Thank you so much, Sean, and thank you to the committee members and the chair for the opportunity to present.
My name is Kathy Gibson, and I am here on behalf of VEC. We are privy to quite a lot of information from a lot of different companies within Vancouver and foreign direct investors who are looking at investing in Vancouver. Typically, we hear from folks who are shopping around different cities and determining where they want to set up base for their operations. Talent acquisition and availability are key considerations in where those folks decide to come.
We are very interested today in focusing this conversation around knowledge-based, highly skilled, highly mobile workers. There is an opportunity here. Employers have a legitimate need and use for the program, and changes to the program can help in bringing growth and jobs to Canada. The current program has been designed for low-skilled workers. As a consequence, Canadian businesses are not able to access the much-needed skilled workers they require. It is a different dialogue and a different narrative from discussions of low-skilled workers. A significant and exciting opportunity exists to ensure that we are building policies that are congruent with the needs of the industry. We must ensure that we are building programs and capitalizing on excellence rather than adequacy. Employers need to be enabled to hire the best talent, people with specialized skills who can drive innovation and are highly sought-after.
As you are aware from your constituents, we hear from employers that it is in their interests to maximize domestic Canadian workers first, as it is very costly to run international searches, attract and interview talent, and then look to relocate them. Finally, once they are found, there is a time sensitivity in bringing key personnel into Canada. Of course, the intent to protect vulnerable temporary foreign workers is certainly there. However, technology-based, digital entertainment-based workers are well educated, speak English, are well paid, are head-hunted, and are in high demand internationally.
Including technology workers in this vulnerable category is problematic, inefficient, and an unnecessary drain on government resources. You have the opportunity to design a program that could make Canada more attractive than the U.S.A. and other regions through immigration programs. It should be noted that the brain drain of Canadian talent to the U.S. will always be an issue. Given the global mobility of technology talent, coupled with the sheer tenfold size of the U.S. economy and population, the loss of some talent must be expected. In light of this fact, Canada must reform and improve policy in order to be competitive and retain talent.
