Government Operations Committee on June 11th, 2026

[Igor Delov]

Theoretically, yes, it's a concern.

I think this is a historic opportunity for business, government and labour to come together and reduce those red-tape obstacles. I think that if we approach this seriously and meet the test of the moment, we have a good opportunity in front of us.

On behalf of labour, I'll say that we want to be part of the solution in that regard. A lot of this remains to be seen as to how it unfolds in the next year, but our principal position is that we do support the buy Canadian policy. As I said earlier, we want to see that in conjunction with a hire Canadian policy as well.

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

Mr. Delov, what would you say is the most pressing problem for the construction industry right now?

[Igor Delov]

I would say that it's the permanent uncertainty that I mentioned earlier. It's the sense that we have a lot of announcements, and we do have some pending projects, but we want to see shovels in the ground more quickly, and we want to see our employment numbers go up.

Yes, the industry is cyclical, but—

[Tamara Jansen, Conservative, Cloverdale—Langley City, BC]

You're not concerned about the downturn in the housing market. That's not the main pressing problem right now.

[Igor Delov]

I would say that it's a part of the problem, but there is a broader sense in which the other sectors are affected by this uncertainty. If we see projects starting, that would be—

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

I apologize. That is our time.

Ms. Sudds, go ahead, please.

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Kanata, ON]

Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you to today's witnesses.

I'll start here in the room with Mr. Coutrouzas and then ask Mr. Delov the same question online.

We've heard a lot of great discussion here today around the buy Canadian policy. I'm going to jet up a thousand feet. I'm thinking about five years from now.

If we were to measure success in five years from now, I'm thinking about what that would look like. What outcomes would demonstrate that the buy Canadian procurement policies had been effective in strengthening industry, supporting workers and improving our overall economic resilience?

I know that's a big question.

[Nole Coutrouzas]

Honestly, five years from now, success would be that all completed projects were completed by Canadian workers.

That enables them—because of fair wages and the prevailing wages that we offer and they're now afforded—to afford to put a down payment on a house or pay for the costs of food and whatnot. We can go into post-retirement pensions and the difference between pensions and RRSP matches and all of that, but it comes down to how we need Canadians to make money so we can spend our money here.

Yes, I represent a union. I obviously know my role, but everything we've talked about today hasn't been about being union or non-union. That's a point that I really want to make clear to everybody. We're talking here about Canadians working. Success would be that we gave five years of steady income to workers. That, to me, would be success. Also, if we weren't able to fill that, then we would have been able to reach out, get support from our free trade partners and enable them to help us. To me, that would be success in five years.

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Kanata, ON]

Incredible.

I forgot a shout-out to my union Local 93 hall, I believe it is, in Kanata. Kudos for the work they do.

I'll ask Mr. Delov the same question online.

[Igor Delov]

Thank you.

Yes, I think graduating more journeypersons through that next four- or five-year cycle and having more apprentices registered and employed on these projects would be a fantastic win for communities throughout Ontario and Canada.

Earning and obtaining that journeyperson certificate means that those workers would have higher wages, better health and safety protections, great mentorship along the way and a lot of supports from our union. Having more durable long-term careers emerge from these opportunities would be a win five years from now.

[Jenna Sudds, Liberal, Kanata, ON]

Incredible. Thank you both.

That's all, Mr. Chair.

[The Chair, Conservative, Kelly McCauley]

We're just on time.

Thank you for being with us.

Mr. Cloutier, again, we'll reach out to you to try to reschedule you.

Before you go, if you don't mind responding in writing, we have an issue in Alberta and B.C. with illegal, trafficked workers being brought in on large, federally funded work sites. I wonder if you're able to provide any feedback to the committee, if you've heard anything anecdotally or otherwise, on that issue. I'd like to discuss it more, but we are out of time.

Thank you very much for being with us today.

If there's nothing else, we are adjourned.