Finance Committee on June 1st, 2026

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

Is there anything in the agreement that allows Canadian-donated plasma to be used in products sold offshore?

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Give a very brief response.

Thank you. That concludes the time that we have for that round.

[Dan Mazier, Conservative, Riding Mountain, MB]

What was the answer? We didn't hear the answer, Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

We'll go back to you. I'm sure we can watch the tape. Thank you, Mr. Mazier.

We will now go to Mr. Sawatzky, for five minutes.

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Minister MacDonald. It's nice to see you again after your visit to B.C.

Many residents in my riding of New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville will benefit from the Canada groceries and essentials benefit on June 5, from which a single person could receive up to $950 in support to help address rising costs and affordability pressures, which we are hearing about.

We also know that ensuring long-term food security requires a strong and reliable food system. Our government has invested $500 million through the strategic response fund and is establishing a new food security fund to strengthen domestic food production, improve food distribution networks and enhance food security across Canada.

Could you elaborate on how these investments will strengthen Canada's agricultural food sector and food supply chains?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

We're seeing an opportunity for investment across the country relevant to being more domestic, especially in our processing side, the agri-food side, the value-added chain. There's been part of a funding resource missing for small to medium-sized enterprises, so we're trying to create a route for them to scale up. When that happens, the other stuff that comes with it is creating an atmosphere for growth and creating infrastructure, making sure the infrastructure is in place to meet the needs for that growth. That's why you're seeing some of the build Canada strong projects—for example, the port of Montreal. I toured the Roberts Bank port with you in Vancouver.

These are the types of things. It's going to be an ecosystem of growth, but the opportunities are certainly available and right in front of us. Supporting those processors and farmers is certainly going to allow us to have that growth and that potential to become more domesticated in this country. I think we're seeing some excitement relevant to that, and we'll continue to pursue some of those projects.

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

Thank you.

You mentioned the port of Vancouver. It was a very informative tour.

Looking forward with expanding and building new relationships, how will these increase Canada's food sector and supply chain? What might be some things we can expect coming down the line?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I think we can process more of the food that is grown right at home. That's one thing. A lot of our processing leaves this country to be processed in another country. That could be significant here, and not just on the food sovereignty side. On the economic side, you're creating jobs and you're becoming more independent as a country. It's extremely important. It's a supply chain that we need to work on.

If there's any silver lining in everything we're going through, it's allowing government and policy-makers to be bolder. It's allowing businesses to see that the potential they have in this country to grow from a small enterprise may be there, but they need financial assistance. They need some capital. That's where governments have to come into play to ensure they're providing resources for that initial capital funding.

You and I visited the plant-based project in B.C. You see the potential that's there. You see the excitement. They need a little help to continue to grow. The funding that we're trying to put in place for that is for those smaller types of operations that will benefit Canada as a whole: communities and rural Canada.

It's a point to the government that's well received. I think we're moving in the right direction.

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

Thank you.

Madam Chair, how long do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

You have 30 seconds.

[Jake Sawatzky, Liberal, New Westminster—Burnaby—Maillardville, BC]

What tangible benefits can Canadians expect to see from these investments in terms of food security and affordability?

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Even if you look at the local food infrastructure fund, I think it was over $100 million, and there were about 1,400 projects approved for it. Those types of funding projects allow people to have cold storage or freezers on site that they maybe couldn't afford prior to having access to some of the resources that governments are providing. When that happens, they can sell their products closer to home, they can keep them in storage longer, retailers are happier and we can cut out some of the transportation costs and possibly the middlemen.

These hubs—

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Minister MacDonald. I'm sorry. We're going to have to end it there.

[Heath MacDonald, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank Minister MacDonald and Minister Michel for their time today.

We're going to briefly suspend while we turn it over before we receive Minister Hajdu.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Colleagues, we are going to resume our meeting. Welcome back.

I would like to welcome Minister Hajdu.

Minister Hajdu, you will have five minutes for your opening remarks.

I note that she is joined by Deputy Minister Paul Thompson and the associate deputy minister and chief operating officer for Service Canada, Cliff Groen, from the Department of Employment and Social Development.

Welcome and go ahead.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Jobs and Families]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you, colleagues, for the invitation to appear in front of your committee. It's a pleasure to be with you here today on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.

As you mentioned, Madam Chair, I'm here with two very esteemed deputies. I'm here to talk about what a pivotal moment this is for Canada and for Canadian workers in particular.

As we've noted and as many people have commented, Canadians are working very hard, and they're feeling the pressure as the labour market changes. Despite those uncertainties, Canadians have rolled up their sleeves to defend Canada, their communities and each other. The government is laser-focused on strengthening Canada's economic and social security networks, as well as on providing all Canadians with a fair chance to succeed at every stage of life. A fair chance relies on getting the skills needed for great-paying jobs in demand right now.

This is the reality that we need to acknowledge. Canada is facing a serious shortage of skilled workers.

The spring economic update sets a clear plan to meet the moment by strengthening today's workforce, by preparing Canadians for the jobs of tomorrow and by delivering the major projects that will shape our future and build Canada strong.

