Human Resources Committee on Oct. 5th, 2006

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

I would like to call this meeting to order, pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), for a study on employability in Canada.

I would like to take this time before we get started to thank all the witnesses here today. This study we're doing on employability--I'm sure you're aware of it, and I'm sure it's near and dear to your hearts, as it is to ours--is something our committee unanimously decided to start at the beginning of the year, and we're working through it. We appreciate your taking your time to be here today to share with us some of the concerns you have in your specific sectors.

I'm going to ask each presenter to take only seven minutes. Then we'll have some rounds of questions. Our first round will be seven minutes, with questions and answers, and our second round will be five minutes. At that point, the members can ask questions to clarify anything.

Ms. Steeves, for seven minutes. And thank you once again for being here.

[Jennifer Steeves, Executive Director, Canadian Automotive Repair and Service]

Thank you, Mr. Chair, honourable members.

Good morning. My name is Jennifer Steeves and I am the executive director of the Canadian Automotive Repair and Service Council, CARS for short. Thank you for inviting us to present today.

CARS is a national sector council and addresses the needs of one of the largest and most important components of the Canadian labour market.

The Canadian automotive power repair and service sector is a large and growing sector, comprised of approximately 39,000 businesses, employing about 254,000 workers. It keeps some 17 million Canadian vehicles on the road. More than half of the enterprises are small shops employing one to four staff.

Employers across Canada from our industry have indicated that a lack of qualified staff adversely affects the profitability of their organization. Almost half of our employers say their businesses suffer from a lack of qualified staff. Over the next decade the industry is estimating a supply demand between 24,000 and 39,000 workers. These expected supply shortfalls will put even more pressure on industry employers to retain existing workers and develop more expertise from within.

First let me say that CARS applauds the Government of Canada on its commitment to employability issues by announcing financial supports geared towards increased employability of all skilled trades people in Canada. These measures and incentives will benefit the small, independent service shops that make up the bulk of our industry.

To further the government agenda, national sector councils are well positioned to be part of the solution to employability issues faced by Canadians. CARS was among the very first sector councils established in 1988. The councils bring together the stakeholders affected by human resource issues, including employers, industry organizations, employees, and organizations providing training and professional development.

Between short- and long-term initiatives related to human resource development training, sector councils gather labour market information, develop occupational standards, develop curriculum, and monitor the standards of program delivery. It is our belief, based on experience, that the employability of our sector's workers depends on the ability to conduct ongoing skills assessment, undertake ongoing skills upgrading, and access training that meets current needs.

CARS has a proud history of working well with all levels of government, educational institutions, private trainers, and motive power industry leaders. These partnerships are increasing public awareness of employment opportunities and skills required in our workforce, enhancing standards of excellence in post-secondary program delivery, and making skills upgrading and professional development as universally accessible as possible by employing interactive distance learning, IDL, which is our satellite-based training delivery system.

The CARS IDL system is an excellent example of how initial government investment has continued and grown to serve the training needs of the industry. CARS interactive distance learning offers more than 320 technical and non-technical courses via satellite broadcast to industry workers and employers at 700 shops across the country. This professional development training is broadcast five days per week and is now being expanded into the collision repair industry.

Our sector has to be proactive to ensure that its training remains current, given both the current rate of technological change and the expected acceleration and complexity posed by such things as alternate fuel technologies, new hybrid cars, and electronics. In fact, electronics now control more than 86% of all systems in the typical vehicle. Advanced electronics computerized telematic systems sustain safety, environmental, communications, and entertainment systems on the modern vehicle. New field technology, such as hybrids, fuel cell, ethanol 85 and advanced diesel, for example, will have a significant impact on the motive power repair and service industry.

Given the current trends in technological advancement, it is easy to understand that our industry employees need to access quality and relevant training to further develop their skills so they can continue to meet the needs of the Canadian motoring public.

New employees entering the industry need to have sound foundational skills that they continue to build on throughout their careers. To that end, post-secondary training and apprenticeship need to provide students with quality relevant training. Once in the workforce, employees need access to ongoing, flexible, relevant training options, while looking to employers to provide both the time and financial support to make skills upgrading possible.

In 2005 CARS began an essential skills project to build essential skill profiles for key occupations. We also developed an assessment tool and benchmarked essential skill levels for workers, apprentices, and students in these occupations. Each participant was assessed for current skill levels in reading, numeracy, and document use. The overall results and the profiles developed showed that one industry worker out of three needs to improve his or her essential skills to function well in their industry occupation.

