Human Resources Committee on Nov. 28th, 2017

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

I call the meeting to order.

Welcome, everybody.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2), the study of experiential learning and pathways to employment for Canadian youth is getting under way. This is very exciting.

We are televised today, just so everybody knows to keep their ties straight.

We are very pleased to welcome the Honourable Patty Hajdu, member of Parliament and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Labour.

Patty, we're going to get right into it and give you the floor to speak, and then, of course, I'm sure we'll have a number of questions for you.

Thank you so much.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Minister of Employment]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the invitation to appear before the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

I am happy that the committee has decided to study the matter of experiential learning for Canadian youth. Investing in experiential learning has proven very lucrative for the young people who join the labour market. Being given an opportunity to learn about one's profession is particularly important for vulnerable youth who might not have the opportunity to do so otherwise. I thank you for doing this important work.

This afternoon I'd like to discuss the multiple measures our government is putting in place to address this situation and the results we've achieved to date on this issue. I'm also going to give you a broad overview of the kinds of enduring challenges that our country will be facing in the coming years and how we intend to respond as we move forward.

First of all, investing in work-integrated learning pays huge dividends in the success of young people in the labour market. Getting a foot in the door or a chance to learn about the profession is particularly critical for vulnerable youth as well, who might not have the opportunity to get that chance otherwise. We need to provide youth with the tools, the education, the training, and the opportunities they need to fully succeed in their chosen careers.

Around the world, the labour market is evolving, and we need to keep pace. Job requirements continue to change, and workers' credentials are not necessarily matching the skills that employers are seeking. We need to put greater emphasis on essential skills and something that employers tell me about all the time: soft skills, such as how to manage a difficult employee and how to answer a phone and provide good customer service no matter what occupation you're in, as well as digital skills.

We need to make sure that all young Canadians have a fair chance to succeed. Providing opportunities for workplace experience is an important part of our effort to do just that, as work experience is critical to a successful transition for youth from school to work. These opportunities benefit young people. Of course, employers often offer higher starting salaries to graduates who have work placement experience.

Apprenticeship is also a proven model for transitioning into well-paying jobs in the skilled trades, which are in such great demand. In fact, more than 80% of apprentices were successful in securing employment in 2015.

I'm going to give you some examples of what we've put in place to support Canada's young people to help them transition to the workplace.

The facts show that work experience is the key to a successful transition for youth. Employers generally offer high starting salaries to graduates who have practical experience. The labour market is evolving, and the help we provide to facilitate the transition from school to the workplace must follow suit.

We've provided learning opportunities through the career focus stream of the youth employment strategy, which supported over 6,500 youth in finding work placements in 2016-17. We've also nearly doubled Canada Summer Jobs compared to the previous government.

We recently launched a new partnership with industry and post-secondary education institutes to offer 10,000 new work-integrated learning placements for students in the STEM fields and business, with an investment of $73 million over four years. In addition to our investments in student placements through Mitacs, we'll help create up to 60,000 paid work placements over the next five years.

We've also put in place measures to ensure that young Canadians are always appropriately compensated for their work placement internships. Bill C-63 includes amendments to the Canada Labour Code that would prohibit unpaid internships within federally regulated private sectors unless they are part of the requirements for an educational program and ensure that interns who are unpaid are covered by labour standard protections such as maximum hours of work, weekly days of rest, and general holidays.

We know that young people make better decisions about their education and career path when they have good data and information that helps them make those decisions. The OECD and other research confirms that good-quality and timely information and advice play an important role in informing young people's aspirations. For this reason, we've enhanced the Canada job bank, and we're going to continue to modernize it with current technology platforms so that it will be youth-centred and user-friendly, something that all the young people in my life are quite excited about.

On another note, I cannot stress enough how much financial assistance is essential to removing barriers to post-secondary education. We've made very important enhancements in this area. For example, we increased non-repayable Canada student grants by 50% and made them available to more students from low- and middle-income families. This means that starting in the 2017-18 school year, over 400,000 students from low- and middle-income families will receive up to $3,000 in non-repayable financial aid each and every year. Approximately 46,000 of those students will be eligible for the first time for the Canada student grant for full-time students.

We've also introduced a fixed student contribution, allowing students who work to continue to do so without having to worry about a reduction in the amount of financial assistance they will receive. Now no student has to repay a Canada student loan until they're earning at least $25,000 a year.

