Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you for the question. NACC has 450 member colleges that make all their own employment decisions on who their leadership would be. Our organization is fairly small, with just eight employees. I don't currently have anybody on our team who has served in the military, I believe, but I welcome the idea.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, sir. I appreciate the opportunity to answer the question. I believe it's our fast, innovative, agile style that we work with, being an entrepreneurial organization. We have about 450 members across Canada, and they're used to being very closely associated to the local employers and the local labour force needs, so we can train people quickly for what's needed in the economy nearby.

Veterans Affairs committee  I think we can do better at educating them to the opportunities that exist with the training funds that come out of the federal government programs. I think we can work more closely with government to help educate them as well. Those are some of the difficulties. I don't think veterans are as aware as they could be about the opportunities that exist to come in, get trained and get to work quickly, and that's why, in our comments today, we offered a couple of solutions, one of them being a permanent training table that would allow skills and workforce development issues to be brought to the table on a quarterly basis with government, industry, employers and veterans groups to make sure we're bringing those skills forward.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. We'd welcome the opportunity to develop on a national basis a program like the one that Willis College has done here in Ottawa to talk about how we could help train the families who serve alongside the members. We would welcome that opportunity to work with government and be a part of that.

Veterans Affairs committee  Yes. We see that as something that could be very valuable with employers, with all levels of post-secondary education—not just with regulated career colleges, but with all levels. If I could go back quickly on the family answer, we see some mental health benefits there as well for the families.

Veterans Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon to all committee members and fellow witnesses. I'm pleased to be here today to participate in your study on veterans' employment following their service and to share some of the ways that regulated career colleges are already answering the call and helping veterans find meaningful work in their post-service careers.