The knowledge gathered by CARS through this project will be used to educate industry and educators on existing skill-level requirements, create all nine professional development tools, infuse more essential skill elements into our own interactive distance learning, and deliver trainer sessions that demonstrate the impact of essential skills on learning.

Considering the future labour pool, CARS is currently conducting new research to examine the integration challenges faced by internationally trained workers. The objective of this research is to identify information gaps on the employment of internationally trained workers, existing skills assessment and recognition initiatives, and initiatives CARS could implement if required to address any service gaps.

Based on this background I've given you, CARS would now like to contribute to the national consultation on employability issues by making the following three recommendations:

(1) Re-introduce a partnership between government and industry to leverage training dollars. We suggest this because it is our experience that the best premise for building a dynamic, skilled Canadian workforce is the development of an active training culture. Such a training culture can only exist if all stakeholders have a vested interest in its success.

(2) Expand distance learning. CARS research study established an interest and readiness on the part of employers and employees in embracing e-learning as a training option, based on the additional flexibility it offers.

(3) Build a range of online professional development tools such as skills assessment that industry employees can use throughout their careers.

In conclusion, I'd like to sum up the all-around benefits of such initiatives: employers gain a more productive labour force at reduced training cost; employees gain greater employability and earning power by being able to service a product in less time than prescribed at the flat rate; consumers have well-functioning, safe automobiles; government gains a more productive and competitive sector with reduced EI costs.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much, Ms. Steeves.

We're going to move to the Electricity Sector Council. Ms. Cottingham.

[Catherine Cottingham, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Electricity Sector Council]

Good morning, Mr. Chairman, honourable members, ladies and gentlemen.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak to you today.

I would like to take the opportunity to share with you the perspective of a new sector council. We are just ten months old.

The electricity and renewable energy industry is part of Canada's critical infrastructure. It supports all industries and the well-being of every Canadian. As is said in the industry, we are all connected in the grid.

However, the industry is facing significant challenges because of an aging workforce. Within the next eight years, 40% of Canada's electricity workforce is anticipated to retire. Based on historical retirement patterns, we expect 30% to leave the industry. This reflects the many boomers who are in the industry, as they are in most of our Canadian industries.

We are going to face extensive competition from our colleagues, in all aspects of the labour force, for new employees. Due to the cost restraints of the nineties, Canada has not hired significantly, and it has not sustained sufficient junior replacement positions for the number of retiring electricity and renewable energy workers.

Equally significant is that advances in technology are changing the skills profile of employees and the workforce is growing with infrastructure replacement and expansion. By 2020, we anticipate the equivalent of a third of Canada's current installed capacity in the electricity business will need to be replaced or built new. At the same time that we are losing a significant number of knowledge workers from our industry, we are facing a huge amount of infrastructure refurbishment, replacement, and new build.

The industry is found in all regions and jurisdictions of Canada, in large and small communities, and in rural and urban environments. Workers for the industry are highly skilled and well supported by industry training programs. The electricity industry in Canada invests six times the national average in every worker. The majority of positions require post-secondary education and professional, trade, technical, or engineering certification.

Across Canada, the industry has a varied corporate structure. In some provinces, there is a holding by the province; in others there is a mix of governmental ownership, both provincial and municipal; and in some provinces, it is fully privatized. The majority of the industry is subject to rate regulation and consequently a highly controlled revenue stream. Canada has some of the lowest electricity rates in the world.

Regulatory authorities can define the areas where firms undertake operations and the nature of their investment in human infrastructure. Regulators that have the best of intentions to control consumer power costs often constrain the efforts of the industry to address the pending workforce retirements. They treat workforce development as a cost centre, as opposed to an infrastructure.

Other countries are facing similar aging workforce profiles. We are going to be extremely challenged as an industry and a business to develop new talent for our industry.

Consequently, our industry members, Electro-Federation, the Electricity Association, the Nuclear Association, and various renewable energy organizations, together with our four largest unions, CUPE, IBEW, the Power Workers, and the Society of Energy Professionals, gathered together in 2005 to respond to the results of a 2004 study supported by the Government of Canada, which provided the data I gave you, to create an electricity sector council.