We've also renewed our investment in Pathways to Education Canada for an additional four years, starting in 2018-19. If you haven't found out about this program yet, I highly encourage you to take a look. This program works to make sure that at-risk youth are able to complete high school and transition to post-secondary studies.

We continue to make significant efforts to increase the take-up of the Canada learning bond. In May of 2017 an important milestone was reached: one million Canadian children are now enrolled and have more affordable post-secondary education in their future. Last week we launched a call for concepts, which is really our way to look for new and innovative ways to increase awareness and uptake of the Canada learning bond. We encourage organizations with ideas to submit their concepts by January 16, 2018.

The renewal of the youth employment strategy, or YES, gives us a really good opportunity to work with all our partners to ensure that young Canadians have all the necessary support that they need to succeed. The youth employment strategy has already produced results for young people, real results across the country over the last 20 years, but we have to acknowledge that a lot has happened in the last 20 years. Times have changed.

In addition, we are just beginning to explore the renewed Youth Employment Strategy. Your study will help to guide our work.

Your work will ensure that we can understand the new needs of young people across this country. It will also help us to understand the measures that are working well and need to stay the same, as well as what kinds of things need to change to make sure we're reaching our target goal—namely, that every young person across this country has the supports they need to access post-secondary education and to access the kinds of experiences that will help them move forward in meaningful work, good middle-class jobs, across this country.

The current study of the committee will undoubtedly greatly inform our work. Through this renewal, we're exploring four key areas for action: one, supporting smoother transitions from school to work; two, helping young people develop skills to keep pace with the changing nature of work; three, helping vulnerable youth to meet their potential; and finally, exploring how employers could play a greater leadership role in youth employment.

Provincial, territorial, and municipal governments, along with numerous stakeholders, also play a critical role, as they provide a range of supports for youth. We'll be looking at how we can increase and amplify our partnerships with all of our stakeholders. I'm very interested in learning more about how others in Canada are supporting youth transitions into the labour market. I'm also interested in lessons from other countries. We can all benefit from sharing best practices from the experiences of others in Canada and internationally.

Youth need opportunities to be active citizens and community leaders. Service and volunteer experience is another way in which young people can build skills and personal growth while giving back to the community. We'll soon be launching the design phase of a new youth service initiative. Youth will be directly engaged to build a program that responds to their interests and serves their community. This means we'll be building a program that has been designed by youth, for youth.

Mr. Chair and members of the committee, we know that Canada's future prosperity depends on young Canadians getting the skills and experience that they need to succeed and that employers are looking for. This is an essential way that we can continue to ensure a growing economy in a way that works for everyone. Successful transitions from school to work represent a socio-economic win-win for us: students get the hands-on experience they need to succeed and employers find the talent they're desperately seeking.

Active, healthy citizens who are pursuing their aspirations and driving economic growth are critical for us to change and adapt this economy, which brings new challenges but, I believe, great opportunity for Canada. I have every confidence that Canadian young people will seize those opportunities if we help pave the way. We just can't afford to leave so much talent behind. We can't afford to see young Canadians either not pursuing their education or not getting jobs aligned with their skills and training, so the study that this committee is undertaking right now is extremely timely. It will greatly inform our work, and I'm very glad you've chosen it.

Thank you so much for inviting me.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you very much, Minister.

In my haste to get things moving today, I failed to recognize a few people. I would like to recognize that we are joined here today by Louise Levonian, deputy minister, from the Department of Employment and Social Development. Welcome back to this committee.

I also want to extend a welcome back to MP Brigitte Sansoucy. We've missed you.

Also, thank you for helping us out today, MP Picard.

We're going to get started with questions. I understand the minister is able to extend her stay for an additional 15 minutes, so we will have the minister until 5:15. That gives us about 15 minutes to deal with some committee business.

We will start off with MP Wong.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Welcome to the committee, Minister.

I'm really disappointed at the fact that the youth unemployment rate is now at 13%, which is very high. Then there is the fact that you seem to have increased the number of summer jobs, which probably has not really been the truth. The truth is that the number of weeks the young person can work has been greatly reduced, and for the short term, there's no way these students can find another job. That is the problem with this summer job strategy.

These are my statements. I'm really disappointed at what's happening right now.

I'll share my time with my colleague.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Welcome, Madam Minister. We certainly welcome this study.

We have just heard an important apology from all of the opposition parties, and also from Prime Minister Trudeau.

