Mr. Chair, I would like to thank you and the committee on behalf of the Canadian Coalition of Community-Based Employability Training, or the slightly shorter acronym to reference us by, which is CCCBET. Despite our national scope and representation, and despite our rich history of delivery and contributions to community, this is a significant occasion for us to speak with this committee today. It provides hope that our sector will be given future opportunities to contribute to the labour market strategies that will best serve Canadians through the renewal of the LMDAs.
CCCBET represents hundreds of community-based employment and training organizations, or CBTs, across Canada. CBTs play an essential role in upscaling individuals and providing them with the best opportunity to find and maintain success in the workplace. CBTs also represent a significant human resources function to thousands—dare I say hundreds of thousands—of small and medium-sized businesses across Canada who do not have the knowledge or resources to attend to their own HR needs. These employers contact CBTs when they need people, and look to CBTs when they have jobs to fill or a training need. CBTs use their professional means and collaborative networks within communities to find the right person for the right job and the right training for the individual. They do it all. Large companies with their own HR departments will also contact CBTs to access clients working in earnest to improve their employability skills and to advance their employment opportunities and potential. CBTs are a game-changing gateway for clients, and they are an invaluable resource for employers.
CCCBET is the pan-Canadian representative of this labour market service sector that understands the skills employers want and the training individuals need. In addition, we have always been there to complement and execute the federal and provincial training agreements that are in place. Our sector currently serves clients under the four types of federal-provincial training agreements: the LMAs, the LMAPDs, the TOWs, and of course the LMDAs.
CCCBET has supported the process of devolution in each province and duly applauds the federal government for their decision to go this route. We are unanimous in our belief that the provinces and territories are better equipped to be responsive to regional and local labour market issues and that the role of the federal government is best suited to set the vision and the broad operational parameters. At present, there is no Canada-wide framework on goals, objectives, and measures. Currently, all arrangements are negotiated bilaterally for the 49 different agreements across the country. Each training agreement has different accountability provisions, making it almost impossible to paint a pan-Canadian picture to better inform the policy realm. Under these agreements there are no formal ways for business, labour, or the CBT agencies to provide consistent and meaningful data to the system it is meant to serve.
I would like to be clear that CCCBET embraces the principles of greater employment involvement in training, including more employer participation, higher employer investment, and real training for real jobs. However, given the recent and ongoing concern with primarily employer-driven programs, CCCBET cautions against similar one-dimensional approaches towards the LMDAs renewal and any resulting strategies that may exclude the values-based leadership and experience of the CBTs. With their demand-driven stakeholders already identified and poised to influence the policy for labour market services, it is critical from CCCBET's perspective that our sector be included in the discussions that will shape this new generation of LMDAs.
True workforce development needs multiple stakeholder approaches that link sector initiatives, major economic development projects, post-secondary and secondary education systems, apprenticeships, and community-based employment organizations. A pan-Canadian entity like CCCBET can assist in crafting policy based on our years of experience in working with clients, employers, and funders who engage with our labour market services and who have done so for decades.
CCCBET supports research, reliable and comprehensive labour market information, increased labour market mobility, effective employment services, and the continual improvement in workforce development practices. We have a vested interest in getting it right, doing it well, and being accountable for the public investment in the services we deliver on the ground and in your communities.
I spoke with sincerity at the outset when I said this is a big deal for CCCBET to be given the chance to speak with this committee today, and quite frankly, it shouldn't be. We should be sought after and utilized in consultation for the resources we are and for the labour market professionals we represent.
I want to thank you for the time you've offered CCCBET this morning and look forward to the questions you may have.