No sweat.
Good afternoon, Chair, members of the committee, and fellow witnesses. I should have brought my entire communications team to help deliver my remarks today. That was pretty cool.
CBTU represents 500,000 skilled trades workers across Canada in virtually all sectors of construction. Today I hope to bring you a “tip of the spear” view of the temporary foreign worker program: challenges, opportunities, and things we need to get right.
In 2013 just under 12,000 TFWs entered Canada in the trades we represent. There are over 1.2 million participants in the construction industry in Canada. Today I'll talk strictly construction and the skilled trades. In our universe, the TFW program is not heavily relied upon by most employers. The program really is a band-aid solution to systemic failures in the training system and workforce mobility measures in our country. We don't have a great way to incent Canadians to be mobile, to go to where the work is in construction. In some cases we experience regional unemployment in our trades, while importing workers from elsewhere to other regional economies in Canada.
To us, this makes little to no sense. This is an enormous opportunity to get this file right. Improved worker mobility would undoubtedly reduce reliance in construction on the temporary foreign worker program.
CBTU sees the TFW program as one possible last response to workforce scarcity issues. While there are times, places, and situations where it may be the most expedient way for a business to meet its workforce needs on an emergency basis, it's not the best solution to Canada's HR problem. The TFW program should not take the place of a proper economic immigration system, nor act as a tool that business can rely on again and again. If we had trained, and continued to train, Canadians in the skilled trades or any sector, the reliance on the program would dwindle across the board. This isn't limited to construction. It's a broader issue linking our education system with industrial demands to make sure our education system is actually pumping out the people the economy needs.
Canada needs to take a long-term view on how we will fill these jobs in the future. A tsunami of retirements is upon us in construction. More than 200,000 workers will retire in our sector over the next five years. Meanwhile, there's a chronically underemployed generation looking for training and job opportunities among Canada's youth. Until Canada addresses the skills and training and apprenticeship issues, emergency workforce solutions like the TFW program will continue to challenge our economy.
The TFW program is not a solution to Canada's aging workforce problem. We need to get a number of things right. We need to remove obstacles to interprovincial travel for temporary work for Canadians, increase the number of graduates from apprenticeship programs, and enhance the way we use the apprenticeship system in Canada. We need to get more employers to participate in skills training programs. Only 19% of Canadian companies actually hire and train an apprentice. We need to change outdated perceptions of careers in construction and promote the industry to new sources of labour, such as women, aboriginals, and new Canadians.
If employers can't entice Canadians to take certain jobs, raise wages. It's the best market solution to skills mismatches and job vacancy issues after we fix the training issue.
If we have to continue to use the TFW program, it should be focused on bringing about the best outcomes for the existing Canadian workforce. This means ensuring that the work environment is safe and functioning to Canadian and provincial standards. On our work sites in construction, we worry about safety. TFWs have to be able to integrate into a Canadian work environment in a way that does not create a hazard or dangerous situation for other workers or for themselves. There are two key safety considerations for construction. The first is language. Crews must be able to communicate with each other in either English or French. The second is certification. We must ensure that all workers meet legal and industrial standards on industrial construction sites.
We think the TFW program can be used to grow training opportunities for Canadians. What if, when a TFW with a journeyperson's qualification in the skilled trades is permitted to enter Canada, this opens up a mandatory apprenticeship spot for a Canadian? We think companies, as part of the commitment to the Canadian economy, should hire an apprentice as part of this transaction. If the company cannot—due to scale, size, or logistical challenge—a fee of perhaps $10,000 could be paid by the company to the receiver general. These funds could then be used for an appropriate labour market information system or placed in the Canada job grant system or a similar training infrastructure fund.
If none of these options is agreed to by the employer, the TFW permit should be denied. This would ensure that the company is committed to training Canadians and it would also facilitate the immediate economic needs of the company. If the company cannot demonstrate a commitment to the Canadian training system, I repeat, the permit should be denied.