Evidence of meeting #8 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 trades.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Past-President, Canadian Home Builders' Association
Residential construction is both cyclical and seasonal, so labour mobility is very important for the workers as well as the industry. Whatever we can do to reduce any barriers would be most helpful.
Senior Advisor, Government Relations and Public Affairs, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, Canadian Office
On barriers to newcomers, if there's some sort of equivalency and a system is set up to examine what they have and compare it to what Canada wants, there shouldn't be barriers. If you have your red seal, you're good to go anywhere in Canada.
Conservative
Phil McColeman Conservative Brant, ON
I'll give you a prime example, and the Ottawa builders used to bring it to our board table all the time. An electrical contractor in Ottawa could not work in Quebec, because they were not allowed to go over there and bid on work or engage in any projects on the other side of the river. But the Quebec electrical contractor and companies on the other side of the river could come over and work on any project in Ontario. Does that still exist?
Senior Advisor, Government Relations and Public Affairs, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, Canadian Office
It exists in small pockets; however, there's a mechanism to deal with that now. It's a unique situation between Ottawa and Hull. To be honest, it's generally the unions that get in the way of that. It's not necessarily anything other than that.
Conservative
Phil McColeman Conservative Brant, ON
I know I'm getting a bit off track and delving into areas that were pet peeves during my time as OHBA president.
You mentioned, Mr. Smillie, a need for 320,000 skilled trades currently in your portion of the construction industry. Do any specific categories make up the bulk of those numbers?
Senior Advisor, Government Relations and Public Affairs, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, Canadian Office
There's a list of occupations under pressure produced by HRSDC and CIC. There are 13 to 16. Generally, all the trades we represent are under pressure. The categories include everything from steamfitters to boilermakers to carpenters to cement.... The list is out there. It's a public list.
Conservative
Phil McColeman Conservative Brant, ON
There isn't one particular one that jumps out in your mind?
How about you, Mr. Friend? In the home-building industry, are there any specific trades where there are critical shortages at this time?
Past-President, Canadian Home Builders' Association
If I can give my own experience, when I look across the job sites there are a lot of workers with grey hair like me. It looks like we have shortages in most of the trades, in terms of those who are aging, and we can't bring skilled workers to the job.
Conservative
Phil McColeman Conservative Brant, ON
Again you're relating back to my experience. We had a real shortage of bricklayers and masons in southern Ontario. It was to the point of being ridiculous, because the price of laying bricks went from $200 for 100 bricks up to $1,200 for 100 bricks. That ended up costing the consumer, in terms of the price of the house.
I'm sure you've seen cyclical things, so as a country shouldn't we be reaching out to where there is skilled labour--maybe it's the U.K., Italy, or any other country in the world--and encourage the trades in those areas to come here to help us?
Mr. Smillie, it's good to hear you say that some of the rules and regulations are moving in that direction to simplify things, from what you've seen in the last short while.
Conservative
Senior Advisor, Government Relations and Public Affairs, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, Canadian Office
It's a fair representation. Some of the things are changing. As you're aware, the “Beyond the Border” working group between us and the U.S. is continuing, and we're trying really hard to make sure that skilled labour, during periods of shortages in either country, is on the agenda.
NDP
Claude Patry NDP Jonquière—Alma, QC
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Gentlemen, I want to thank you as well for being here.
Mr. Friend, you tabled a document. I see that it talks about agreements with Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, but not with Quebec. Are agreements in place with Quebec?
NDP
Claude Patry NDP Jonquière—Alma, QC
Perhaps I can rephrase my question.
In the document you tabled, it talks about an agreement with British Columbia in 2001. There were also agreements with Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island. However, there was no mention of Quebec.
Have you signed similar agreements with Quebec?
Past-President, Canadian Home Builders' Association
The document before you relates to the membership of the Canadian Home Builders' Association. Quebec is not a member of our association. It was on the perspective of our membership.
I don't know, Jack, if you have any....
Jack Mantyla National Co-ordinator, Education and Training, Canadian Home Builders' Association
Yes, that's right.
Past-President, Canadian Home Builders' Association
Quebec is not a member, so we don't have the up-to-date information from them to put in the document.
NDP
Claude Patry NDP Jonquière—Alma, QC
I understand. I have a second question for you. I'd like to try and understand something.
A contractor in my region—he is from The Saguenay—brought in 100 foreign welders to work in his company. I'm not sure whether it was for a year or two or what kind of mandate was associated with the project.
Did he have to go through you or is there a specific agreement in place with respect to those 100 workers?
Senior Advisor, Government Relations and Public Affairs, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, Canadian Office
No.
If this contractor is looking for welders from inside Canada, there's a procedure. If he's looking for welders from outside Canada, there's a procedure. No, he doesn't go through us. This contractor would go to the Government of Canada and say that he can't find workers in his local area, that either he wants to bring them in from country X or he could advertise throughout the rest of Canada to try to find those folks. But if he's looking outside, yes, there's a pretty strict process that he has to go through to bring those workers in from outside Canada.
NDP
Claude Patry NDP Jonquière—Alma, QC
I would like to know whether it is still difficult to reach agreements between provinces. For example, is it still difficult for a plumber from Quebec who works in the natural gas industry to work in Alberta on a pipeline project? Are there still issues between the provinces or have they been resolved?
Senior Advisor, Government Relations and Public Affairs, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, Canadian Office
If that individual has the red seal accreditation or a ticket from Quebec, it's recognized in every province in Canada. He may have trouble getting there. He may have mobility issues, because oftentimes that money is not covered. So if he has to get on the plane himself to get out there and his employer isn't paying for it, that's a barrier. Sometimes big companies are flying people back and forth from Mr. Cuzner's riding or close to it. Suncor, Syncrude, and these big companies are so desperate that they're spending tens of millions of dollars flying people back and forth. But if this person is on his own and he has to get out there, he might have the qualifications, but he might face a financial barrier to get out there.
NDP
Claude Patry NDP Jonquière—Alma, QC
When you bring in foreigners to do a specific kind of work in a place where there are unionized employees, do you reach a special agreement with the unions?
Senior Advisor, Government Relations and Public Affairs, Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, Canadian Office
We are the unions. But usually if people are bringing in temporary foreign workers onto a construction site, there is a process where they have to indicate that there is no current labour dispute on that construction site. And if it's a unionized site, they have to notify the collective bargaining people who are in charge of providing folks to that site. So there's a notification process, yes.
