Finance Committee on June 1st, 2026

[Cliff Groen]

You're talking about the number of people who have been waiting over a year to receive their benefits.

Is that right?

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Yes.

[Cliff Groen]

Hardly any. We're still looking into some cases. We're working with clients to obtain further information, but the number is really minimal. These are really exceptional cases.

As the minister said, currently 48,000 clients are waiting over a month after their benefit eligibility date. That's 48,000 clients. These aren't people who have been waiting for a year. The vast majority of clients are waiting one or two months after their eligibility date.

[Sébastien Lemire, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Mr. Lemire.

We'll continue now with Mr. Seeback for five minutes, please.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Minister, thank you for being here today. I share your passion for the skilled trades. My son's in the skilled trades. He's a carpenter's apprentice.

I have some real concerns about what's happening in Canada, and I'm hoping we can talk about that a bit today. You were the minister of employment, workforce development and labour from 2017 to 2019. In 2018, your government made a very troubling decision—at least, I find it deeply troubling. You decided to remove union consultation from the issuance of temporary foreign worker permits.

Can you give the rationale for why your government chose to remove this safeguard?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

First of all, I want to say congratulations to your son. What a fantastic opportunity he has to pursue a skilled trade. I hope he is as successful as my son is. It's certainly turned out to be a very profitable journey for my family and my children. Obviously, we'll be there to support your son through the process.

It's very important that we work with unions on the issues of who's doing what work and where. I can't speak to those decisions, but I can say there's a commitment on—

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

Minister, you were part of the cabinet that made that decision.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

I can say there's a commitment on behalf of our government to make sure that we build good union jobs across this country.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

I can only assume that either you don't know why your government made that decision or you won't answer.

In 2025, there were 126,000 unemployed skilled trades workers in Canada. Meanwhile, at the exact same time, your government issued 125,000 temporary foreign worker permits in TEERs 0 to 3, which include skilled trades. Can you not see that there is a major problem with having removed union consultation from the issuance of TFW permits?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Our government has taken significant action in reducing temporary foreign workers across the country. First of all, we're down 70% in low-wage positions and 50% overall in the use of temporary foreign workers. We've worked really closely with unions and trainers, as well, to make sure that we understand the nature of where that unemployment is in the skilled trades.

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

You're not concerned—

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

You're anxiously jumping in, but I will say that we are also working, as you know, with the provinces and territories on breaking down labour mobility barriers that allow for people who have those skills to take advantage of—

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

You can't move if your job has been taken by a temporary foreign worker. I gave you the numbers. They almost match.

This is deeply concerning to me. You can be concerned too. You could say, “You raise a very good point. That shouldn't happen, and our government is going to commit today to commencing an investigation into why we are allowing skilled temporary foreign workers in at almost the same number as there are unemployed Canadian skilled trades workers.” You could say that, and it would be welcome news to me and the construction building trade unions in this country.

Are you prepared to do that today?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

The construction building trades unions are actually very thrilled with the spring economic update. As you would know, the—

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

They're happy with that. That's not my question.

Canada's Building Trades Unions called the temporary foreign worker program a low-wage way to exclude Canadian workers. Why don't you commit to us today? You can say, “I agree. This is a major problem, and our government is going to look into it to make sure that it doesn't happen again.”

It seems pretty simple to me.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

First of all, Mr. Seeback, I don't think you should tell me what I should say, but I will say this: We have committed to working with building trades to make sure that it's Canadian talent that builds Canadian projects. That's why we have invested $6 billion in the trades.

Since we're talking about the CBTU, in fact, Sean Strickland said, “We've never seen anything like that from any government in terms of support for skilled trades and skilled trades training in Canada.” He also said, “Our union halls are full of resumes and folks trying to get in, [and] one of the challenges we have is...how...we retain them”.

He's so excited about this new investment, particularly around helping people once they become apprentices to complete that apprenticeship, that he—

[Kyle Seeback, Conservative, Dufferin—Caledon, ON]

He can be happy about one thing and unhappy about another. That exists in reality.

