Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I am here today with my colleague Mark Frison, president of Cypress Hills Regional College, and we are representing the eight regional colleges in Saskatchewan's post-secondary system. Among the eight colleges, we cover the lion's share of the geography of the province. Together, we have more than forty sites across the province, and we serve the entire province with exception of the four most populous cities, namely Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Regina, and Moose Jaw. In addition, our association represents the Saskatchewan interests of Lakeland College, Canada's interprovincial college.
Our colleges offer a wide variety of programs, including adult basic education, literacy, technology and applied arts programs, trade training, and university studies. These programs are delivered to learners close to home. To that end, we have sites in centres as large as 20,000 people and as small as a couple of hundred. Our institutions are structured to be responsive to employer, learner, and community needs. As a result, our programming mix in any given community can change considerably. This allows us to use our resources to maximize advantage in serving labour market requirements.
First, Mr. Chairman, we think it is instructive to share with you our view of the current public policy context for this budget, and our advice. Canada continues to search for its place in the global economy, and I think it is clear to most that we need to build an economy that is based on knowledge and skills. While the economy has been strong and resilient for more than a decade, our prosperous future is not assured. More must be done to ensure that Canada is positioned to be competitive for the next two decades.
The economy of our great province has experienced tremendous growth recently, especially in the resource-based sectors. Our economic future looks bright if we can realize the potential of this sector. To do so, we must address the challenges of labour and skill shortages facing business and industry in this province. While high unemployment characterized the challenge faced by the economy in the late eighties and early nineties, labour and skill shortages will be a significant challenge over the coming decade. This will require a different set of policy and program tools if we are to address the problem.
Human Resources and Skills Development Canada estimates that in the next five years, nine out of ten jobs will require a high school diploma. Further, 75% of the new jobs created will require a post-secondary education. Clearly, if we are to meet the skill challenges, we must find ways as a country to ensure that more folks complete high school and attend our colleges and universities. The Government of Canada must play a leadership role in ensuring the accessibility of Canada's colleges and universities. We need to make full participation in post-secondary education a national preoccupation.
We must build learner support systems that encourage everyone to pursue at least some post-secondary education, whether it is at a one-year certificate, two-year diploma, or four-year degree level. This may require revisiting Canada's student assistance system to ensure that it has all the appropriate incentives to have folks enter that first year of post-secondary studies. Further, it needs to ensure that individuals from lower-income families are provided with the necessary resources and incentives to pursue college or university studies.
One of the opportunities for Saskatchewan lies in our large young aboriginal population. As you are aware, Mr. Chairman, the demographics of the aboriginal community are different, and there is a large young cohort that could help mitigate the labour shortage this province will face. However, more must be done to help this population prepare. High school completion rates among the aboriginal population lag far behind the non-aboriginal population. This makes a tremendous difference in terms of labour force participation. Aboriginal peoples without a high school diploma have a labour force participation rate of 37%. With a high school diploma, that labour force participation rate rises to 65%. The Government of Canada has a compelling interest in aboriginal people and needs to invest more heavily in education funding if we are to ensure that this population is able to enjoy a better quality of life and make a more substantial economic contribution to the country.
Mr. Chairman, in addition to our aboriginal population, more must be done to ensure that all Canadians are prepared to fully participate in the workforce. Skills deficits keep far too many Canadian citizens on the economic sidelines. If Canada is going to increase its productivity, we must do more to improve the literacy of our citizens. Low literacy levels hamper our productivity and threaten our economic prosperity. The recent international adult literacy survey showed that four in ten Canadians do not have the required literacy skills to learn new job skills or participate fully in the workplace. This presents a major challenge as we continue to propel into a global knowledge and information economy. While we understand that the Government of Canada is currently re-examining its role in literacy, we think this is an area that requires national leadership and more robust investment.