Our industry used the sector council program as a significant initiative to support workforce development. We are extremely pleased to be supported in this way by the Government of Canada. We bring focus to workforce initiatives as sector councils, and we represent, in a non-partisan fashion, all key stakeholders. Our boards include educators, labour organizations, industry members, as well as regulatory authorities for occupational standards and related stakeholders.

With me today is board member Norm Fraser. Norm will share the industry perspective with you.

[Norm Fraser, Vice-President, Operations, Electricity Sector Council]

Thank you, Catherine.

Good morning, everybody. My name is Mr. Norm Fraser. I'm the vice-president of operations at Hydro Ottawa. This is the local distribution company that supplies the city of Ottawa. In simpler terms, I'm the guy you call when the lights go out.

I'm here to talk about what electricity means to us in the industry and to the public.

If you think about your electricity bill, it arrives once every two months or so, or every month. You pay it and you don't think about it too much. You flick the switch on your wall and things happen.

You're not asking for more electricity, you're asking for the services that electricity provides: your washing machine, lighting, electronics, telephones, furnace, air conditioning, security systems--practically everything we can see.

The job of my business, the electricity business, is straightforward: generate and deliver the product reliably and cost-effectively. In Canada, we are world leaders. All Canadians enjoy the comforts and economic benefits associated with one of the most reliable and cost-effective electricity networks in the world. The measure of my success in our industry is when people don't think about it. They take it for granted; iIt's always there and it's a reasonable cost.

Now try to imagine a world in which the electricity production and delivery system isn't as reliable, or is maybe unavailable for long periods of time. Remember August 2003, and then think about the debate in Ontario in the last few years over the security of the electricity supply.

Simply, without electricity our society, as we have built it over the last four generations, would come to a halt. All our industries rely heavily on safe, secure, and affordable electricity: telecommunications, manufacturing, agriculture, banking, petrochemicals, transportation, etc. This is why we have this council.

There are thousands of highly skilled Canadians running your electricity business. They are engineers, line maintainers, transmission operators, electricians, etc. They work in generating stations, transmission companies, and distribution utilities.

They will be retiring en masse in very short order, and we have to move quickly to sustain this talent pool.

In closing, I would ask you to remember that almost all sectors in Canada are facing a similar demographic challenge, but unless we deal with electricity as a fundamental underpinning of our economy, we might as well not bother to address the others. They will not thrive in a global economy with a floundering electricity network, regardless of how robust their workforce is or how competitive they try to be.

This is why I eagerly agreed to sit on this board. I've worked in this business my whole adult life; my demographic may be part of the problem, but I'm going to work hard to make sure that I'm part of the solution.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you, Mr. Fraser. I appreciate that.

We're going to move along, for seven minutes, to the Biotechnology Human Resource Council. I believe it's Madame Rivet.

[Colette Rivet, Executive Director, Biotechnology Human Resource Council]

Good morning.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the committee, and ladies and gentlemen, for the opportunity to share in your examination of employability issues in Canada.

My name is Colette Rivet and I am Executive Director of the Biotechnology Human Resource Council.

Biotechnology is comprised of such core technologies as RNA/DNA applications, cell and tissue culture and engineering, nano-biotechnology and subcellular processes. It involves such sub-sectors as human health, agriculture, food processing, natural resources, environment, aquaculture, bioinformatics, and of course bio-energy.

Biotechnology also encompasses such areas as life sciences, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, all sharing specific biotechnology competencies within a unique global environment.

The full achievement of the potential benefits of biotechnology depends on the industry's ability to manage its human resource challenges. A more strategic and national approach to the human resource challenges facing the industry is critical to ensure the long-term growth and sustainability of the sector.

In addition to driving demands in human health and the other sub-sectors, current trends driving demand for bio-products include concerns for the environment, greenhouse gas reduction, and the cost and availability of petroleum. New products promise to deliver added value at the farm gate, while at the same time providing products that lessen the impact on our environment.

Agriculture and forestry will form the basis for the creation of a new industry based on renewable carbon and a new and prosperous Canada.

However, rapid commercial and technological progress is stressing the industry's human resources capacity. Overall, Canadian-based biotechnology companies have global niche opportunities, but at the same time these firms face unique business challenges because they are highly regulated, research and development intensive, and many have long product development times with high-risk product failure.

Most are small enterprises and many of these have uncertain futures because of limited access to financing. So as a result of this limited long-term financing and minimal staff per company there has been little focus and funds available for human resources and the skill issues. Competition is also intense due to the highly specialized international nature of this industry.

