Thank you.
Thank you for inviting us to address your committee.
My name is Nobina Robinson, and I am pleased to speak to you as CEO of Polytechnics Canada.
By all accounts, the immediate economic outlook is generally pessimistic, and the word “recession” is no longer being whispered in corridors. No one seems to have a single solution, but the nine leading polytechnic institutions and colleges I represent believe sincerely that we can help move the economy forward in tangible ways.
You have asked for our views on four vital questions. Given the time constraints, I am going to focus on just one: how to create sustainable jobs.
We are all troubled by current employment trends. The jobless rate among young people is higher than 14%—almost double the average unemployment rate. Second, newcomers with professional backgrounds are not finding suitable jobs that will benefit them and the new Canadian economy. We are suffering from a critical shortage of skilled tradespeople. As entrepreneurs retire, we risk losing valuable business know-how. None of this is news to you.
As a member of the expert panel on federal support to business R and D, which released its report on Monday this week, I have spent a year immersed in deep reflection on Canada's business innovation challenges. Innovation is in danger of becoming like the weather—everyone talks about it, but no one does anything about it. Canada's innovation challenges are these: government programs that are not designed to speed a product or process to market; lack of capital; and, above all, lack of business innovation talent.
Let me assure you that our polytechnic institutes and colleges are doing something about innovation. Innovation does not come from a doctorate or a PhD alone. Innovation comes largely from bridging the gap between curiosity research and business needs, between customer demand and R and D expertise—exactly what polytechnics do when collaborating with business. We call it applied research, and it combines highly technical training with a rigorous focus on communications, critical thinking, and practical problem solving. Canada's innovation challenge is a skills problem. It is not companies nor higher education institutions that innovate; it is people. Canada's innovation solution will be solved with a national talent strategy that enables firms to access all kinds of talent.
We all know that governments alone do not create jobs for the innovation economy; companies play the lead role in this. And our member institutions help companies fill the jobs they require in timeframes that meet their needs. Canada's leading polytechnic institutions and colleges are helping job creation in traditional and non-traditional ways. Indeed, up to 85% of our graduates obtain jobs in their chosen fields within six months of graduation. With modest federal support, we are capable of contributing even more to the talent pool that industry needs.
Since 2008, over 13,000 of our students undertook 1,100 applied research and development projects for over 2,500 Canadian small and medium-sized firms, many of which had no previous R and D capacity. And by the way, these projects create innovative jobs that are meant to last.
Why are our graduates so successful? Again, because we work closely with industry in developing programs relevant and responsive to its needs. Our graduates are shop-ready, research-ready, and career-ready on day one. One CEO said applied research at these kinds of institutions has allowed his firm to increase its R and D during the recession, keeping them competitive and innovative at a time when they are seeing peers in the manufacturing sector closing doors and shedding jobs.
The federal government has come to recognize our efforts. I mentioned how we can do more. We have our formal brief that outlines three practical and realistic measures that would help to create jobs.
We are advocating two new college-based pilot projects for innovation skills. One would provide opportunities to connect foreign-trained professionals already in Canada to the innovation economy. The second would allow entrepreneurs to transfer their valuable knowledge to students and to firms we collaborate with.
Our third recommendation involves apprenticeship and removing tax inequities for them.
You no doubt are familiar with the sports cliché that the best defence is a good offence. At Polytechnics Canada, we believe the best defence against a possible recession is investment in people. That is why we call our proposals “smart spending for smart jobs”.
Thank you.
I look forward to your questions.