Thank you, Ms. Hughes.

We'll move to Mr. Mayes.

[Colin Mayes, Conservative, Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you, Chair, and my thanks to the witnesses for being here.

I really did appreciate your presentation. The words that caught me referred to developing real-world skills, such as communications, project management, and overall business acumen.

We had witnesses earlier who said there wasn't a labour shortage; there was a skills shortage. As I see some of the demand for people in the future, one of the things we should look at is the sectors, and how we can do things better with fewer people.

I was also impressed with your second point—to increase collaboration between industry and academia to ensure that curricula are more relevant and current to the needs of industry.

I'm from British Columbia, and today a mill that used to have 125 people is down to 30 people because they have programs that automatically pile lumber, cut lumber, and that type of thing. Are you communicating that connection between the various sectors and our universities, and finding ways to decrease the number of people we need through automation and innovation?

[Alain Beaudoin]

I can't answer your question directly, but I can go back to the reason the round table identified this as a core issue. Because of the nature of the ICT sector, because of the rapid technological changes, because of global competition, and because of a blurring of the lines between what traditionally would be called hardware and software, industry is finding that the graduates of today have good technical skills but need more of what some people refer to as soft skills—the ability to work in teams, stronger communication skills, and a better understanding of global or business dynamics. That's what they referred to.

A number of universities or colleges are working closely with the industry to identify the requirements, but participants at the table felt the need to improve that dialogue. This will be taking place between academia and the industry.

[Colin Mayes, Conservative, Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Is there a communication of solution skills? Are there people coming out of university to work with people who are part of a particular sector? Are these people learning to sit down as a team to look at solutions—whether it be in manufacturing or resources extraction—that would make the industry more competitive and less labour intensive? Do you have the ability to do that with the various sectors?

[Alain Beaudoin]

I don't think we have the ability to do that with various sectors, but I think you refer, to some extent, to the need for industries to become increasingly competitive. The adoption and use of ICTs is critical to becoming more competitive and innovative. That's why in last year's budget the government launched the digital technology adoption program, which provides mentoring and advice that allows companies to improve the adoption and use of ICTs to increase their competitiveness and their innovation. Also, the BDC has set aside $200 million through loans to support the SMEs in acquiring the equipment they require to become more competitive.

[Colin Mayes, Conservative, Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Our B.C. caucus met with the Mining Association of Canada and we asked them what their one ask would be, and they said 3,000 people, right now. So we need more people. Do you have any suggestions for moving those skills from one region to the other? The mining sector has needs in British Columbia and Ontario, and the oil and gas sector in Alberta needs people too. Are we focusing on different regions as we try to meet those needs domestically?

[Alain Beaudoin]

I think you have a very important question, but I would say that this is above my knowledge. I would encourage you to invite my colleagues at HRSDC to help answer your question.

[Colin Mayes, Conservative, Okanagan—Shuswap, BC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Ed Komarnicki]

Okay. You got an answer.

Ms. Crowder.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Thank you very much for coming before the committee today.

Have you done any analysis on the actual industry itself, on the employers themselves? Do you know, for example, the percentage of employers that are SMEs, small and medium-sized enterprises?

[Alain Beaudoin]

Do you mean in the ICT sector?

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Yes.

[Alain Beaudoin]

Yes. We know that the ICT sector comprises about 32,000 companies in Canada. About 83% of these firms have fewer than 10 employees.

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Okay. That's really important, because we've heard from BioTalent Canada, which appeared before us, that 80% of their employer sector is SMEs, and they have far less capacity in terms of doing the on-the-job training and all those kinds of things.

Based on that.... I'm going to go at this in a roundabout way. We heard earlier as well that there isn't a labour shortage, but there's a skill shortage. We know, of course, that in Canada, depending on your region, our unemployment rate is anywhere between 5% and 8%. It depends on where you live. Sometimes it's even higher.

So we have a labour force that's out there and available, but they just don't happen to have the skills that are being looked for. Has Industry Canada examined anything to address that mismatch between an available labour supply and the skills that are required?

[Alain Beaudoin]

Thank you for your question. It's a very good one.

In the case of the work that we're undertaking, we've focused on what we call ICT professionals—

[Jean Crowder, NDP, Nanaimo—Cowichan, BC]

Professionals, I presume, need some sort of university—

[Alain Beaudoin]

University graduation.