Human Resources Committee on May 28th, 2015

[The Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Thank you very much.

Mr. Boughen, you have five minutes, sir.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Let me add my voice of welcome to our panel who are taking time out of their busy day to share some information with us. We certainly appreciate it.

When I look back on what's happened in economic action plan 2015, which is also in action today as we speak, the thing that I find very interesting is the change in students being able to work while they're on a student loan program to help augment that loan and help with the financial side of going to school.

I have a ball of wax here with a bunch of different questions hanging out of the ball, so let's just see what we can do with it.

On average, how much more money will students be able to keep from their work?

[Ian Shugart]

We eliminated that requirement.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

That's very good. When was that eliminated?

[Ian Shugart]

That was a budget 2015 decision.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Okay. That's very good. I'm sure the students appreciate that.

[Ian Shugart]

The point here is to foster attachment to the labour force.

The assumption is of course that a student may earn small amounts of income, but if we can encourage that attachment to the labour force while they're in study, then that is good for their long-term prospects in the labour market.

I got that right about the elimination, didn't I?

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

How much more money will students be able to keep: 50%, 75%, 100%?

You're saying it's going to be 100%.

[Ian Shugart]

Yes.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Okay. Very good.

This is a what will happen question. We don't have any hard facts. What is it that you feel will help students move in to co-op learning programs and internships with the new student loan program? Is that going to be something that happens or not?

[Ian Shugart]

I think the first requirement for that kind of uptake is employers who are prepared to make that kind of opportunity available. Our ministers have been advocating that in the employer community. I'm going to ask my colleague Gail Johnson, who has joined us in the last year as the ADM of our learning branch, to comment further.

I think what the government has done is remove as a financial issue at all this requirement. For some, that would have constituted a barrier and it leaves the way free to accept employment on a large scale, for example, to get a running start on paying down student loans or to have less reliance on student loans because it's out of income.

There is probably a point at which we want students to be learning and not wearing themselves to the bone and compromising their studies by having to work too hard. That's of course an individual choice. I think we can anticipate this, although I don't think we've modelled this in any detail. It's hard to know with any certainty, but the logic of the policy would remove those financial considerations as a barrier, and in many cases would facilitate their income and therefore their savings potential down the road.

Is there anything you would want to add to that?

[Gail Johnson, Assistant Deputy Minister, Learning Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development]

The deputy minister is absolutely correct.

What this does is it removes any disincentives to work while the student is in study. What that means is that students have the opportunity to participate in co-op programs, for example, thus making them better prepared for the labour market.

[The Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Five minutes is up.

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Game over.

[The Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

It goes fast, doesn't it?

[Ian Shugart]

Chair, by the way, that was a concerned doctor, Gail Johnson, who holds a Ph.D. in higher learning.

[The Chair, Conservative, Phil McColeman]

Thank you for being with us.

Now we move on to Mr. Cuzner.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

How many additional people have we hired in the EI call centres in the last year?

[Benoît Long, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Processing and Payment Services Branch, Service Canada, Department of Employment and Social Development]

Over 138.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

Okay, that's great, because the number that I cited, 54% of calls being dropped, was a 2013 number. It's actually gone down to 33%, so there's been improvement. I think the case can be made that additional staff is not a bad thing for efficiency within the EI call processing centres and the call centres.

There are two questions I want to get at here.

We brought the standards down year after year, from 95% in three minutes, to 80% in three minutes, to 80% in ten minutes. Are we hitting that number?

[Ian Shugart]

Chair, I think we would want to clarify, and I will invite Benoît Long, another of our new recruits in the department, to expand on this.

We have not, in fact, lowered the standard. I just want to clarify that.

Benoît can elaborate.

[Benoît Long]

Our goal throughout the year has been to meet our standard vis-à-vis the answering of the calls we get. There are a number of factors that drive the—

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

The standard is what?

[Benoît Long]

It's 80% at 10 minutes.

[Rodger Cuzner, Liberal, Cape Breton—Canso, NS]

It's 80% in 10 minutes, okay. Are you hitting that?