I will try to respond fairly directly to the various issues raised by your committee at its meeting on March 10, 2016, in order to help to draft a report. So I will discuss these issues concisely, to the best of my knowledge.
First of all, the committee wants to know the manufacturing sector's position, its role and its importance for the Canadian economy. I would like to point out that, every time an employer invests one dollar in the manufacturing sector, it pays taxes to the government. During the year, very little work is seasonal or part-time. So I think that every dollar invested in the manufacturing sector brings a good rate of return to the Canadian government. Then, this is reflected in the commercial sector and the entire economy of the regions where there are manufacturing facilities.
The second aspect concerns the causes of job losses in the manufacturing sector. I will talk mainly about my sector.
However, I realize that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm sorry, and I will do that briefly. My name is Michel St-Amand, and I own Confection 4e Dimension, an SME that manufactures clothing. It is located in northwestern New Brunswick. I have been in business for 30 years. I would like to thank the committee for giving me the privilege of appearing before you.
Let me come back to the causes of job losses. I will speak about my own sector, the clothing sector. The answer is simple. From 1995 to 2005, quotas and tariff barriers were eliminated. So we lost about 80% of people employed in garment processing in Canada.
As for the collaboration between academia and the manufacturing sector, I myself tried to establish contacts with a few universities. We saw that each one has a different structure and there is no common standard from one university to the next. In addition, we did not receive the same kind of response from some universities, and it is difficult to create contacts. However, the infrastructure is more suitable in others, and it seems that the response is much more positive to relationships with the manufacturing sector. But there is no consistency.
I will speak briefly about the improvements that might be made. I suggest that there be more co-operative systems or internships in business in the universities. If the federal government could offer incentives for business internships, it would encourage a better connection between the two sectors, and the progression of technical employees to better integration into the manufacturing system in Canada.
As for the types of funding available for innovation, I must praise the federal government. My company, and many others in the manufacturing sector, use various programs. I'm thinking in particular of a federal agency, the National Research Council, the NRC, which offers good programs, including IRAP, the Industrial Research Assistance Program. Its officers are doing excellent work in the regions and are very knowledgeable. From what I have seen, these employees demonstrate great professionalism. Another tax credit that small businesses use a lot is the SR&ED, the Scientific Research and Experimental Development Program. It's a great program that is well structured and properly applied.
There is another agency called NSERC, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. I use it for student projects, and it is another great agency that helps in innovation. I also work in the innovation sector.
The committee also asked for proposals to help the manufacturing sector, especially in innovation. As I said, there needs to be a better connection between universities and businesses to support students during their studies and when they finish them. The NRC had a good initiative called the Youth Employment Strategy—which is no longer receiving any funding—and that supported businesses in offering technical, engineering and other jobs. But it isn't available anymore. I would be delighted if it could ever continue. There are probably other programs, but I'm not aware of them. The one I just described is good, but it lacks funding.
Another aspect concerns the fact that there are no federal programs to help with the purchase of advanced technical assets. There are no capital assistance programs to help manufacturing companies that want to buy a robot or advanced technical equipment.
As for innovation in the manufacturing sector, we often forget about the technical sector, whether in cegeps in Quebec or community colleges in New Brunswick. Their members are important links to properly develop innovative projects.
I'm done. Thank you very much.
I hope I kept to the five-minute time limit.