Industry committee  I think that would be something to consider, or perhaps something structured in a similar way. I know the Red Seal program has been quite successful for the trades. Any sort of incentive that will get industry to hire new grads and that can assure them that the person is going to be able to carry out the work and get going would be useful.

Industry committee  I can give you the answer with respect to the information that we've got. The issue with our indigenous population, largely the first nations population—and we've been working with the first nations on how we can address this—is that they don't tend to finish high school with an adequate knowledge of math and sciences.

Industry committee  I recognize that it's contradictory. When we did our labour market survey, we were told overwhelmingly by industry that they're looking for people with five to 10 years of experience, and most grads will come out of university with two years of experience or less. Industry is looking for people who already have experience, mostly because they're trying to fill those gaps.

Industry committee  I will leave it to Dr. Laguë to give examples of what universities are doing. Engineers Canada has done an enormous amount of research on this issue. We have an initiative under way to see if 30% of engineering students can be female by 2030, which, believe it or not, is quite a lofty goal.

Industry committee  They are to some degree, but it's not the same sort of situation that we've heard with doctors and people in the health industry. Certainly in Canada we have enough employers working internationally to permit people who want to have international experience to get that international experience without actually jumping ship to another country.

Industry committee  Thank you very much. Mr. Chair, I am very happy to have the opportunity to appear before you today. As mentioned, my name is Marie Carter. I am the chief operating officer of Engineers Canada. We're the national body that represents the 12 provincial and territorial regulators of the engineering profession.

Human Resources committee  Yes, for the most part.

Human Resources committee  I don't have the exact numbers with me of what the proportion is of Canadian students versus foreign students. It is a majority. It's not the same proportion as we have for medicine. I know they've got a higher proportion of foreign students than we do in engineering.

Human Resources committee  Most of the engineers who come to go to school in Canada do return to their home countries. A small minority of them stay in Canada, but on the whole they do return to their home countries.

Human Resources committee  Most of the people who study engineering in Canada stay in Canada. Most of the people who come from offshore would return to their home countries, but a proportion of them will stay in Canada.

Human Resources committee  Absolutely, yes, and there are some exchange programs with other countries where our students will then want to go and work in the other countries.

Human Resources committee  I would think the same thing. A lot of young people want to travel the world, and that's an opportunity to take their engineering skill and get a job in another country. A lot of them are working for Canadian firms, though.

Human Resources committee  No. They want to travel.

Human Resources committee  There are bigger demands right now in Saskatchewan and in Alberta, where we have a bit of a more robust economy going. I know that our Newfoundland association has said they're licensing more members than they've ever had coming in there, and that the companies in Newfoundland are looking for more engineers, trying to get them back from Alberta, because a few years ago everybody was fleeing to Alberta.

Human Resources committee  Since 1999 we've had an inter-association mobility agreement, whereby engineers would be licensed if they were in good standing in another organization fairly quickly. We've managed over the years, and in anticipation of the agreement on internal trade ramping up a bit, to get that down to 48 to 72 hours, where a member in good standing in one province can get licensed in another province and hit the ground running for work.