What concerns me is that the Prime Minister had made promises concerning workers in the regions, and seasonal workers in particular. I am thinking, for instance, about workers in New Brunswick and those in Quebec regions like Charlevoix, the North Shore, the Lower St. Lawrence and the Gaspé Peninsula.

We want our young people to work, we want them to have jobs. However, we must not forget that there are also young seasonal workers who experience a black hole in the spring, when employment insurance benefits are coming to an end but seasonal work has not yet started.

Madam Minister, why is the government breaking its promise by not introducing transition measures, and by maintaining this black hole that leaves seasonal workers in anguish?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Mr. Blaney, we understand that there is a challenge, and my department is looking at that very closely. Minister Duclos will be happy to answer questions at a later date, but certainly the deputy is aware of the issue and is working on it right now with the department and will have more to say at a later date.

In terms of youth unemployment, the youth unemployment rate has remained somewhat stagnant. In 2015, it was 10%, which is lower than its historical average of 12.1% since 1976. Although that's quite high, and I would agree with the member that we want to see that rate lowered, certainly internationally we're doing all right compared to some of our international partners. For example, the long-term unemployment rate we have is 5.1% versus 21.8%, which is the OECD average.

That is not to diminish our concern, which is why we're here and why we're looking at rejuvenating the youth employment strategy, but I would say we're definitely tracking in the right direction. I think there's more to do.

In terms of Canada Summer Jobs, it's an incredible program. It provides young people all across Canada an opportunity to get work experience, in some cases for the very first time in their lives. That's a paid work experience opportunity. Employers as well oftentimes would not have an opportunity to hire a young person if it were not for Canada Summer Jobs. We're very proud of that program.

[Steven Blaney, Conservative, Bellechasse—Les Etchemins—Lévis, QC]

Madam Minister, you mentioned the Canada Summer Jobs program. There is a black hole there as well. It is true that the program has been expanded and that more young people can now participate. However, you reduced the length of the internships. That means that young people work during half of the summer, and then they face a black hole because they don't have time to find another job. In addition, the length of the work period does not allow them to acquire the necessary experience.

So, there is a problem for seasonal workers. You say you have a solution, but these workers are waiting.

The same thing applies to the Canada Summer Jobs program. Why did you reduce the length of the internships? In other words, you seem to be spreading more peanut butter, but in the final analysis, there is not more. Our young people are being penalized because they find themselves without work after their internship, when they are not yet back in school.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

The response we've had from employers and young people across Canada has been phenomenal. In fact, in many communities, MPs have come up to me and talked about the success of Canada Summer Jobs in their riding. Young people are grateful for that experience. To get paid work experience is no small feat in this country, especially in the summer, when you have a volume of young people out there looking for well-paying, decent jobs. The competition is intense.

From the young people who have been able to score one of these Canada Summer Jobs—and I have met hundreds and hundreds of them across the country—I heard nothing but praise for the program and the fact that they had an opportunity to work oftentimes in a sector very aligned with their studies. Whether I was visiting on the west coast, on the east coast, or up north in my own riding, I met students who were taking part in the tourism industry or in the business sector. Even small business is now able to access Canada Summer Jobs, which allows young people who have perhaps an interest in entrepreneurship to get that well-paying summer job that will help them offset the cost of studies and also give them the sector experience that so many times they are looking for.

As a matter of fact, at a recreational facility in one community, I met a young person working in a home for people with disabilities. The executive director told me she had started in that position with that company as a Canada Summer Jobs placement, and 10 or 15 years later she was running the joint. It was really affirming to see that not only did it work for short-term employment but it also worked for determining a career path.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you. That's your time.

We now go over to MP Fortier, please, for six minutes.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Minister Hajdu, thank you very much for being here with us today.

We must recognize that the beginning of this study will allow us to determine where improvements could be made, and, according to what I understand about your objectives, what other opportunities could be found to improve the Youth Employment Strategy.

I had the pleasure of being the president of the Fédération de la jeunesse canadienne-française 20 years ago. It was at that time that the government of the day announced the Youth Employment Strategy. As we know, changes have been made to it since then. The current Liberal government has continued to invest in the strategy, and I think it is important to recognize that. That said, the situation has changed over the last 20 years, and technology has had an important impact on the labour market.

