Human Resources Committee on Oct. 20th, 2011

Evidence of meeting #6 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was process.

A recording is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

A Framework for Success: Practical Recommendations to Further Shorten the Foreign Qualification Recognition Process

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Doretta Thompson Principal, Education and Communications, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants

Jylan Khalil Director, Chartered Accountants Qualification, Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants

Mathew Wilson Vice-President, National Policy, Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters

Carole Presseault Vice-President, Government and Regulatory Affairs, Certified General Accountants Association of Canada

Claudia von Zweck Executive Director, Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists

Katya Masnyk Duvalko Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators

Carole Bouchard Executive Director, National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities

5:25 p.m.

Executive Director, National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities

Carole Bouchard

To add to your question, in a sense this brings us back to the issue of health human resources planning and how important it is to know exactly what we need and how it can be monitored on an ongoing basis and assessed and then re-corrected, if necessary. To clarify the point so that I'm not misunderstood, I have mentioned that yes, as a recent development the number of Canadian pharmacy graduates has increased.

5:25 p.m.

Liberal

Rodger Cuzner Liberal Cape Breton—Canso, NS

By how many?

5:25 p.m.

Executive Director, National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities

Carole Bouchard

I don't have the exact number, because it's not only the number of seats that has increased in each of the schools; we have also had new schools of pharmacy in some jurisdictions. The University of Waterloo is an example of a new school of pharmacy having been created a couple of years ago, and we'll now see the first group of pharmacy students graduating. In that context, the report we had has indicated that there surely was a shortage in pharmacy, but with recent developments we now have some not very firm indicators that there may be a kind of shift appearing. That's why we're raising the point that this issue is important to continue examining very closely in planning health human resources, so as to know exactly what our demand is.

5:25 p.m.

Chief Executive Officer, Canadian Alliance of Physiotherapy Regulators

Katya Masnyk Duvalko

Let me add that the number of Canadian graduates in physiotherapy seems to have levelled off in recent years, so we are counting on internationally trained physiotherapists for our growth. I can't comment on why our youth are not going into these sectors, but there has always historically been a balance between the number who come in from abroad as part of our immigration process and the number who are trained locally.

5:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Ed Komarnicki

Thank you very much.

That will conclude the time here.

I'd like to advise committee members that the next meeting will be held in Room 112-N, so remember to go there rather than here.

Once again, thank you to the panel for your presentation and your suggestions. Thank you.

We are adjourned.