Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Committee members, thank you for inviting me, Minister Hajdu, and Minister Duncan.
I would like to acknowledge that we are gathered on the traditional territory of the Algonquin people.
Mr. Chair, it is always a pleasure to be with you and the members of this committee.
I would also like to thank the department's employees, who work so hard day in and day out and make it possible for us to be here today.
I would like to tell the committee members that I recognize and appreciate the work that you do, and I am happy to be here to talk to you about my responsibilities regarding Employment and Social Development Canada's main estimates, as Minister of Families, Children and Social Development.
Our government contributes to actively improve the social and economic well-being of Canadians in the middle class and those working hard to join it.
My department's budget shows the variety of programs we have to achieve this, and to ensure that Canadians profit from and take part in our economic growth.
As you know, an important part of my mandate is to ensure that fewer Canadians live in poverty. For me, this is much more than a goal; it's a personal quest. Finding opportunities to reduce poverty is the reason I became an economist many years ago and a politician just a few years ago. Over the past year we have been very active in developing the first ever Canadian poverty reduction strategy.
Let me take this opportunity to thank the HUMA committee for your valuable report entitled “Breaking the Cycle: A Study on Poverty Reduction”, tabled in the House last year. This important report has already played a key role in helping our government determine the way forward on poverty reduction. It was considered an essential part of the extensive consultations that we did on the subject, which started with the consultation paper I released when you invited me to start your important work last year. Again, thank you very much.
I believe you are also familiar with the tackling poverty together project, which aimed to provide valuable insight to support our poverty reduction strategy. This project supports evidence-based decision-making, as it provides performance measurement data and important feedback from lived experiences of poverty.
Following extensive consultations with Canadians, we held a national poverty conference and workshop and we released a report, “Canadian Poverty Reduction Strategy - What we heard about poverty so far”. This work is instrumental in shaping an informed, effective strategy to reduce poverty in this country.
Canada's first national poverty reduction strategy will take a long-term view in setting targets. It will make sure that the proper tools are in place to measure and to report on progress. It will also build on initiatives we've already taken to reduce poverty and increase opportunity, for example, the work we are doing to help those most in need, such as low-income workers.
Implementing the new Canada workers benefit, announced in 2018, will put more money in the pockets of low-income workers to support them as they work hard to join the middle class. We estimate that this measure alone will help some 70,000 Canadians get out of poverty by 2020 and will encourage more Canadians earning a modest wage to join the workforce and remain in it. For low-income workers and their families, this represents more opportunity and real change in their lives.
To help Canadian families, we are also improving the Canada child benefit, which has already had a considerable impact on people's lives, to ensure that it keeps up with the rising cost of living, starting in July—two years earlier than planned.
Support programs like the Canada child benefit are important. That's why we are taking measures to ensure that those who need them can access them.
In light of this, we will increase our awareness efforts in indigenous communities, which face unique obstacles to accessing financial support. This is important because the average amount families receive through the Canada child benefit is nearly $7,000 per year.
These non-taxable benefits go directly into the pockets of Canadians, who can then use this money to buy healthy food or clothes, books, and school supplies for their children. We must also ensure that this support benefits all families who need it.
Along with this benefit, we are taking steps to help young families who often do not have access to child care service because it is too expensive or there are no available places. We are investing $7.5 billion over 11 years in early learning and child care, and we have reached three-year bilateral funding agreements with all the provinces and territories.
We're also working with indigenous partners to co-develop an indigenous early learning and child care framework, which will reflect the unique cultures and needs of first nations, Inuit, and Métis communities across our great country.
Supporting families is certainly a priority for all of us. One of the most meaningful actions we can take in their lives is to help them have a roof over their heads and a place to call home.
Last November we released Canada's first ever national housing strategy. This 10-year, $40-billion plan covers the entire housing continuum, from shelters and affordable housing to market rentals and home ownership. It is an ambitious plan that will lift half a million households out of housing need and will result in up to 100,000 new housing units and 300,000 repaired or renewed housing units.
Complementing our work on housing, last June we also established the Advisory Committee on Homelessness, chaired by parliamentary secretary Adam Vaughan, to provide advice on the redesign of our homelessness partnering strategy. We want to better prevent and reduce homelessness in this country, and that is exactly what we intend to do.
We released the committee's first report along with a “what we heard” report last week, and we plan to announce an expanded and redesigned federal homelessness program in the near future.
Despite the important measures I just mentioned and that we have taken to help all Canadians who have difficulty making ends meet, we know it is always possible to do better.
For example, our government implemented automatic enrolment in guaranteed income supplement benefits. Once recipients are registered for old age security benefits, their file is automatically reviewed each year for the guaranteed income supplement in case their income has decreased and they need this additional support to make ends meet.
We know how important these benefits are. That is why one of the first things our government did was to restore the eligibility age for old age security to 65, keeping 100,000 seniors from falling into poverty each year.
We also took action to help the seniors of tomorrow by working with the provinces to improve the Canada pension plan so that Canadians who have worked hard all their lives can have more money when they retire.
Canadians also expect fast, simple, and quality service from their government. They deserve to receive services and benefits in a timely fashion. With the new realities of today, they also need more flexibility.
For new mothers, greater flexibility can mean equality at home and at work. For example, our new employment insurance parental sharing benefit will support greater gender equality by adding five weeks of EI parental benefits when both parents agree to share parental leave, or an additional eight weeks for those who choose the extended parental benefit option. The "use it or lose it" incentive encourages and promotes a more equal sharing of the responsibilities and joys of raising children.
We are also proposing legislation to make the current EI working while on claim pilot project permanent. This project helps people stay connected with the labour market by encouraging them to accept work and earn additional income while receiving their EI benefits. Its rules would also now be expanded to sickness and maternity claimants, who currently have their benefits reduced dollar for dollar if they earn income while on EI. This would assist sickness claimants to stagger their return to work.
When it comes to benefits, choice and flexibility are very important, and so is access. That's why we've put a focus on service delivery. We are improving services to Canadians through recent budget investments, including the doubling of EI call centre accessibility from 30% to more than 60% since 2015-16. An additional $128 million over three years, announced in budget 2018, will further increase EI call centre accessibility to 70%.
In conclusion, it is clear that we are working to reduce and eliminate barriers that keep Canadians from fully contributing to and benefiting from our country's economic growth. Even though Canada's economy is strong, there are still too many Canadians who have difficulty making ends meet.
Working together to reduce poverty, improving people's quality of life, and giving everyone a better chance to succeed in life are some of the goals we are pursuing through our initiatives. Moreover, we are paying particular attention to the methods we use to deliver services. Through this important work, we hope to grow the middle class and help those working hard to join it by ensuring that everyone can benefit from our fast-growing economy.
I hope we can continue this excellent partnership we have, and continue benefiting from your recommendations to achieve our shared goals.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