Why do today's young people need new skills and more adequate experience in the face of the transformations brought about by technology? Will the proposed measures or programs allow us to keep pace with the rapid evolution of this economy?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

It's great that you've come full circle from chairing the committee to now being to participate in the rejuvenation of the youth employment strategy.

You're absolutely right that changing technology is one of the critical components of looking at a renewed youth employment strategy. Interestingly enough, often youth are leading the way in terms of being able to adapt to technology very rapidly.

I think we have a couple of problems on our hands. One, are the academic institutions—the polytechnics, the colleges, and so forth—training for the right sets of skills that employers are looking for? Two, are employers considering new graduates as the resource they really are?

Recently, when I was announcing the work-integrated learning program, the student work placement program, I had an opportunity to meet some of the companies that will be utilizing the student work placements. Many of them talked about how great it was to see young people coming right out of school into their workplace. They talked about the benefit to their corporation. They talked about this new way of thinking, about how often young people would come with a different perspective and new solutions to old problems, and how, by the way, they were very adept at using technology and could quickly learn new systems and new ways of doing things. That's because, first of all, they were studying them, but also because they had that lens, which many times older workers struggle with. It was a real opportunity to hear not just how this will be beneficial for young people but also how employers are saying that they need students with the abilities to be flexible and to rapidly acquire knowledge in new ways.

When we provide that matchmaking program through something like, say, the student work placement program, it really does bring together young people who are desperately seeking that first paid experience and employers who are looking for talent and skill but also for that adaptability that helps their corporations grow. I saw many examples of this.

In some of the spaces I was visiting where some of the high-tech firms are doing things I can't even describe in words because I am an old person now, the workforce is very young. When I would walk onto the floor, it was astounding to me to see that oftentimes the people would be under 30. Employers told us that they see youth as an asset. We need to spread that idea throughout the employer community.

[Mona Fortier, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you.

I'd like to ask you another question.

I had the privilege of doing a lot of door-to-door canvassing over the past year. Young women told me that it was still difficult for them to find jobs in engineering, mathematics and science.

Could programs or measures be put in place to encourage women to choose engineering, mathematics and science, and support them on that path?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Thank you very much. That's a great question.

As you know, MP Fortier, my first role was Minister of Status of Women, so I spent a lot of time talking about the barriers that women face, especially in some of what we call non-traditional sectors, where they're dramatically under-represented. You're absolutely right that STEM is one of those areas. Though we see women choosing those courses of study more and more often, we're not seeing the corresponding numbers of women in those fields. We know that it's more than just women choosing to study in STEM; it's actually other barriers that women are facing.

We are trying to work with employers to provide additional incentives for employers to be thoughtful about how they recruit women and retain women in their sectors, which traditionally have been male-dominated. For example, the union training and innovation program, which is a program we announced last summer, is looking for unions to come forward and thoughtfully tell us what kinds of things they can do to recruit people who are under-represented, including women, indigenous people, people with disabilities, and newcomers to Canada. This is a real win-win, because also, as you may know, we have about 110,000 unfilled skilled trades positions in this country, so we really are missing an opportunity when we're even unintentionally biased in the way that we create space for women in some of these non-traditional sectors.

We also, through the student work placement program, are providing additional incentives to employers who are thoughtfully thinking about how they recruit. When they hire a woman, a person who is indigenous, a person with disabilities, or a newcomer, they will receive an additional incentive in terms of compensation to help support that hire.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you very much.

We now go over to Madam Sansoucy.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Madam Minister, thank you for your presentation.

At the beginning of a study such as the one we are undertaking, I think it is important to define the role of the federal government well. We know that the constitutional power to enact laws that concern education rests with provincial and territorial jurisdiction. Federal jurisdiction applies solely to first nations education, as well as to education for the personnel of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Canadian Coast Guard and inmates in correctional facilities.

Recommendation 3 of the final report of the Expert Panel on Youth Employment has something interesting to say about the support the federal spending power provides through the Canada Social Transfer. The recommendation states that in order to rethink youth employment programs, the government of Canada should consider the possibility of transferring youth employment programs to provincial and territorial governments. The Expert Panel on Youth Employment even asks that the government make public the results of this reflexion in the course of the next 12 months.

In addition, the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum does specify that apprenticeship is regulated by the provinces and territories.

