Human Resources Committee on Dec. 4th, 2012

Evidence of meeting #60 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was apprentices.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

Economic Opportunities for Young Apprentices

MPs speaking

Ed Komarnicki
Chris Charlton
Colin Mayes
Ryan Cleary
Joe Daniel
Joyce Murray
Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet
Phil McColeman
François Lapointe

Also speaking

Andrew Sharpe  Executive Director, Centre for the Study of Living Standards
Patrick Coe  Associate Professor of Economics, Carleton University
Christopher Worswick  Professor, Department of Economics, Carleton University
Benoit Dostie  Associate Professor and Director, Institute of Applied Economics, HEC Montréal
Robert Crocker  Principal, Atlantic Evaluation and Research Consultants Inc.
John Meredith  Adjunct Professor, Department of Educational Studies, University of British Columbia

10:10 a.m.

Principal, Atlantic Evaluation and Research Consultants Inc.

Robert Crocker

We can trace the labour force in great detail using the labour force survey over at least 20 years. The trades have been a stable, and modestly declining, if anything, part of that labour force for at least 20 years. The statistics are readily available from the labour force survey and from tables published by Statistics Canada.

That's not to say that there's not a shortage; that's a different matter. But the trades are not the main growth industry in the labour force these days.

I might note that this and other comments I made can all be documented by various kinds of statistics that are readily available. I didn't cite them this morning because obviously we don't have time. It is correct to say that the trades labour force is a relatively small part, and not a growing part.

10:10 a.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Ed Komarnicki

Thank you very much, Mr. Crocker.

Thank you very much for appearing before us.

With that, I will adjourn these hearings.