The biotechnology industry has a wide range of skill requirements, including entry level and senior researchers, as well as experts in areas such as intellectual property, quality assurance, informatics, and marketing. The development of emerging technologies requires new skills, often immediately.

As companies move through their life cycle they require new technical management and leadership skills that are not needed at earlier stages. Similarly, as products move to commercialization, skills are needed in companies and public sector bodies in areas such as regulatory affairs and legal affairs.

The many players and stakeholders in Canada in the Canadian biotechnology industry vary in size, location, the sub-sector in which they operate, and the stage of development, while sharing the specific competencies that are required.

The shortage of qualified people is impacting the growth of Canadian biotechnology. The sector is now beginning to realize how acute this is, and people like venture capitalists and junior scientists and administrative managers are realizing that they need to understand how the biotechnology industry is different from the industries they are used to dealing with.

Biotechnology Human Resource Council's objective is to ensure that qualified, skilled, and experienced people are available to fill the jobs in the industry and can contribute to the development of a more competitive sector. As a non-profit and national organization it works with industry, researchers, educators, governments, and employees to meet this goal. BHRC has a critical leadership and coordination role in working with industry stakeholders.

Our first recommendation is that we believe the Government of Canada's role should be to support a stepped-up partnership approach between the government and sector councils to address and implement labour market solutions.

As a sector council, BHRC has a strong advantage in successfully leading a national human resource strategy for the biotechnology industry, since BHRC's membership is of the industry, and industry buy-in will be critical to achieving strategy. BHRC has a national mandate and is pursuing a less fragmented approach than is currently the situation, partnering with provincial and territorial governments and regional organizations to complement and build upon initiatives and reduce duplication of efforts. Also, there are many private, public, and non-profit organizations across the country that are involved in education, credentialing, and/or training within the biotechnology sector, and BHRC remains objective and inclusive to all potential partners, while leading the recognition process of those that enable the job readiness of workers. And BHRC is pursuing a strategic and systemic approach that will build sustainability for the work accomplished within the biotechnology sector.

The second recommendation is related to competencies and training. The rate of scientific advancement globally and both the emergence of new technologies and convergence of existing technologies translates to the need for human resources with interdisciplinary training and an ability to remain flexible in a rapidly evolving environment. This interdisciplinary training is the major gap in scientific and technical programming today. In addition to the need for programs that converge scientific disciplines and provide more hands-on training to increase their relevance to industry needs, areas such as intellectual property, regulatory affairs, and commercialization need to be integrated to help students to understand the industry beyond the research and discovery stages.

Companies will stress the importance of continuous learning and future concerns regarding the ability of staff to adapt to changing business environments. A number will suggest that if individuals can demonstrate specific competencies, they can be brought on board and trained in required technologies and skills.

So the second recommendation we provided you is to facilitate the setting of national skill and occupational standards, which will assist with integration and help coordinate the needs of employers, as well as the development of a national qualification framework, including Canadian credentialing and certification systems, which will assist with foreign credential recognition.

Thank you very much for your time.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you for being here to present.

We're going to move over to the National Seafood Sector Council now, to Johanna Oehling, who is the president. As well, you brought along Mr. Phil LeBlanc.

[Johanna Oehling, President, National Seafood Sector Council]

He is a board member.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Great. So if you would like seven minutes....

[Johanna Oehling]

That's seven minutes for the two of us.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

That's right.

[Johanna Oehling]

Thank you.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for that introduction.

The National Seafood Sector Council provides viable solutions to human resource and labour challenges in the seafood processing industry. Numerous industry enterprises, associations, institutes, and related organizations hold membership within our council. The NSSC is a national service provider for training and learning products geared towards the seafood processing industry, and as a national leader, we approach the consultations on employability in Canada with great enthusiasm.

The National Seafood Sector Council, or NSSC, is a non-profit organization which takes its lead from industry. The NSSC was Established in 1995, the NSSC is committed to developing human resources strategies and programs targeting the entire seafood processing industry. It is a unique partnership comprised of employers, employees, unions, associations, regulatory organizations and private sector trainers, who are working together towards a common goal: a dynamic and prosperous seafood processing industry built by a well-trained and productive workforce.

The Canadian seafood processing sector is a vibrant industry and has a worldwide reputation for high-quality fish products. Approximately 35,000 workers make up this workforce, with 100 registered processing operations across the country, according to DFO.

