Evidence of meeting #53 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was disability.
A video is available from Parliament.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Mrs. Gray.
Now we go to Mr. Van Bynen to conclude for five minutes.
Mr. Van Bynen, you have the floor.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Minister, I truly appreciate your attendance. I have to say, I very much appreciate your genuine commitment to making lives better for many Canadians. I truly appreciate, as well, that it does not enable you to micromanage the minutia and that you have a supporting team to look after those elements.
Having said that, across votes 1b and 5b, the supplementary estimates (B) for 2022-23 propose to allocate approximately $13.3 million to address labour demand and training the workforce of the future.
Budget 2022 and the 2022 fall economic statement included a number of measures related to labour demand and skills development. These include introducing the tax deduction to support labour mobility for tradespeople; doubling the funding for the union training and innovation program, which supports union-based apprenticeship training; innovation and enhanced partnerships in the Red Seal trades; and creating a sustainable job training centre.
Which initiatives would be supported by the proposed $13.3 million to address labour demand and training the workforce of the future?
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
I'm sorry, Mr. Chair. I've lost track of that number.
Did you say $13.3 million?
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
I believe it shows as $3.6 million in vote 1b and as $9.6 million in vote 5b, under grants and contributions.
5:25 p.m.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
I see that. There's a lot of paper in front of me.
I'm a little frazzled here. Can you help me out, J.-F.?
5:25 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Employment and Social Development
We can turn to Andrew.
There are actually a few items with $13.3 million. That's why it's confusing.
5:25 p.m.
Andrew Brown Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Department of Employment and Social Development
On the question about the $13.3 million for providing supports and addressing labour market pressures, first these are to provide funding for the foreign credential recognition program, with an initial focus on supporting internationally educated health professionals. This is the funding for this year that was announced in budget 2022.
As well, it's to help apprentices from under-represented groups begin and succeed in careers in the skilled trades through mentorship, career services and job matching through UTIP. That also relates to some of the funding that was announced in budget 2022 to double the UTIP program.
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Thank you.
How would the proposed funding help address the labour demand? What would the impact of the funding be in the short and long term?
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
Carla Qualtrough Liberal Delta, BC
Do you want me to take a kick at that Andrew?
I'm sorry. I think this is just a testament to how well we work together as a team.
The foreign credential recognition program in particular is an opportunity for us to work with provinces and their respective credentialling agencies to remove the red tape that sometimes, or many times, newcomers with significant international credentials experience. It is also funding to support first job experiences for people who have newly arrived in Canada.
There are so many benefits to this program, but it's really important that we work with provinces to remove what are often significant barriers by helping them streamline their processes and provide those first work experiences for new arrivals.
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
Tony Van Bynen Liberal Newmarket—Aurora, ON
My follow-up to that would be about how the federal government would measure the effectiveness of this spending.
What are the goals and objectives that we're seeking? How would we measure our successes?
5:30 p.m.
Deputy Minister, Department of Employment and Social Development
For us, it's quite clear. In those areas, we have gaps between the existing situations. For example, when we think about the population that is vulnerable or generally excluded from the labour market, we know there is a gap between this population and the rest of Canadians. With those new initiatives we will try to measure how efficient we are by increasing their participation in those areas.
Apprenticeship is a good example of this. As you know, some groups are sometimes excluded from some industries. By working and targeting those populations, we want to see how this effort would actually close the gap between some segments of the population and the rest of Canadians.
5:30 p.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey
Thank you, Mr. Van Bynen. That concludes this round.
Thank you, Minister and department officials, for appearing before the HUMA committee today to answer questions.
Is it the pleasure of the committee to adjourn?
5:30 p.m.
Some hon. members
Agreed.