Thank you.
When you're in a crisis, paid education programs and paid preceptor programs are very important. Those programs that exist are in pockets here and there. They are pockets that exist if an employer has applied for it or a sector [Technical difficulty—Editor] has applied for it. They're not generalized. I think your committee needs to look at what the federal government can do that is similar to the EI programs.
I always bring this up to the committee, and we've been bringing this up to the health committee and the human resource committee for over 20 years. When you're a plumber in this country, you can apply with your employer to get a higher level of credentials in your domain and be paid by EI. When you're a health care professional or a health care worker, you cannot do that. We need to look at those different rules to be able to bridge our population, to bring our workers a step up. I know a lot of personal care workers who want to become licensed practical nurses. Why can't they do it while they're working? For licensed practical nurses who want to become registered nurses, why can't they do it while they're working?
We looked at those programs in the early 2000s. It's time we looked at them again and that this time we implement and fund them.