The seafood industry accounts for 20% of total food products, with over 85% of its products and seafood production sold to over 130 countries worldwide. As the world's fifth-largest exporter of fish and seafood products, the industry contributes $4.3 billion to the Canadian economy. Lobster and crab are the country's most valuable exports. In terms of volume, it is herring and shrimp.

The seafood industry accounts for 15% of the total manufacturing workforce in Canada.

I give you all this background to show how viable our industry still is in Canada today. For the past 11 years, we have been at the forefront of Canadian seafood processors in addressing their human resource needs. The experience of our council, coupled with industry expertise, has given us great opportunity to meet the industry demands of the sector, in both a timely and effective manner.

We first developed a quality management program when the Canadian Food Inspection Agency revised its regulations. We were first off the mark, and the country was trained on that basis. We do a lot of work in food safety, which of course is a big issue in today's world. In particular, we have many tools in sanitation and hygiene.

After 9/11, bioterrorism became a critical issue with many sectors and companies that export to the U.S. It was especially important that we were able to respond and developed some training tools to enable the industry to move forward and get their products across the border.

We are also well connected. We have a regional presence in seven provinces across the country. Having someone on the ground at the forefront with industry allows us to create numerous linkages and partnerships on a yearly basis with education, NGOs, various levels of government, associations, and community groups. We have a plethora of products and services in both official languages. We have over 40 tools and services, and I do have a few samples here.

The seafood processing industry, like many others, is facing labour shortages. There are workers who are aging and preparing to exit the workforce. Not enough workers are pursuing careers in this sector at a sufficient rate to replace the aging workers, and employers in the seafood processing industry are struggling to find skilled workers.

Two areas have impacted the industry's competitiveness, and they are skilled worker shortages and the need for a national worker mobility program.

[Phil LeBlanc, President, IMO Foods Canada Limited, National Seafood Sector Council]

I'll talk a bit on the skilled worker shortages. My name is Phil LeBlanc. I am the president of IMO Foods, which is a private label seafood processing company located in Nova Scotia.

As we heard, everybody has labour shortages coming up or expected, and the seafood industry is in the same position as everyone else.

In an increasingly competitive global marketplace, Canadian seafood processors have to find niche markets if we're going to be successful in our business. At the same time, we need to retain the skilled workers other people are looking for and keep them in our industry by providing them a stable and steady place of employment.

There is a need now for a rebalancing of interests brought about by these market-driven changes affecting our industry. The approach we're recommending is that processors develop a model through a national forum on fisheries to conduct and engage seafood processors, the fish harvesters, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in a dialogue that addresses the management of the fishery.

Ideally these groups would collaborate and share information and resources to reach a consensus concerning the management of the fishery, in terms of opening and closing dates and other things that affect everybody in a common way. The overall prosperity of the seafood processing industry can be expected to improve if we do this.

The recommendation on skilled workers is that the government provide assistance in the development of a national model to facilitate a dialogue of DFO, fish harvesters, and the processing sector to help in the management of the fishery in a collaborative way.

We'll get back to worker mobility for another minute.

[Johanna Oehling]

Thank you, Phil.

There has been much discussion and debate recently on the topic of bringing in foreign workers to meet the shortages of the Canadian labour market; yet more efforts should be made to maximize and effectively utilize the Canadian labour pool.

Our approach is to seek a way to increase labour mobility within Canada with relative ease for our workers. Any framework of labour mobility, of course, should include minimum standards governing recognition of skills, training, and knowledge. There are currently federal and provincial labour mobility programs available to assist employers and employees, but they exist largely for the regulated occupations, professions, and trades.

What the NSSC is seeking would be a non-regulated, sectoral approach to assist inter- and intra-provincial mobility. The essence of the program would provide some financial assistance to relocate, and a framework or measure of social support to assist workers in their new locale.

While there are seasonal foreign worker programs that could also assist in addressing these labour shortages, there is a desire on the part of the Canadian industry, and that includes labour unions, to offer employment opportunities to Canadians first and foremost. With the appropriate mechanism, our council believes, this can be achieved.

Optimally, the development of a program to assist workers to move to other areas would enable all these support mechanisms.

Immobility in the seafood industry is particularly important, as the seasons for employment can be short. Broader food-processing seasons can be linked together to extend the period of seasonal employment. This would allow fish workers to engage in employment opportunities in other areas.