This brings me to my question. Since the role of the federal government in this matter has to be executed through partnerships with the provinces and territories, and since in your mandate letter, the prime minister asks you to cooperate with the provincial and territorial governments and post-secondary institutions, can you tell us about the partnerships you have established with the provinces and territories? In your opinion, what is the role of the federal government in those partnerships?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

Absolutely, and we play a critical role in the form of LMDAs and LMTAs, the transfer agreements we have with provinces and territories, through which we transfer sums of money to the provinces and territories. We've committed an additional $1.8 billion over six years in those provincial and territorial transfers to ensure that provinces have the support they need to pursue skills training in a way that's relevant to them. In those negotiations, we've agreed to a shared set of outcomes whereby we'll be able to measure outcomes together and benchmark those outcomes so that we can understand the results of those transfers.

In terms of the recommendation of the expert panel on youth employment, we still think there is a space for the federal government to show leadership. We have, of course, the Canada Labour Code, and many employers are federally regulated. We also are very concerned about young people who fall through the cracks of provincial programs and who maybe aren't getting those services in a way that makes sense to them, and we think we can be a partner and augment what provinces are doing.

We know that we have provincial jurisdiction to respect, and we of course do that, but we have an opportunity to work with our provincial and territorial partners to make sure we leverage what they're doing and ensure that people who, for one reason or another, may not be able to access services through their provincial or territorial services have another place to go, and that would be their country.

[Brigitte Sansoucy, NDP, Saint-Hyacinthe—Bagot, QC]

Thank you.

As we have just said, your mandate letter and Budget 2017 both contain recommendations from the Expert Panel on Youth Employment. I am going to focus on three of these recommendations.

In recommendation 8, which discusses updating the Canada labour standards, the group suggests amending part III of the Canada Labour Code in order to recognize new types of employment. You have already begun to do this by eliminating unpaid internships.

Recommendation 9 suggests broadening eligibility for employment insurance. Young people are particularly affected by the eligibility rules. The point would be to lower the eligibility criteria, and they would be the same throughout the country. This is a demand that that has been made by practically all of the organizations that work with the unemployed, everywhere in Canada. They also recommend that returning to school be added to the valid grounds for leaving work for young workers. The idea is that young people would not be penalized if they leave a job to return to school. To me that is a very important point.

The third recommendation I wanted to raise with you is the one that refers to obtaining better quality data. Indeed, when one wants to study a situation, obtaining statistics is always an issue.

I would like to hear about the government's response to these recommendations which were submitted to it last June.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

As you know, under my role as the federal labour minister, I am looking at the Canada labour standards. We're doing that work right now in consultation with partners and stakeholders, with unions and employers. We're holding consultations to make sure we understand the new landscape. As you know, it's work that continues. There are pieces that we can take action on right now, but comprehensively, we want to make sure that we work in that tripartite relationship and respect employers and the labour movement so that when we put forward those proposals, they'll be well received and we'll have the right answers.

In terms of young people and their eligibility for EI and returning to study, we have committed to making it easier for older people to study. That would include older or young people, I suppose, who have been in school, who have gone into the labour market, who have not pursued their education, and who have had to leave the labour market or are trying to increase or enhance their skills. We've talked about that. We've put in some flexibility around older workers. Those measures would include young or older workers.

It's something that I personally feel very passionate about, as many of you may have heard. I mean, I didn't graduate with my degree until I was 28. It was very challenging. I was a full-time employee and a single mother with young children. I'm well aware of the challenges faced by older or younger people who have for one reason or another not completed their course of study or who have a desire to go back and upgrade their skills. We think it's worthwhile to invest in those individuals. We know that every opportunity they get to enhance their skills and improve their skills means that a better job is out there waiting for them. Every opportunity for skills development results in an opportunity for them to increase their earning potential, which ultimately will have an intergenerational impact.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you.

We'll now go to MP Ruimy, please, for six minutes.

[Dan Ruimy, Liberal, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Thank you very much, Minister, for being here today.

I am a huge fan of Canada Summer Jobs. The first year we did it, it had always been closed to small business in my riding. I changed that. I actually followed 90% of all the students who were hired. I went to their organizations. I watched what they did. I watched how they connected it to their organizations. In the second year, we went out and called up 500 businesses, and we pushed. We ended up getting about $100,000 more in funding, so I've seen a tremendous rise in that.

In fact, to my understanding, with Canada Summer Jobs we've doubled the amount from what it was previously in this country. I've seen the results. It's a fantastic program that, if served well, can actually give students practice in what they're learning in school.

