Evidence of meeting #28 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was data.
A recording is available from Parliament.
10:05 a.m.
Conservative
10:05 a.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
With our late night seatings and early morning meetings, it's always good to have witnesses like the two we have here who are excited about the information they're sharing with the committee and motivated to make a change and make a contribution. I appreciate your presentations.
Mr. Atkinson, you said 44 projects are over the billion-dollar figure right now in Canada, or on the books, at least.
10:05 a.m.
President, Canadian Construction Association
Yes. Basically it's ReNew Canada. They publish every January, I think, the top 100 public infrastructure projects in Canada, and either the top 43 or 44 of that 100 are each individually valued at a billion dollars or more.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
Could you sort of give us a breakdown province to province as to where some of the big projects are taking place?
10:10 a.m.
President, Canadian Construction Association
Most of them are resource based, so they're British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, obviously Newfoundland and Labrador with Muskrat Falls. There are some in Manitoba with respect to hydroelectric power as well. So they are pretty well—
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
The lion's share is Alberta, Saskatchewan, B.C., and I'm not going to hold you to—
10:10 a.m.
President, Canadian Construction Association
Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador....
10:10 a.m.
President, Canadian Construction Association
Yes, Nova Scotia to some extent because there's a lot of spinoff coming from the shipbuilding contract.
10:10 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Phil McColeman
Excuse me, I'm going to have to suspend the meeting. The bells have started.
Unless there's unanimous consent around the table, perhaps, to let Mr. Cuzner finish his questioning...?
10:10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
10:10 a.m.
President, Canadian Construction Association
Maybe to cut this short, we can provide the information to you.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
Yes, if you could I'd appreciate that.
Also, the mobility issue had come up. The reference you made to the lack of desire on the part of Canadians to relocate, what material were you referring to?
10:10 a.m.
President, Canadian Construction Association
That was a very recent survey done by the Canadian Employee Relocation Council.
I've read some other information on this topic. One of the factors involved in this is the number of two-income households we have now. It's not only a decision of one person to relocate, so there are a number of factors there that are slightly different.
Also, in many cases you're asking them to relocate to extremely remote areas and that's a challenge.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
I know the committee is probably sick of hearing this come from me, but I come from an area where the largest single employer in my riding is probably Fort McMurray, so the companies that are wanting people to come up.... The people don't want to relocate. They want to go and they want to contribute, and I take great pride in the fact that my area in Atlantic Canada has contributed to some of the biggest construction projects in this country, and really in North America and around the world.
Companies have to come to the fact that people are not going to relocate. They don't want to be out in the middle of the bush, working 40 hours a week. But they will come for an intense period of time, make good money, and then if the company can get them back and forth a couple of times a year, or on a regular basis, that's where most resource sector companies are going to have to go.
10:10 a.m.
President, Canadian Construction Association
Yes, and we're finding those challenges even with temporary relocation, and my comments were with respect to temporary relocation.
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
10:10 a.m.
Conservative
10:10 a.m.
Some hon. members
Oh, oh!
10:10 a.m.
Liberal
Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS
I'll look forward to looking at that information.
To Cameco, you indicated that there is the challenge of getting those entry-level skills sometimes.
How deep do the mining companies believe they have to go in order to get people coming to you with the basic numeracy and literacy skills needed before you can have them engaged in some kind of a training program? Some have said that we need companies with more skin in the game. When you start putting that skin in is the question here. Do you think you have a role to play in the basic life skills stuff—numeracy and literacy impacts—or should government be playing a larger role?
We've seen a cutback through the LMAs in these areas, so you might just want to comment on that.
10:10 a.m.
Manager, Workforce Planning and Talent Acquisition, Human Resources, Cameco Corporation
Yes, that's a good question and definitely one that our company addresses head-on.
I would say we are unique and different from many other organizations, including many in the resource sector. We do not, and haven't for some time, waited for candidates to come to us seeking employment, who are then told they're not qualified. We're active in communities in various forms—community dialogue tables, visits, whatever it is—and have been cataloguing people's current skill sets, education, and employment aspirations. We are trying to triage that to see where they're short today so that they can actually enhance their application.
That is different from what you'll see from the bulk of the organizations involved in some sort of industry or commerce, because in most of those types of activities, you simply come to that organization and you're either qualified or you're not. If you're not, you're told to go away and get the qualifications and come back when you're qualified.
Well, we don't have that luxury because of how we operate our four northern work locations. We have the agreements with the Government of Saskatchewan that I talked about, which hold us to standards for local employment. We do not have the luxury of simply telling people, “I'm sorry, you're not qualified”. We actually have to work with them to define those qualifications, and find ways in which the training in and around those communities can benefit them so that they're on a path for employment.
It doesn't always happen and it doesn't always happen instantaneously, so it becomes a challenge for us. As I previously said, when those roles are upskilled, we're simply moving the goal posts out for people. If having a GED or high school diploma was satisfactory for entry-level employment 10 years ago, that's likely not going to be satisfactory in the future. We have that challenge to deal with as well because workplaces automate. There is more equipment there, and there are risks to all employees if people don't understand basic safety manuals or if there are literacy or numeracy gaps. There is a risk to the whole industrial complex if they're not able to follow those written or verbal instructions.
There is no question that remains a challenge for us.
10:15 a.m.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Phil McColeman
Thank you very much. I appreciate your staying with us.
To the witnesses, on behalf of the committee, we appreciate your taking the time to weigh in on this study. I'm sorry we had to cut the meeting short, but we do have to get to the House of Commons for voting.
The meeting is adjourned.
