Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, committee members, for the opportunity to present our comments in support of the committee's work.
I am the Director General of the Coalition des organismes communautaires pour le développement de la main-d'oeuvre. I am accompanied by my Vice-President, Mr. Richard Gravelle, who is also the Director General of the Collectif des entreprises d'insertion du Québec.
Following a brief overview of the coalition and the Quebec employability sector, we will focus our remarks on the three challenges to be addressed. They include how to create a direct link between training and employers' needs; how to more effectively support the return to work; and how to improve performance measurements.
We hope to show you that the Quebec model responds to the concerns of the committee and the Minister of Employment and Skills Development, who did, in fact, acknowledge that very fact last March when the Labour Market Agreement was signed.
Established in 1998 when Emploi-Québec was created, the Coalition des organismes communautaires pour le développement de la main-d'oeuvre is made up of 13 members. They include provincial coalitions representing more than 1,000 local community organizations.
The organizations that are members of the coalition play a key role in the Quebec labour market development system. Emploi-Québec turns to community-based employability organizations to assist target clients or clients with special needs and seeks out their expertise with a view to offering integrated and customized services. It also relies on their knowledge to offer certain ad hoc services linked to job searches and counselling. The advantage of involving community organizations lies in the form of intervention and a unique approach that is separate from Emploi-Québec and which complements the services offered in various regions.
Collaboration with these organizations has enabled 130,000 new participants to benefit from an employment measure in 2011-2012, which represents 47% of new participants in all of Emploi-Québec's measures and services.
I will now move on to the first challenge: How to directly link training to employers' needs.
For over 15 years, Quebec has had a unique structure in Canada: The Commission des partenaires du marché du travail. This forum for consensus is made up of representatives of employers, employees, education as well as government and community organizations. The commission plays a determinant and meaningful role in the orientation and implementation of public employment services in the labour market.
In short, Quebec companies participate to a large extent in defining labour market training needs. At present, some 10,000 companies, 75% of which have fewer than 50 employees, are receiving training and human resources management services funded by Emploi-Québec. That enables us to reach out to some 80,000 workers per year, including 10,000 who have a significant basic training deficit or no recognized skills. Companies participate in funding the training activities, covering 50% to 75% of the costs.
The problem of mismatched skills and qualifications between part of the labour force and the job requirements is one of the causes of the labour market imbalance. We believe that there must be more upstream action taken directly with companies, to validate their real labour market training needs at present and for the future. This action, with follow-up and counselling, is also necessary to integrate people who are far removed from the labour market.
For these people who are seeking services and training, it is important not to associate access to measures with specific funding sources. Flexible programs and structures which can be adjusted quickly to meet the needs of these people and the labour market must be put in place.
Now, on to the next challenge: Finding more efficient ways of supporting the return to work.
The effectiveness of the current Quebec model in terms of identifying needs and designing training and integration programs is based on the active participation of employers, workers and employability organizations. This model has stood the test of time.
In 2011-2012, action taken with employment insurance recipients resulted in $220 million in employment insurance benefits not being required. Over five years, the economic benefits of measures for individuals are estimated at $2 for each dollar invested. Ninety-three per cent of companies consider the benefits to their organization greater or equal to the effort they contributed financially or in terms of time by employees.
This model has enabled the development of several partnerships between organizations in employability development and employers grappling with certain labour market problems. An example of this are companies working in integration; they are involved in the social economy and combined training, integration and support, and work in conjunction with partners for the business community.
We could also mention the integration project, the aim of which is to hire, train and integrate in a sustainable way some 100 professional immigrants trained abroad in the immigration technology and communications sector. These are the types of successful initiatives that our organizations are developing thanks to the partnership and funding under the current model.
Finally, how to increase performance measurement.
The coalition and its member organizations participate fully in the accountability process led by Emploi-Québec. The results achieved by our members are included in the public employment services results. That means that the annual management report from the ministère de l'Emploi et de la Solidarité sociale takes into account the targets and results achieved. Improving accountability is always possible, and we believe that the new Canada-Québec Labour Market Agreement could serve that purpose.
However, we feel that there are shortcomings in the data collection at the Canada-wide level. We would, therefore, be very much in favour of setting up an initiative similar to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, but targeting employability and labour market training measures. We believe that an institution like that could allow for very relevant comparisons between the provinces and territories and foster healthy competition among the levels of government.
In conclusion, we believe that the Labour Market Development Agreement model remains relevant and yields excellent results. The stable and predictable funding associated with these agreements is key to success. We would not like to relive the Canada Job Grant episode on a regular basis.
However, significant work remains to be done because some federal and provincial government action lacks consistency and coordination, namely for persons with disabilities, young people, and experienced workers. We believe that we would all come out ahead if the Labour Market Agreement model was extended to fund measures targeting specific client groups.
Thank you for your attention, and we eagerly await your comments and questions.