I'll be sharing my time with MP Morrissey, but first, many people in my riding have gained valuable experience thanks to the youth employment strategy. You mentioned that you are revitalizing the program. Can you explain that in a little bit more detail?

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

The revitalization is of the youth employment strategy as a whole. As you mentioned, the commitment to double Canada Summer Jobs is something we continue to work on, and we're very close to doubling it. As you mentioned, there were some challenges in the first year around employers knowing that it was available.

I want to thank all the MPs who went out and made sure that employers in their ridings knew about Canada Summer Jobs and applied. We'll continue that work to make sure that employers know about the program and know that they can apply for the program and that every student possible has an opportunity to access the program.

The work we're doing right now on the youth employment strategy includes Canada Summer Jobs, and of course we are open to looking at Canada Summer Jobs and how we can make the program better, because better is always possible. We're also looking at other aspects of the youth employment strategy, which would include things like helping people after they're finished their education to get that first job in their particular field. The student work-integrated learning program is one example.

This is part of the study you're doing, and it is a key component of the study you're doing in terms of experiential learning. We're very curious to see whether we can increase our efforts in that space.

It will also be about how we ensure that vulnerable youth get that shot at success. Many of you have skills link programs in your ridings, and when I meet some of the skills link participants across the country, I see these are the young kids of age 16 to 24 who are not in school, who are not employed, and who are often struggling with profound challenges in their life, whether it's homelessness, substance use, poor literacy skills, or just a total lack of self-confidence. We can't leave those kids behind, either, because if we do that, first we're losing out on an opportunity to have all that talent contribute to the growth of our country, and then the longer people stay unemployed, the more entrenched that becomes and the harder it becomes for them to get a job. At the end of the day, that is a cost rather than an opportunity for prosperity.

[Dan Ruimy, Liberal, Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC]

Thank you.

You speak of the skills link training program. That's another program in my riding, and every time there is an intake, I spend two hours with the entire group, because they need to know that their government is there for them and that they have the ability to move forward. It's a fantastic program.

I'm going to pass it off to MP Morrissey.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Thank you, Chair.

First, I want to correct a couple of comments. The youth unemployment rate is the lowest it's been in 15 years. I think that was due to one of the moves our government made, Minister, which you were part of, and which was to remove the very punitive new entrance requirement, which disproportionately impacted young people in the country when accessing the EI program. In fact, it was the former government that cut $20 million from the youth employment strategy.

Minister, my question focuses on the comment you made, because it's in an area that I focus on as an MP. Your statement was that we need to ensure that all young Canadians have a chance to succeed and that we cannot afford to leave these youth behind. This is for those in the age category 17 to 29, for which you have a specific program that captures disadvantaged youth to reorient them into the workplace. These are people you referred to in your opening comments.

Could you speak to this issue and to the ongoing need to put more and more dollars into this stream of your funding programs? I believe it is one of your four key pillar areas. They're programs such as the Pathways program, which is an excellent program you have, Minister.

[Patty Hajdu, Liberal, Thunder Bay—Superior North, ON]

You're absolutely right. The problem with austerity budgeting and balanced budgeting is that cuts have to happen. The youth employment strategy budget was cut by $20 million under one of my colleagues, Pierre Poilievre, and 65,000 fewer youth were assisted by youth employment strategies during the Conservatives' tenure. That's a significant drop.

I'm glad you raised that point, because I think it's important that we understand that when we invest in Canadians, we get the best out of Canadians and we get the best out of our economy. The Prime Minister is famous for saying that confident countries invest in themselves, and that's exactly what the youth employment strategy should be doing. It should be investing in the promise of Canadians and investing in the promise of our country.

Let me just tell you about Pathways. I want to get to Pathways, because you're very right that Pathways is an incredible program and we do support Pathways, even though the program is not under federal jurisdiction. It's not really a federal program. However, Pathways is a wraparound program. I know a lot about it because in my previous role as a public health planner, I was really inspired by Pathways and I wanted to see if we could bring it to Thunder Bay. Pathways helps young people from incredibly disadvantaged situations see the potential of post-secondary education.

One of the challenges of living in poverty is that oftentimes you don't ever see anyone around you who has made it out of poverty. Pathways to Education, through a combination of tutoring, training, connections to post-secondary institutions, mentorship, and financial support, creates an actual pathway to post-secondary education. I think their graduation rate is somewhere in the range of 86%.

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Thank you, Minister.

Mr. Picard, you have the floor.