Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I listened to your presentations on the issue of foreign credential recognition. This is a concern for all committee members.
Another thing also concerns me. Immigrants who managed to get their credentials recognized still have difficulty entering the labour market. In some cases, these are even people who have lived here for much of their lives, or who were born here and who still find it hard to integrate because of their name, among other things.
The Journal de Montréal, in particular, conducted a survey that was highly revealing on this point. The same CV was sent out. One bore the name of Mohamed Mohamoud, for example, and the other that of Martin Tremblay. What a surprise, Martin Tremblay received a lot more invitations to an interview than the person with the foreign-sounding name.
That's why the Bloc Québécois has come up with a proposal to introduce an anonymous CV in businesses under federal jurisdiction. That's a principle that has previously been applied in various places in Europe and which is applied by certain major businesses. All the personal information is put on page 1 of the CV, and it is removed when the CV arrives at the business. Recruiters have access only to the information on the person's qualifications. This invites all kinds of discrimination, for both immigrants and women, youths, older workers and so on.
Has this approach been evaluated in the departments? Do you think it could help immigrants at least get over the first hurdle and get invited to an interview, so they can have a chance to show their qualifications in person?