Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen members of the House, on behalf of the president of the Fédération des aînés et aînées francophones du Canada, Mr. Michel Vézina, who could not be present today, I want to thank you for having invited the federation to appear before the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.
The Fédération des aînés et ainées francophones du Canada speaks for 400,000 francophone persons of 50 years of age or more who live in minority situations in Canada. We represent 27,000 senior francophone members who pay dues to our network. Our organization's mission is to defend the rights and interests of senior francophones in Canada and to promote their needs so as to allow them to achieve their full potential in their language and culture.
Our federation comprises 11 member federations, present in each of the Canadian provinces. We are very pleased about that. Over the past few years, we have noted that the issue of employment among seniors and retired persons was becoming a matter of increasing concern. Seniors and retirees are telling us in greater and greater numbers that their incomes are insufficient and that they have to continue to work or return to the labour market.
The fact that Canadians are less and less financially prepared to retire, and the fluctuations of financial markets these past years, mean that a large number of people of 50 and over have to continue to work, even beyond the age of 65.
The situation will persist, and worsen over the coming years. That is why it is important to ensure that this phenomenon is dealt with properly, both as concerns seniors and retirees who want to continue to work or return to the labour market, and in terms of employers.
With the aging of the Canadian population and the labour shortages that may well follow, Canada does not have a choice and has to react and be proactive in promoting, recruiting and retaining older workers.
This aspect is all the more important for our minority francophone communities. In a labour market where the absence of qualified bilingual personnel is already perceived as a serious social problem, one can readily see that with the rapid aging of the francophone workforce, the situation is only going to get worse in the next few years, especially given that our minority francophone communities are quite aged. We must thus promote conditions that will encourage older francophone and bilingual workers to remain in or to return to the labour market, and preserve the capacity of the labour market to provide services in both official languages.
A study conducted near the end of the 2000-2010 decade by one of our member federations, the Fédération des aînés et retraités francophones de l'Ontario, showed that the challenges to employment for persons of 50 years or more remain major.
I will begin with obstacles to employment. The study showed that there was a lack of awareness among employers. In total, we interviewed 287 employers in Ontario. Even if 69% of them were favourable to putting in place certain measures to meet the needs of older workers, the vast majority of them had never had the opportunity to think about this topic before the study, and no measures had been put in place in businesses or agencies to meet the needs of older workers.
The study also showed that there was sometimes a lack of flexibility on the part of certain employers. The study clearly demonstrated that certain employers were reluctant to put in place measures to encourage older workers to stay on the job.
It must also be said — and my colleague mentioned this earlier — that there are still a lot of biases against older workers, and this prejudice is persistent. These biases are often related to ideas about absenteeism, the lack of ability to adapt to changing conditions, an inability to withstand pressure and stress, or an inability to adapt to new technologies. However, all of the studies show that older workers have lower rates of absenteeism than younger employees, that they are very loyal to their employer, that they have acquired experience and expertise that allow them to adapt to changing situations, and that growing numbers of retirees are very much up to date on technology. As a case in point, I might mention that when I have problems with my computer, I turn to people of 65 or 70 to help me resolve them.
Seniors and retirees encounter another obstacle, that is to say pension programs that are sometimes poorly adapted to the needs of older workers. The fact that seniors have to reimburse a part of the old age security benefits in no way serves to encourage them to return to work. Because of this many of them are less inclined to return to work or to put in a few more hours, since they have to reimburse a part of their benefits.
However, we would like to point out that changes made in 2012 to the Canada Pension Plan do constitute a considerable incentive for people of 50 years or more who want to continue to work.
As for the needs expressed by older workers, seniors and retirees, the study conducted by one of our member federations showed that those who want to stay on the labour market or return to it want shorter schedules and the possibility of working part-time. They are also very open to sharing positions not only with their peers, that is to say with semi-retired colleagues, but also with younger people in mentorship programs. So they are very open in this regard. In fact, the seniors and retirees who were interviewed were very favourable to the idea of being able to transmit their know-how and expertise to the younger generation.
Another need that was expressed was to be able to choose their schedule. They referred to the possibility of working half-days or in very compressed blocks of time, and of having access to leave without pay and flexible working hours. Many of these people would like to travel. And so they would like to be able to take extended leave, often beyond normal vacation periods. They would also like to be given the opportunity of working at home. Working on contract becomes very interesting for many retirees and older workers.
In terms of support services, senior workers and retirees in our communities told us that they would like to have employment and guidance services that are better adapted to the needs of workers of 50 years or over.
Our experience on the ground shows that it is not always easy for existing employment services to adapt to the needs and realities of persons of 50 years or more. The approach to be used with people of that age is very different from the one that is appropriate for a younger clientele that is just entering the labour market.