A number of the skills are transferable, especially in the areas of quality control sets. There must be at least some incentive, however, to assist the workers to move to other locations. The Province of New Brunswick is working with fish processing employees to provide a measure of support to facilitate employment in other seasonal industries that complement the crab season, for example particularly in blueberry and potato processing.

Given the limits of time, I'll cut back on further descriptions, but I would like to get through the recommendations, if I may.

The first one is that government should provide integration assistance for workers moving from one location to another within Canada. It's similar in concept to the provincial program at the local level.

Incentives should be made available to promote worker mobility.

The third one is to provide assistance and programs for non-regulated professions, in addition to the current emphasis on the regulated professions or occupations.

Our final recommendation is to create a dialogue between the various levels of government—including provinces—and employers to facilitate mobility.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you, Ms. Oehling. We appreciate this.

We're going to move to our last presenter for today, and that's the Cultural Human Resources Council and Ms. Annis, for seven minutes.

[Susan Annis, Executive Director, Cultural Human Resources Council]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Hon. members, ladies and gentlemen, I am very pleased to speak to you today on behalf of the artists and cultural workers in Canada, as executive director of the Cultural Human Resources Council—that's CHRC.

I'll just point out that Jennifer actually has a very good acronym with “CARS”. We affectionately call ours “CHURCH” from time to time, but I'm not just sure how appropriate that one is.

In the cultural sector, our issue is not so much labour shortages, as several of my colleagues have pointed out; it's more an issue of providing training to cultural workers in a world that is fast-changing. We are very affected by globalization and by new technologies, and that's really where our challenge is. It's not in recruiting members to our sector; it's more in getting the stars out of their eyes, as we like to say. Young people do come to the cultural sector, but the challenges once they're there are quite significant, and they have to be committed.

I would like to begin by providing you with an overview of the sector so that you are able to get a sense of its size. It includes more than half a million cultural workers, in other words, artists, creators, actors, producers, distributors and archivers.

It also includes several subsectors. For example, stage performers, which includes musicians, dancers, actors, visual artists and crafts persons.

The sector also includes the cultural industries. These have a major impact on the economy as they are worth $33 billion. In our jargon, the cultural industries include publishing, sound recording, audio-visual—film and television—and new media.

Heritage is another large subsector which includes libraries, archives, heritage buildings and museums.

Our sector is characterized by a large number of self-employed workers who, for the most part, have an income which is modest and constantly fluctuating; they go through rough times and good.

That is a brief overview of the sector.

The Cultural Human Resources Council has acted as a sector council for over ten years now for this sector. We've been involved in developing career management tools, internship support, labour market research, strategic planning, etc.

To give you a sense of some of the issues that we address with the cultural workers, with the sector, we develop competency charts and profiles. These are done to provide a sense of what the skills needs are in an occupation. They can be used for curriculum developers to develop curriculum in schools, colleges, or universities; they can be used by self-employed workers to assess their own skills; they can be used by employers to write job descriptions, etc.

These charts and profiles have had a very big impact on the sector. An example is in the area of new media three years ago. There's an absolutely booming business now. The creators--we called them basement dwellers--didn't really talk to each other, but they were in front of their computer screens doing wonderful things. By bringing forward the process of developing a competency chart and profile for new media content creators, we brought that community together and gave them a voice and a profile. This multi-billion-dollar industry--which is led by the gaming industry, of course--is being well served by these people, so we were able to make a connection between the artists and the industry in that case.

The self-employment issue is the big feature of the sector that we are having to deal with. As many as 39% of the cultural labour force describe themselves as self-employed; however, a significant number of these pursue secondary employment to earn a living wage. For example, a writer or visual artist may be self-employed for the purposes of creating and selling their work, while at the same time that person may function as an employee teaching at a college, university, or school.

The separation of each distinctive source of income has proven to be challenging when dealing with issues like the ownership of intellectual property, copyright, taxation, and access to social benefits. It is this blend of employment and self-employment combined with low and fluctuating incomes that sets the cultural sector apart from the rest of the Canadian workforce, and that has provided the basis for the three main recommendations that we make to you today. As I make them, I invite you to consider the fact that these will affect Canadians outside the cultural workforce as well. It's been pointed out to me that there is an opposition day in Parliament, I believe, addressing issues around older workers; as I read through these, I'd like you to think about how this would affect the broader workforce as well.

Our first recommendation has to do with social benefits. We're asking the government to consider extending social benefits, including employment insurance, to the self-employed.

