Evidence of meeting #38 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 businesses.
A video is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
Why don't we just do one round each and then pause after that, provided it doesn't go past 10 minutes to one?
Does that work?
Liberal
Sameer Zuberi Liberal Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
We can always shorten the rounds to four minutes or something.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Julie Dzerowicz
Okay. I will do my best to keep it as close to 10 minutes to one as possible, Mr. Zuberi, with as much for one round as I can.
Conservative
Conservative
Michelle Rempel Conservative Calgary Nose Hill, AB
We're seeking consensus here. Could we just do one round each? That seems kind of reasonable. Everyone else seems reasonable.
Liberal
Sameer Zuberi Liberal Pierrefonds—Dollard, QC
As long as it's 15 minutes before, I don't mind. I give consent for up until that point.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Julie Dzerowicz
The vote is at 1:05. I think we'll be able to do it 15 minutes before.
Mr. Bergstrand, you have one minute left.
Business Manager, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, LU67
This is how we are so effective in completing highly important jobs of short and long duration, which arise quickly and with high workforce demands, that are critical to important industry.
Within our union hall system, we have some of the biggest names when it comes to contractors. I meet with various contractors when the need arises, but I am in constant contact with all contractors performing work within our jurisdiction. In my capacity, I address a litany of industry concerns, from contract to jurisdictional, territorial, safety and workforce issues.
Along with my training department, I am the primary recruitment apparatus at UA Local 67. We have many modes of bringing in new members and apprentices. The first is our yearly apprentice intake, which includes 15 welding apprentices—numbers are restricted due to our capabilities—20 steamfitting apprentices and 25 plumbing apprentices. These numbers surge when work exceeds our projections.
We also have a portal that allows applicants to apply, year long, for membership.
We hold a higher intake standard than the industry currently requires, as our contractors pay the highest wage and demand the best and most highly trained workforce in order to be competitive.
In closing, I would like to thank the chair, the vice-chair and the committee members for having me here today. I look forward to contributing to the conversation in any way possible.
Thank you.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Julie Dzerowicz
Thank you so much, Mr. Bergstrand.
I will give everyone four minutes each. That should be enough of a round for us to finish 15 minutes in advance.
We will begin with Mr. Menegakis for four minutes.
Conservative
Costas Menegakis Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Thank you to our witnesses for appearing before us.
Mr. Bergstrand, are temporary foreign workers currently working in jobs in the plumbing and pipefitting industry that would otherwise employ Canadians?
Business Manager, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, LU67
No, they are not.
For the SIN numbers that start with nine, we can't accept them as members, because we can't enrol them in training. Any temporary foreign worker, non-permanent resident or non-Canadian citizen would have a SIN number that starts with nine, and we can't enrol them in any government training. There is no overlap there.
Conservative
Costas Menegakis Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Have you seen a lot of requests coming in from temporary foreign workers?
Business Manager, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, LU67
Absolutely. A portal run by Canada's Building Trades Unions sends me applications almost daily. They're open applications, so I get maybe five in one day or two in another. With our other application portals, I see them on a daily basis.
Conservative
Costas Menegakis Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Generally, how's business today? Are your members finding work? Is there a lot of construction? Are there a lot of requests for plumbing and pipefitting across the province and across the country?
Business Manager, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, LU67
Yes, there absolutely are. Hamilton is doing quite well right now, for us. There are projects that have been in the pipeline for some time that have now come to fruition. There's a large hospital project in Niagara, as well as a citric acid plant expansion and a battery plant in Port Colborne, amongst others. There's some SMR work coming down the pipeline, which our fabrication facilities are knee-deep in right now.
We're quite busy, but I know some of the surrounding areas aren't as busy. The steel industry is usually our backbone, but there is no work in the steel industry right now.
Conservative
Business Manager, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, LU67
There is no work.
The capital projects that they had planned some time ago, which had been spoken about by some members on the floor as if they were completed, have not even been started because of some of the market forces and things that are ongoing right now, as we all know.
Conservative
Costas Menegakis Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
Has your industry been affected by the tariffs and what's happening in negotiations with folks south of the border?
Business Manager, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, LU67
Absolutely.
Conservative
Costas Menegakis Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
I was intrigued when you said that your grandfather worked on a bridge.
Business Manager, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, LU67
It was my great-grandfather.
Conservative
Costas Menegakis Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
I was intrigued because my wife's grandfather worked on that same bridge. I'm sure it was the Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal.
Business Manager, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, LU67
The details are sketchy for my family when it comes to names, dates and stuff like that, but it was spoken about lots over the Thanksgiving dinner table. I'm quite proud of my great-grandpa for doing that.
Conservative
Costas Menegakis Conservative Aurora—Oak Ridges—Richmond Hill, ON
To get back to the folks who are unemployed right now, what are they doing? They're looking for work. They can't find work.
Business Manager, United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry, LU67
We have high employment in Hamilton right now, so the projects that are ongoing are bringing in members. I spoke about travel cards. We have travel cards in, so we are producing employment for other areas of the province and the country right now. It's not usually the case, unless there's a large refinery shutdown or something like that, and we need to call in a couple of hundred members for a short duration of time. Our local members are all gainfully employed right now, but looking six months or a year ahead, I don't know if there will be the same level of employment as what we have right now.