We're building more homes. We're modernizing infrastructure, and we're strengthening national defence. All of that work depends on skilled people.

The prosperity of Canada depends on the new generation of tradespeople.

Investing in skills and trades is about ensuring that we have the people to build up our economy, our communities and that long-term prosperity, so the spring economic update announced a $6-billion nationwide effort to recruit, train and hire 100,000 new Red Seal workers over the next five years.

It's focused on three strategic pillars.

The first is recruitment. We need to help provinces and territories with their work to ensure that young Canadians and those considering a career change see the value of a career in the skilled trades: good wages; stable employment; often, pensions; and the opportunity to contribute to nation-building projects such as nuclear plants, stadiums and even Parliament. That's why we're investing $2 billion through the team Canada strong program, which will support young Canadians in learning about and entering the skilled trades through experienced employer connections and targeted supports.

Second, our apprenticeship system is built on earning while you learn, and it needs to keep pace with modern industry needs. That's why we'll work with provinces and territories to modernize the Red Seal program and to expand the union training and innovation program to support certifications in Red Seal trades. This will be supported by $331 million in funding over five years, starting in 2026-27. It's about the reduction of barriers that apprentices often face in training, in hours accumulation and in testing. We're also investing in the financial supports that keep apprentices in their training by making sure that we can help them manage the cost of lost earnings during training or in between opportunities. We'll do that by providing a $400 weekly income top-up while they attend in-class training, in addition to the EI they're entitled to. This is a total of $16,000 in potential income top-ups. Again, this is about reducing financial pressures that stand in the way of completion. We will also ensure a $5,000 completion bonus for those apprentices who achieve Red Seal certification.

Finally, too often those who are ready to begin their apprenticeship face challenges with that first apprenticeship job, a placement that includes an employer that has a Red Seal journeyperson who can help them use those hours towards their certification. We're going to help cover up to $10,000 of an apprentice's first-year salary, which will reduce hiring costs for these employers and encourage employers to invest in the talent that they say they need: the next generation of skilled workers.

The proposed measures will help us mobilize youth. At the end of the day, it comes down to affordability. So, we're ensuring that education is more affordable.

We're going to continue the other work that we've done, Madam Chair, by making sure that post-secondary education continues to be accessible. For the 2026-27 academic year, we've extended the temporary 40% increase to the Canada student grant and the temporary increase of the weekly Canada student loan limit to $300.

This will support about 571,000 students through increased grants and 422,000 students through higher loan limits.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Minister, could you wrap up in the next 10 seconds, please?

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

I will wrap up, Madam Chair.

The spring economic update also continues the work we've been pursuing on EI modernization, by ensuring additional weeks of EI in 13 regions that struggle with seasonal employment.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

[The Chair, Liberal, Karina Gould]

Thank you, Minister. That concludes your time.

We will now begin with six minutes for Mr. Genuis, please.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

It's good to see you again, Minister. I want to talk to you a bit about the skilled trades programming. You highlighted the reintroduction of apprenticeship grants.

Here is the timeline: Apprenticeship grants were introduced, for the first time, in 2006 by the Harper government's first budget—that was 20 years ago. Apprenticeship completion grants were introduced in 2009. All of those grants were cancelled by Liberals, with the last batch cancelled in 2025 by the Carney government.

There has been a lot of fanfare around the reintroduction of these grants, and I want to be very clear that we're glad they're back, but there hasn't been a lot of acknowledgement of the fact that you first cancelled them before reintroducing them. In fact, there wasn't the same level of announcement at the time when they were cancelled. I wonder whether you agree with or you dispute the timeline that I've laid out.

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

Thank you for the question. I'm glad to hear about your interest in supporting the skilled trades.

In fact, this is one of the elements that people, like the Canada's Building Trades Unions and other skilled trades unions, have called for the reintroduction of. The last grant period expired, and the new grant period will be retroactive to make sure that no one goes without their completion grant.

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Minister, we're glad that it's retroactive. Of course, as you mentioned, building trades, various union organizations and Conservatives were opposed to the cancellation of these grants, and they advocated to bring them back. I wonder, can you explain why the government cancelled them initially?

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

The completion grant wasn't cancelled. That funding expired. We are renewing that funding and, in fact, increasing the grants, as per the request of building trades professionals.

The other piece that is very important, and it comes directly from feedback from building trades professionals, is that the interim completion grants were not as helpful—quite frankly, to apprentices—as things like the $400 top-up during training periods or like the supports during periods when they're not able to accumulate hours. In fact, what building trades—

[Garnett Genuis, Conservative, Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, AB]

Thank you, Minister, but if I could jump in, the original policy—which was implemented 20 years ago by a Conservative government—was to have grants throughout the process of earning your apprenticeship, as well as completion grants, which were added in 2009.

You have previously criticized the completion grants, actually. On February 5, you were before the human resources committee, at which you were asked by my colleague Colin Reynolds about the decision to cancel the grants. You said, at the time, “It's not driving completion in the way that it was designed.”

I'm glad the grants are back. It's just that there was no announcement when you cancelled them, and you're communicating about this as if it were something entirely new. Instead, it was a decision you made—and defended—to cancel grants, and you have now decided to reinstate them.