Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
First of all, I want to thank all of you for not only presenting today but also for the work you've done in tackling what we all know is a very complicated and long-standing problem. For those of us who represent ridings with a lot of new Canadians, I can tell you that this work is not only of an academic bent but also work that makes an incredibly profound difference in people's lives. We have tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, of people in this country who are unable to practice in their chosen occupations and professions. They're being under-utilized, to the detriment of their own lives and to our economy.
Here's where I want to drill into. I want to try to start understanding how effective we are. From my quick adding up of the numbers, it looks like we've spent about a quarter of a billion dollars since 2003 in various programs. I'd like to get a bit of a snapshot for where we're at.
You identified the 14 occupations in the framework from 2009, and a document that was prepared for us says, “The Framework’s principles are to apply to these occupations to ensure a more rapid recognition of credentials.” Can you tell us whether you have a handle on how many people actually have had their credentials recognized as a result of that framework in those 14 occupations?