Evidence of meeting #37 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was u15.
A video is available from Parliament.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Julie Dzerowicz
Thank you.
I have three minutes left. I'm going to give two minutes to Mr. Redekopp and two minutes to Mr. Joseph.
Mr. Redekopp, go ahead for two minutes.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
Mr. Tarr, you mentioned something that I thought was curious. You talked about working for cash. That's something I don't think we've talked about at this committee.
I assume you mean people who work for money under the table and don't report that money. That's always been going on in construction. I've been in construction. Are you saying it's gotten worse?
Business Manager and Financial Secretary, HVACR Workers of Ontario, UA Local 787
I would think so. In the bigger city centres like Brampton and Toronto, if these people have work permits and can't get jobs, they do work for cash. It's the first question. If you own a business or a house, you get people coming out and the first thing they say ask is, “Do you want to pay cash or do you want a receipt?”
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
You're saying that's getting worse. I assume you're implying it's because of the large immigration numbers the Liberals have had in the last few years. Is that what you're saying?
Business Manager and Financial Secretary, HVACR Workers of Ontario, UA Local 787
I think it's a couple of things. I think a lot of these people come from a culture where cash is king. I think the other part is that we have a lot of people who are trying to make ends meet. They work a day job, and then at night they're doing cash jobs.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
By bringing in too many people too fast, the government has created this situation.
What's the downside of working for cash?
Business Manager and Financial Secretary, HVACR Workers of Ontario, UA Local 787
They aren't paying taxes. They aren't paying into the system. They aren't working legally. They aren't insured. The companies that are trying to support the apprenticeship systems are losing out. Everything that we rely on—our health care, our schools, our apprenticeship systems—is paid for by taxes. If they aren't paying taxes, they aren't paying into the system, but they use the system.
Conservative
Brad Redekopp Conservative Saskatoon West, SK
It's just another example of how out-of-control immigration can potentially mess up our economy.
Business Manager and Financial Secretary, HVACR Workers of Ontario, UA Local 787
Yes.
Liberal
Liberal
Natilien Joseph Liberal Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to talk to Ms. Rekik through you.
Ms. Rekik, do you think that attracting top talent to our regions in Quebec is a solution to the labour shortage?
General Director, L'Hirondelle, Welcoming and Integration Services for Immigrants
That might be one solution, but it doesn't end there. We really need to create a networking system to keep those workers in the regions. That is part of the problem right now. We bring talented peopled here, but once they arrive, they tend to gravitate toward the big cities. Once they've settled in the big cities, it's very difficult to attract them to the regions.
As I said earlier in my speech, we really need to establish connections early on. When a person has already been uprooted once, it is very difficult to get them to move again. In my opinion, we need to establish connections early on, before the person even arrives in Canada or Quebec. We need to establish connections with businesses that are looking for these kinds of workers, screen candidates, conduct interviews and have a kind of discovery process before these people even arrive.
Liberal
Natilien Joseph Liberal Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
You talked about people being uprooted. If I understand correctly, in your view, there is no difference between sending people to other provinces and sending them to our regions here in Quebec.
Did I understand you correctly?
General Director, L'Hirondelle, Welcoming and Integration Services for Immigrants
It's not about there being no difference. I'm talking about them being uprooted from their country of origin. The person is being uprooted and emigrating from their country of origin. Then, once they arrive and settle here in this country, it is very difficult to get them to move to the regions because they have already gone through the immigration process.
Liberal
Natilien Joseph Liberal Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC
You think it's difficult to get them to move voluntarily.
Is that it?
General Director, L'Hirondelle, Welcoming and Integration Services for Immigrants
Yes, I am talking about moving voluntarily. For people who do not know anything about the regions, it is very difficult to get them to move to another region later on and keep them there. That is part of the problem right now.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Julie Dzerowicz
Thank you, Mr. Joseph.
Thank you, Ms. Rekik.
That concludes our second hour.
I would like to thank our witnesses and all of my colleagues around the table for their contributions to this important study on attracting global talent to Canada.
I want to remind everyone that the notice for our meeting on Wednesday has been published. It should be a fairly short one. We're going to be talking about instructions for our asylum seeker study.
With that, we will adjourn.