I will continue with a few more comments.
I too am a builder, a custom builder in the Orangeville area.
It's very important to emphasize that the skills required in residential construction are very different from those required in the industrial, commercial, institutional, heavy industrial, or civil engineering work sectors. People working in the residential construction industry use very different knowledge and skill sets. The size of our industry, according to Stats Canada, in 2004 was $83.5 billion; non-residential was $57.1 billion.
Trades in short supply include our framers, drywallers, tapers, bricklayers, cribbers, plumbers, general carpenters, and that's just the short list. While the needs for the residential construction sector are distinct from those in the ICI and other construction sectors, those with residential skills can adapt to the demands of the non-residential construction sectors. What this means is that our sector is having to compete with immense demands being brought upon us by the megaprojects, such as of course the tar sands and the Olympic Games, as well as infrastructure investments.
There is a need to recognize residential trades and occupations in education and training systems, in the red seal program, and in immigration policies. We believe that Canada's education institutes, technical schools and colleges in particular, are as frustrated as we are that Canada does not have a system that provides national recognition for the residential trades and support for portability and transferability.
Let me observe that we were pleased with the federal government's recognition of apprentices in its last budget. This was certainly a first step. However, it points to the need for change. Only red seal occupations qualify under those new initiatives. There are 45 red seal occupations, of which 23 are construction trades, all of which are focused on the non-residential construction sector.
The residential sector, as I noted earlier, employs a great many people who are not part of the red seal program and therefore cannot participate in these new initiatives. We're very pleased to read that the Minister of Finance is indicating that skills training is going to have an important part in the next budget. As of today, we are particularly impressed with the comments from the Governor of the Bank of Canada reporting the need for emphasis and action on this front.
Thank you.