Human Resources committee  It is stimulative because some of those savings in taxes will be spent by the person; it's just less stimulative than it would be if you gave it to someone with low income, who would probably spend 100% of it. So it's certainly stimulative, but just not quite as stimulative. I g

Human Resources committee  Again, as I mentioned in my presentation, the key strategy for a policy to reduce or eliminate child poverty, first, is a strong economy. The lower the unemployment rate, the lower the poverty rate will be for parents and therefore for children. Second, it's the targeting of bene

Human Resources committee  I would concur with that assessment. The child benefit has been a great boon for poverty reduction for women. I mentioned in my presentation that the poverty rate for lone female parents has fallen from 53% to around 32% over the last 10 years. That is largely linked to both the

Human Resources committee  Thank you very much. I greatly appreciate the invitation to appear before you today. The Centre for the Study of Living Standards is an Ottawa-based, non-profit economic research institution, focusing particularly on productivity, living standards, and economic well-being. Lin

Human Resources committee  That's quite a bit. In terms of the first one, about a $10 minimum wage, the federal government really doesn't have a minimum wage, a specific number. It goes with the provincial minimum wage. We certainly could change that, but the problem there is that you have different labou

Human Resources committee  I recommend a fairly general policy, such as an income tax credit on employment. This would give workers a subsidy. For example, it could be approximately $3 or $4 per hour for all hours worked. This kind of policy, which is in place in the United States, has been fairly effecti

Human Resources committee  For an individual working 2,000 hours a year and receiving a $3 subsidy for each hour worked, this subsidy would represent $6,000 per year. Consequently, low-income earners, for example, people earning $8 per hour, have a greater incentive to work and are less at risk of fiding t

Human Resources committee  First off, we have to have a better understanding of that. I hope we'll get that with the apprenticeship survey that's currently in the field. However, I think it's important to state that apprenticeship is under provincial jurisdiction, so it's very hard for the federal governme

Human Resources committee  Do you mean to earmark a certain amount of that transfer to education?

Human Resources committee  Well, that would be more transparent. I think transparency is always good. The provinces might not prefer that approach, but I think from the accountability approach of the federal government for education, it would be a good idea.

Human Resources committee  I'll respond to your question on apprenticeship. In addition to having a low completion rate in apprentices' trades, it's actually falling as well, which is pretty serious. We don't really have a definitive understanding of the reasons behind that. There's a national apprentice

Human Resources committee  First of all, you asked how we could keep older workers—those aged over 55 in particular—on the labour market longer. Obviously, people are less motivated to work once they reach 65 because they receive a pension. We will not change that. People who receive a pension find it less

Human Resources committee  Absolutely, and I don't think what I said contradicts that at all. Absolutely, if you want to have a higher standard of living you need higher productivity, and a key driver of productivity is the upskilling of the labour force, higher educational attainment. Canada does quite we

Human Resources committee  I'd like to thank the committee for the invitation to appear today. I'm going to speak English, but I would be pleased to answer any questions in French. The Centre for the Study of Living Standards is a national, independent, non-profit, economic research organization focusin