Human Resources Committee on Nov. 30th, 2017

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you folks for coming from EDC.

I share some of the concerns Monika just mentioned about the youth who are most vulnerable. I have lots of experience working with immigrant youth. Because of the change in demographics, the latest statistics show that our number of immigrants is increasing. At the same time we're looking at young immigrants who do not have the skills, including the language skills, to find a good job. I understand that. I came from that background, and that training background too. Some colleges and polytechnics and universities are actually combining skills and language training.

There used to be programs like that. If you wanted to become a pharmacist's assistant, you'd only need to reach a certain level of English, and then you could learn both at the same time. Are there still those programs available, funded by the federal government?

[Rachel Wernick]

You're....

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

They're called combined skills programs.

[Rachel Wernick]

It's actually a very effective approach for teaching language. If I'm going to have to learn language and vocabulary, I'd like to do it related to my area of interest or where I want to work, because then there's more motivation. You're exactly right.

It's not done in a national kind of way, but we're aware of a lot of best practices that take that approach. Most of the language training for refugee and immigrant youth is led by the immigration department. It's a combination of support through the school system, and then for some youth it's aimed right at the literacy and essential skills at the lowest end that they need to start learning the language. It depends a lot on the profile of the new Canadian, where their starting point is, what kind of programming they get.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

My next question involves young people with challenges.

Inclusion B.C. came to my office today. I'm sure they have gone to many of our other MPs' offices. One thing they have been doing very successfully is matching the skills of those young people, including adults, actually, with potential jobs. At the same time they're going to rural areas.

Very often young people don't want to leave their comfort zone. They want to stay. What they mean by a good job is to be very comfortable, sitting in front of a computer, with air conditioning. They never want to leave their comfort zone. There's a challenge of matching skills to jobs. There are people who don't have the skills, but then there are jobs looking for people. That's a mismatch, as we're sure, in some remote areas.

What I'm trying to say is that there used to be an employer panel for people with disabilities, including youth, of course. That was very successful because you had champions who were hiring people with challenges, yet they were very good employees. They proved it is a good business practice to hire those with challenges. They are punctual. They value their jobs. They're excellent. Instead of being a so-called burden to those employers, they actually reach out to other employers. I don't want to mention which one of the coffee giants is hiring a lot of those people. I won't mention names here.

Do you think that the federal government should encourage that pattern? I don't think that it's still on, still there.

[Monika Bertrand]

There were a couple of questions in there. I'll try to unpack that.

In terms of the skills mismatch, we don't just have it for young people, of course; we have it for all Canadians, and that is one of the biggest challenges we are trying to tackle. In that respect, we are looking at better labour market information—not looking at degrees as much as competencies and skills that are required for the jobs of the future—and providing the right information to young people, and all Canadians, so they can make the right choices in terms of the training they need for the jobs that are available.

In terms of the matching function for young Canadians, or any Canadian who might have multiple barriers to employment, for persons with disabilities, yes, we have the panel, and there is a champions' table. We know that when it comes to employers, it is not a charity question and it is not about convincing employers to hire somebody simply because it's a good thing to do. There is always the corporate social responsibility, but it's really the return on investment that matters. For example, a young person with a disability brings a lot of benefits to an organization or a business in terms of diversity and loyalty.

Employer champions' tables have been effective at that and passing that message on. We probably need to do a lot more of that and encourage employers who are really active in this space. We have a very good example in the United States. There are several examples, but Starbucks in the United States, of course, is a big champion in that respect, with the 100,000 youth employment initiative.

Again, it's championing the message that there is a good return on investment for the organization, but there is also something in it for the economy at large. It provides a good, stable job and career laddering. Combining multiple employers in their efforts to hire youth, starting with those who might have more barriers in terms of entry-level jobs, means youth can then ladder up in their career to other organizations.

We definitely have some good examples out there that we are looking at as we move forward with the renewal of the youth employment strategy.

[Alice Wong, Conservative, Richmond Centre, BC]

How much time do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

You're actually over by a minute, so I'm afraid you have negative time.

I'm going to turn it over to Mr. Morrissey. I'm going to advise him that he has about four and half minutes.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Oh, you cut me 30 seconds, Mr. Chair.

My question goes to the assistant deputy minister, Ms. Wernick.

Your notes say, “Providing all youth a fair opportunity to enter the labour market and receive needed support to be successful.” Some youth do not have a chance to go to apprenticeship and do not transition from high school to college or university because they fell through the cracks long before then. Could you expand a bit on how you are focusing on and targeting that group? How do the resources you are putting into this area today compare to resources of past years?

[Rachel Wernick]

Is the question specifically about those who are interested in getting into apprenticeships?

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

No, it's about the youth who are disadvantaged.

[Rachel Wernick]

Just in general...?

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

They are just disadvantaged, for a whole host of reasons: single parent, addiction problems.... You have programs that deal with that.

[Rachel Wernick]

Yes. In the current youth employment strategy, the stream that addresses vulnerable youth would be the Skills Link stream. That's the skills development stream. As I said earlier, it's really about—

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

Could I correct? I am aware, from the groups I meet with, that in the past the program used to give them experiential learning for a longer period of time, and it has been gradually watered down to where the experience is now questionable. What is your funding level in this area, versus in the past?

[Rachel Wernick]

In terms of experiences, I think you are referring to the Canada summer jobs program.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

No, no. I am referring to the group you were speaking about, the disadvantaged youth, through the skills path, not through summer jobs. You are doing a very good job in that, and we've put a lot more resources into it. What are you doing today that's an improvement over what you were doing three years ago, for this segment of society that has very few supports?

[Rachel Wernick]

I'm sorry if I'm confusing things.

The Skills Link stream is the one that captures the most vulnerable youth, and we've increased investments from about $68 million in 2014-15 to the current $91 million in 2016-17.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

There's been roughly a $30-million additional investment.

[Rachel Wernick]

That's right. The difference in clients is from six and a half thousand to almost nine thousand, so we're reaching a lot more youth with these additional investments.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

But I advocate that we have to do more. Do I have one more question?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

You have one more minute, sir.

[Bobby Morrissey, Liberal, Egmont, PE]

I have a generalized question.

What is the most significant shortcoming in your list and suite of programs that you have directed at youth in this category that I'm referring to, that you could identify in the last several years? You did not start working with these issues yesterday or a year ago, so your department has expertise in this field from when the whole issue of dealing with challenges was new.

Briefly, could you tell me what the most significant shortcoming is?

[Monika Bertrand]

We don't agree on the shortcomings.

[Morrissey]

You don't agree? Oh, that concerns me.