I'm pointing out a problem. You're pointing to something that's totally different. I don't understand why you can't say, “I agree that it's a problem. We shouldn't have 126,000 unemployed skilled trades workers while we bring in 125,000 temporary foreign workers.”

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Well, what I have a problem with is your alleging that those people are exactly the same people. I would agree that we need to have Canadian talent building Canadian major projects. That's the point of this investment. We're going to continue to work with the building trades to ensure that this is the case.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Minister.

That concludes the time. Thank you, Mr. Seeback.

Mr. MacDonald, you have five minutes.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for coming today as a witness.

The first thing we have to identify is that across Canada, the workforce issues aren't always the same. I come from rural Canada. There are workforce issues in rural Canada, some of them tied to the temporary foreign worker program and issues surrounding that. One thing we've done, and it's not necessarily in the spring economic statement, is to expand the Canada student jobs program this year. It's something that resonates in my riding office every weekend I'm home. We're matching up students with employers. In my riding of Cardigan alone, there's a benefit of almost $1 million to employers to hire students for that experience, for that first job.

Do you want to summarize what you're hearing across the country with the Canada student jobs program, Minister?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Yes. Thanks for the question. In my riding as well, employers and young people look forward to this every year.

This year, in 100,000 Canada summer jobs across the country, young people get an opportunity to work for employers, not-for-profit organizations, small businesses, medium-sized businesses, the public sector and the private sector. Young people earn money. Employers get the opportunity to test-run great talent and to help a young person refine and develop skills. Oftentimes, the biggest barrier for a young person is that first job. Ironically, getting that first job is a really hard thing to do. It prevents people from securing the next job.

Canada summer jobs gives young people that first employer, that first reference and that first experience. It also gives young people an opportunity to test-run a sector that they think they might like to pursue. Maybe they'll confirm their interest in that sector. I've also heard young people say, “I worked in that sector for four months. At three months, I decided it really wasn't right for me. Now I want to try something else.”

We consider Canada summer jobs an essential component to young people. It's not only in terms of their earnings; it's also their experiences and determining for themselves what their future looks like.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Thank you for that answer.

There's a second thing in the economic update that I want to point out. We identified a labour gap in the EI program for snow crab plants, for example, that can process crabs for only so long. Can you speak to how the five weeks' extension in the spring economic update helps these regional economies? They need trained skilled workers too. If the EI runs out, those people have to move on to other parts of the country.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Absolutely. We've spent a lot of time trying to get EI modernized to the degree that it will help people with economic shock and help ensure that labour mobility is not the only answer to a solution for the seasonal workers you're talking about. That's why we have extended EI for seasonal workers in 13 targeted regions until October 2028. This is five additional weeks, as you point out, to help people get through those difficult weeks, but with a light at the end of the tunnel, knowing that their job is coming back.

My mother was a seasonal worker, by the way, as a school bus driver when I was a young person. It's very stressful for people if they don't know that they're going to be supported through that period of time. It might be difficult for them to get another job, but there is a good job waiting at the end of that particular time. Thank you for raising that.

I will also point out that we've been working on ensuring that the EI program can keep up with the pace of change we're seeing, in particular with tariff-impacted industries; that people can get rapid access to EI; that they can keep their separations earnings; and that they have the support, in partnership with provinces, to get the training that you're talking about for the next job.

[Kent MacDonald, Liberal, Cardigan, PE]

Minister, we want everyone to find a job and work. That's our goal. We see the labour market improvements to the deduction amount going from $4,000 to $10,000. That may not be directly in your department, but can you speak to how that's helping?

Everyone I talk to who's working in the electricity grid, or in start-up companies in the modular business—they're all going to need a mobile workforce. As we train these Red Seals, and the jobs are in community A instead of community B, we have to give them benefits so that they'll be transferable.