Evidence of meeting #11 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 43rd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was cerb.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Right now, as I've said publicly, we are looking at the interaction between the CERB and the wage subsidy. With only a week or two into the wage subsidy, we're looking to see how many people transition from the CERB to the wage subsidy. We're trying to figure out what the next phase of support will be for individual workers.
Right now, I think it's premature to say exactly what the next phase of support for workers will be, but we are definitely not abandoning workers.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Yes, that's fair.
Let me ask you, then, about the uptake for the wage subsidy. Of course, for CERB it was immense immediately, with millions in the first month. The uptake on the wage subsidy to me seems very small.
What were your projections? What are the government's original thoughts on the relatively small number of people applying for the wage subsidy versus the almost eight million people who have applied for CERB?
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Again, I think it's too early to tell exactly what the pace of the applications will be as they come in. I'm very interested to see if there are things we can do to streamline it. If it's processing, we can look at doing the best we can to help people, and 1.3 million or 1.7 million employees have been approved for the wage subsidy. That's not an insignificant number, and if that's a weekly number, one could predict that it would grow quite quickly over the next weeks.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Mr. McCauley, I forgot to buzz you in at the outset, but I'd say you have just a little under a minute left.
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
Minister, you talked about streamlining the application for the wage subsidy. What are you thinking of?
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
To be honest, I'm not actually sure where there are hiccups in our system and our process, or if there are any. I can tell you from a data collection point of view—
Conservative
Kelly McCauley Conservative Edmonton West, AB
How are we getting feedback? I see that Dan Kelly from the CFIB is tweeting and commenting on a lot of different issues. Chambers of commerce are. How are we getting feedback on how we can streamline it or make it work better?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Minister, that's a good question, but in the interests of time, I would ask that you fully answer Mr. McCauley's question in writing. Please send that to our clerk so that he can distribute your answer to all of our colleagues on this committee. Would that be possible?
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Thank you very much.
We'll now go to Mr. MacKinnon for five minutes, please.
Liberal
Steven MacKinnon Liberal Gatineau, QC
Good afternoon, Madam Minister. I am pleased to hear your voice, though I can't see you. It will be a pleasure to see you again.
I want to talk about temporary foreign workers. In the regions of Quebec, as in all regions of the country, access to these workers is essential. It is of paramount importance for the Canadian economy, for our food security and for the success of our food products across the country.
Conservative
Kelly Block Conservative Carlton Trail—Eagle Creek, SK
I have a point of order, Mr. Chair.
I'm sorry, but there is something very wrong with the sound. The MP who is speaking in French and our interpreter I think are vying for the sound. They are both at the same level and it is very hard to hear either of them.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
Mrs. Block, I'm hearing the same problem.
Mr. MacKinnon, perhaps we could try to solve this. If you wanted to speak in English, let's see if that helps at all.
Liberal
The Clerk of the Committee Mr. Paul Cardegna
If I may, Mr. Chair, it may be an issue...
Mr. MacKinnon, can you check that you have selected the French channel? That would be very helpful.
Liberal
Steven MacKinnon Liberal Gatineau, QC
All right, I'll do that. It was actually closed. Is that better? I just want to confirm that it's better, so we're not interrupted again.
Liberal
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Tom Lukiwski
We're wasting time as we go along. I'll give you an extra 35 or 45 seconds because of the delay, but if you could start again, that would be fine.
Liberal
Steven MacKinnon Liberal Gatineau, QC
All right. I'll shorten my question.
Madam Minister, can you comment on the situation of temporary foreign workers and explain how the changes you have made will improve things, given COVID-19?
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Thank you for that really important question. It's lovely to hear your voice as well, Mr. MacKinnon.
We've taken a number of steps on the administrative side of the temporary foreign worker program, as well as in streamlining some of our policy decisions around it. On the one hand, we have tried to make it more streamlined to give employers the certainty of getting their LMIAs approved, and on the other hand we have been trying to make sure that workers are protected and employers know very clearly their obligations.
Like anyone, temporary foreign workers coming into the country have to have a mandatory 14-day isolation period. There are protocols in place for the period around that. As for what is expected of employers, we have beefed up regulations—and when I say “we”, I mean IRCC—so that there are significant consequences to employers if they fail to comply with these beefed-up compliance conditions, including monetary penalties—if I'm not wrong—of up to $1 million.
We're trying to make it easier for temporary foreign workers to move between jobs. We're trying to make it easier for LMIAs to get approved. We've waived the minimum recruitment requirements. We're prioritizing certain kinds of LMIAs.
Graham, I don't know if you have anything else to add. The list is quite significant.
Graham Flack Deputy Minister, Department of Employment and Social Development
No, I think you've covered it, Minister.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Thank you.
We've also extended the period of—I have a list in my head, Mr. Chair, of a whole bunch of things. I apologize. I'm happy to answer more questions.