Industry Committee on April 26th, 2022

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

All right. Very good.

Mr. Bates, you mentioned foreign credentials in your opening statement, and it's come up a couple of times. I wonder if you could elaborate a bit on my colleague Mr. Gaheer's question about loans to immigrants to get their foreign credentials recognized.

How expensive is it for new immigrants to get their foreign credentials recognized? How long a process is it?

[Chris Bates]

Thank you very much for the question.

That question is hard to answer, because it really depends on the occupation. For something like a physician, it might take longer and be more expensive to get their credentials recognized. It depends on so many factors, such as whether they have the right paperwork, how quickly the person wants to process it, how responsive they are, and then all the other administrative barriers.

The loans we offer are up to $15,000 to help offset some of those costs. There are costs associated with things like taking exams. As well, they're often new to Canada, and they might not have the revenue or they might feel very forced to try to get any job to help offset some of these costs. That's part of why we offer the loans. It's so that we can support them to get their credentials recognized and work in their field of study.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Are most or all of these credentials recognized at the provincial level, or are there federal certifications as well that apply to the program?

[Chris Bates]

The vast majority are at the provincial level. They often further delegate that responsibility to regulators in their province. There are a few exceptions that are federal.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

Does the department coordinate at all with foreign countries in terms of post-secondary education, standardizing curriculum and that sort of thing?

[Chris Bates]

Yes, we do. For example, in the trades it's something that we do look at. However, systems are often very different, depending on the country of origin.

Our colleagues at immigration also look at things before people come to Canada. Are there ways to facilitate them in gathering the information that they will need to get their credentials recognized, and to be aware of the time it takes and the processes that might be involved as well?

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

All right.

Mr. Chair, how much time do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

You have 30 seconds.

[Michael Kram, Conservative, Regina—Wascana, SK]

I will be very quick.

Recently the nursing school at the University of Saskatchewan signed a partnership with another university in the Philippines to standardize the curriculum. As soon as the immigrant arrives in Canada, his or her credentials are recognized. The person can start working right away.

Can you provide some insight as to how widespread these partnerships are and what we can do to have more of them?

[Chris Bates]

I can't speak to that particular example, but that is exactly what we're trying to do at a federal level—look at some of these best practices, make sure they work, replicate them more on a national level and encourage other PTs to take on similar practices.

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Thank you, Mr. Kram.

We will now move to Mr. Fillmore for this third round of questioning. You have five minutes.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks to all of the officials for joining us here today.

Chair, forgive me. Is it five minutes? How much time do I have?

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

You have five minutes.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Okay.

I'm wondering if we could go to each of you and ask you what you would like us to know. What is the message that you would like us to take away from you today that will help us in our deliberations as we work on this report?

I will just go across the row on the screen as I see it, so we'll start with Mr. Massie.

[Etienne-René Massie]

Thanks for the question.

As part of the study, I think going into the recovery it will be making sure that Canadian businesses have the supports, the workforce and the capacity to succeed and be able to continue to grow in scale. I think we need to pay particular attention as well to our innovation companies that drive new job creation in the country.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Mr. Bates.

[Chris Bates]

It's a great question. Thank you.

I would just say this: How do we best onboard everybody? I think this will require everybody's participation, whether it's colleges, employers or workers. How do we convince them that it is in everybody's interest to make sure that we have a strong and resilient economy?

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Thank you.

Go ahead, Mr. Simard.

[Martin Simard]

I'm from the marketplace framework policy branch, so of course I'm going to talk about the importance of not forgetting visible, sound rules for the market, but also making sure that it's a level playing field so small businesses can compete on the merits and not be faced with abuse, for example, from large players.

As I said, the government is really committed to looking at this. We've been following with interest the work that INDU has been doing in this sphere, and we'll continue to do so.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Thank you

I would like to come back and maybe give a bit more time to a question that my colleague Nathaniel Erskine-Smith asked, which was the quote—and, Nate, I don't remember whose quote it was—“We expect workers to compete for scarce jobs when labour markets are slack.” What about employers when times are different and there aren't that many employees around?

We are hearing about wage inflation. To give you an example, here in Halifax most restaurants have gone from minimum wage up to $15, $16 and even $20 an hour to pay restaurant staff. We are seeing that. Is there an industry perspective on an answer to that question that you have come across or that you're hearing in any of your work?

[Etienne-René Massie]

I will say we are hearing from employers about the need to compete, including wages and benefits, and work arrangements as well. I think a lot of people have questioned their work arrangements. Some people can work from home. Some people are in the service industry and have to interact with clients, and that is more difficult sometimes, as some clients do not share the views of the business or the employer.

I think being able to provide more support to the employees, being able to accommodate different schedules, is important. We are seeing an increase in wages in different sectors. It's a bit too early to have definitive views on the increases, from my perspective at least, from the numbers I've seen.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

One perspective that MPs will hear from their constituents is there could be a role for government to help employers, especially small businesses, SMEs, close the gap and help them compete. I wonder if there is a message from government that would be helpful to employers, to SMEs, to do what you just said, to reconsider working arrangements. Is there a way to encourage employers to acknowledge the responsibility they might have in helping to solve the problem, and not merely leaving it to government?

[Etienne-René Massie]

I think it's important. Just the market dynamics of competing for a workforce are bringing employers to realize they need to provide more attractive pay packages, and “packages” could be many different things. I think the government has a role in making sure the marketplace is fair, and that's done through the labour codes, federally and provincially. The associations and trade associations are helping and providing supports and resources to their members to help them find talent to help them staff their businesses.

[Andy Fillmore, Liberal, Halifax, NS]

Okay.

Chair, can I have just another 30 seconds?

[The Chair, Liberal, Joël Lightbound]

Yes, but be quick, Mr. Fillmore.