Thank you, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee. It's a pleasure to be here today.
My name is Andrew Cardozo and I'm the Executive Director of the Alliance of Sector Councils. It's a great pleasure to be here to speak to you about employability. In my opinion, this issue is vitally important to the success of our economy. As you know, there is a critical skills shortage in some regions of Canada and in certain sectors of the economy. Today, I'd like to discuss solutions and the role of the national Sector Councils.
Simply put, sector councils are partnership organizations that bring together the main stakeholders in key sectors of the economy to develop and implement industry-driven--and I stress industry-driven--labour market solutions, and they do this sector by sector. The solutions are thus tailor-made for each sector. Typically, sector councils include employers, employees, educators, governments, and other relevant stakeholders. They are funded by a combination of public and private sector funds.
I would like to suggest that skills shortages are the number one issue facing employers in Canada, and as I said in a piece I wrote for The Hill Times recently, Mr. Chairman, I do think this committee gets it. You understand that this is one of the most important issues facing our economy. I'm pleased to say that the federal government has been supporting the work of sector councils for close to two decades. Developed first by the Conservative government in the 1980s, the program has continued to grow through the Liberal government, and again now under the Conservative government.
While we are on the subject of party support, I will tell you that the Quebec and Manitoba governments, be they Péquiste, Liberal, or NDP, have also been supporting and working with similar provincial conseils sectoriels and sector councils in Quebec and Manitoba, respectively.
How did we get to this situation of skills shortages? Simply put, the economy has been in a growth phase for some time now. This growth is coupled with a declining birth rate and an aging workforce, many of whom are taking early retirement, which further exacerbates the skill shortages and thus puts the economy at risk. Demographic issues aside, the effective training and development of Canada's youth remains a challenge. Educators are not communicating the needs of the economy to the future workforce, and the education system has not been training these young people for the precise needs of employers.
Immigration is only a partial solution, but there too, we are not bringing in the people and the skills that we need. For example, while the need for skilled trades has been growing, the number of immigrants we are bringing in with skilled trades training, which is only about 4% or 5%, has been decreasing in the last few years. For newcomers, as you know, the issues are also integrating immigrants into the workforce and the recognition of foreign credentials that are so vital.
I want to mention two major issues, and I think I am preaching to the converted, because I think you agree with these issues, but I do want to place them on the record.
Having a skilled workforce is a national issue and a Canada-wide issue. In order for Canada to prosper and remain competitive, obtaining skilled workers is essential. Increased national leadership on this issue is required in the years ahead. Employers from all parts of the country need access to highly trained and skilled workers in each sector of the economy, and workers from every region should have access to high-skilled training--an educated workforce.
The second issue is advancing Canada's prosperity, productivity, and competitiveness. It is clear that a more skilled workforce means a more prosperous and a more productive workforce, and as a result, increased efficiency and decreased waste. As Canada seeks to compete increasingly with the U.S., Europe, and places like China and India, it is important that we have the kind of skilled workforce that can allow us to compete with those countries.
Let me touch on a few solutions, which I have described in greater detail in our written brief. These include an enhanced relationship between government and sector councils to bring stakeholders together to address labour market challenges and to implement solutions, preparing more sophisticated labour market information on particular sectors of the economy to assess what the skills shortages are and where they are coming up.
Labour market information is a complex amalgam of a number of different statistics and polls that are done. It's a matter of getting these to be more sophisticated, and thus being able to get more granulated, more specific information for particular sectors of the economy in particular regions and even in particular cities in the country.
Increased opportunities for apprenticeship and trades are very important. And here I note the government's plan, as announced in the recent budget, in terms of enhanced apprenticeship programs. This is very important and very timely.
In closing, I want to mention a few other issues with regard to integrating the under-represented groups in society. This is not only a matter of addressing the interests of those individuals who come from the so-called under-represented groups, it's now a matter of the whole economy, because the whole economy needs access to all the people who are available to work. These include working to increase the workforce participation of aboriginal people; finding ways to ensure efficient foreign credential recognition--and I want to note again, here, the government's plan to introduce an agency to assess and recognize foreign credentials, another very important development--helping employers with the hiring and retention of new immigrants; increasing the opportunities for Canadians with disabilities, which I know is a matter of particular interest to some members of this committee; and last, increasing the opportunities for women in non-traditional occupations.
I'm very pleased, Mr. Chairman, that my colleagues from particular sector councils will talk about how these issues play out in two key sectors of the economy, namely, mining and the high-tech sector. And they will be able to give you some real examples of how they have made a difference in creating a more skilled workforce in those two sectors.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.