My question is for the witnesses from the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum. One of the obstacles to increasing participation in the trades is the difficulty in getting people licensed to practise in regulated occupations. In my constituency, I have newcomers to Canada who were in the trades in other countries and yet can't get their credentials recognized in this one.
As far as I know, taking apart and putting together a transmission is the same in most countries around the world. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me that a qualified Gujarati mechanic can do his job in India but can't do it here in Canada.
What suggestions do you have to break down the barriers that some occupational licensing rules can present to highly skilled immigrants and others who have skill sets that are not formally recognized by the licensing system?