One of the most difficult employability issues faced by artists and cultural workers who are self-employed is that in addition to having low and fluctuating incomes, they don't have a social safety net to support them. This includes the access to compassionate leave, parental leave, and sick leave that is enjoyed by most Canadians, as well as access to training programs and, of course, employment insurance.

The second recommendation we would ask you consider is the importance of training and professional development in the sector. We ask that the government continue to support initiatives that, while recognizing provincial jurisdiction for training, take a national approach to training in our sector. That national approach is what sector councils provide, and we feel we fulfill a very important role there.

Third, we ask that you support mentorship programs that are not age-restricted to facilitate career development in succession. It is in this area that we're starting to address the older part of the workforce. The federal government has been very supportive with youth internships, as well as addressing the issue of school dropout, etc., and that bridge between school and work. We're seeing that there is also a very big issue that's being addressed by older workers; if we could extend those youth internship programs to include other ages, you would be able to address succession issues and career transfer issues, transition issues, for older workers as well.

Those are our three major recommendations. I thank you for your time and attention.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

And thank you, Ms. Annis.

I also wanted to mention to the two board members who are here that we appreciate your taking the time to come all the way here. Mr. Fraser, I know you have to deke out soon for some other previous business, but I want to thank you as board members, as volunteers, who were able to be here and spend some time. Thank you very much.

We're going to start with the first round of questioning. It will be seven minutes for questions and answers. We have Mr. Regan here.

[Geoff Regan, Liberal, Halifax West, NS]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Certainly seven minutes is not enough, as we all understand, nor is the time we have today, because there are many questions.

By the way, I had the pleasure of visiting Mr. LeBlanc's plant, IMO Foods in Yarmouth, and it's nice to welcome all of you here, but it's particularly nice to see you here.

One of the things that strikes me as I listen to this evidence is that we Canadians haven't really appreciated the impact the demographic change we're seeing is going to have on our economy and our society. I'd like you to talk for a moment about your own industry and what you think it will mean in the next five years. For example, will it mean that as you have to pay more and more for your employees and have more trouble getting them, it will price you out of some markets? Will it mean people are going to be working in other fields, and there will be less activity in certain industries?

It seems to me we haven't recognized what a dramatic shift we're facing, because for the first time in our lifetime, instead of having a situation where there aren't enough jobs, we'll have a situation where more and more there aren't enough employees. I would like your comments on that very broad question.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Mr. Fraser, you're leaving?

[Norm Fraser]

Yes. Thank you. Sorry.

Before I go for my budget meeting—and by the way, this is more important than a budget meeting—I have to answer that question, because it's fundamental to us.

Not only are we experiencing the aging workforce, but in our business we are also experiencing aging infrastructure, so we have these escalating demands on our workforce. The equipment is getting older, and we have fewer people to work on it. A seller's market for labour is developing very rapidly. We are seeing that now in the skilled trades and even in the professions, that people are going to the highest bidder. We have graduate engineers with three-years' experience who are leaving for other companies and getting paid more than someone in our company with 15 years' experience. The seller's market is developing and it's very troublesome for us. This is why we need to recruit at the entry level for jobs, for professions, and trade.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Ms. Cottingham.

[Catherine Cottingham]

I would like to present that in a pan-Canadian context, because one of my roles as an executive director in the sector council program is to deal with all my different constituencies.

To Norm's point, what's happening for us in the Canadian environment is that those jurisdictions that might not be described in our HR parlance as a recruiting destination--a place where whether you're from there or not, you'd want to go there--are really struggling to compete in this competitive labour market. Those businesses that are crowns and governmentally regulated and have to deal with what that means for compensation are struggling to compete against those businesses that are privatized.

We're getting a cross-Canadian challenge to deliver on our electricity business, and of course that's disturbing. We don't want to eat each other up from the inside. We want to partner, and that's the value the sector council program is bringing us. It's taking that right off the table and saying together we are stronger, and we're very pleased to be able to partner with that.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Madame Rivet.

[Colette Rivet]

In biotechnology it's not only the shortage of people we're going to experience, but also it's mainly skills development, because it takes a lot of years to get the skills required to work in the biotechnology sector. Therefore, we need to find a way of getting the skills into our sector. One we're working on is the immigration issue, because a lot of skilled people are coming to our country, and we're working very actively. Currently I'm doing an environmental scan and working with them to see how we can bring them in and identify competencies instead of credentials, so we can bring them into our sector closer and faster.