International Trade Committee on Oct. 30th, 2017

[Karima-Catherine Goundiam]

I have an example. When I started the company three years ago, about six or seven months into it I got a call from a friend of mine who is a college professor. In his class, everybody had found an internship or job except one person. She was the only immigrant in the room, but she was the best student. I met her. She had 10 years' experience in retail and she was a marketing professional, but she came from Dubai of Indian origin and she couldn't find a job here in Canada.

I hired her. I started to train her as an intern, but I didn't train her in the hard skills. That's not what she needed. She needed to understand the codes and how to work in Canada. Fast-forward two years—we have just had her for two years. She's working for me. She's amazing. We are a great team. That's the success.

I do that across the board. I do it with generations as well. We have boomers who are not hot enough in the market. We bring them in. They have amazing backgrounds. They have stories. They have patience, and they know how to do business.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

That's great. Thanks.

[Wojciech Sniegowski]

If I may, I'd like to say something also. I have members, such as auto body shops and small construction companies, that have a hard time finding people. Even if they try to train people, they don't stay in the job because they find it too hard. Some young people especially who come here with their parents have much higher aspirations than to work in menial jobs, I think.

I know that's a problem. It's hard for those companies to find workers. Even if they train them, they don't stick around for a long time.

[Dean Allison, Conservative, Niagara West, ON]

That's certainly the concern I have. I talked to a manufacturer who's doing auto in the Stoney Creek area. He said he could hire 50 people tomorrow, if he could find them, but he can't find them. That's the other side of the challenge we have on this: we have companies that don't have the people they need and we have people who don't have work and who don't necessarily—

[Wojciech Sniegowski]

That's why the immigration program has to be designed in collaboration with organizations such as ours, because we can be much more practical in that area, I think. Everybody is well-meaning. I'm not saying there is any conspiracy to keep people away; it's just that sometimes you need practitioners.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Thank you, Mr. Allison.

That wraps up our first panel. Guests, thank you very much for coming. You have very interesting stories, and you're working hard.

We are going to break for a few minutes because we have another panel on deck, MPs.

If the witnesses want to stay for the second panel as an audience, they're welcome to do that.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Welcome back, everyone.

Welcome to our panellists for our second round.

As everybody knows, this is the international trade committee, and I'm the chair, Mark Eyking. Our study is on multiculturalism and international trade.

We have two guests with us for the second panel: the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario and the Polish Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor. Welcome, folks.

We'll start with the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario. Welcome, and thank you for coming via video. You have the floor.

[Tiziana Tedesco, Director, Trade Department, Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario]

Thank you and good afternoon.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Are you bilingual?

[Tiziana Tedesco]

No, I prefer to use English.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

That's fine, and you'll hear the translation if somebody is speaking French.

Without further ado, you have the floor.

[Tiziana Tedesco]

Thank you for inviting us to present from this location.

My name us Tiziana Tedesco. I'm the director of trade for the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario.

The Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario, or ICCO, was founded in the 1930s as an organization, and was later recognized by the Italian government as a chamber of commerce operating outside of Italy. ICCO is a Canadian company with offices in Italy. Its main objective and mandate is to offer business assistance and business services to small and medium-sized companies both in Italy and Canada. We're also part of a network of chambers of commerce outside of Italy that includes 75 offices around the world. We are all part of an association that has its headquarters in Rome, Italy.

As a chamber of commerce, we have a strong presence both in Canada and Italy. We are founding members of the greater Toronto business alliance, which includes the Federation of Portuguese-Canadian Business & Professionals, the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, and the Toronto Chinese Business Association. We are also a founding member of EUCCAN, which is the European Union Chamber of Commerce, with head offices in Canada. With them, we have organized many initiatives and projects in the past, trade delegations to not only Italy but also to elsewhere in Europe and to China, and also seminars and information sessions for our respective members.

At a local level, the Italian Chamber of Commerce also has strong relations with Italian-Canadian businesses and cultural associations. Together with them, we organize events and networking opportunities, such as fundraising events, business assistance services, and initiatives.

As a chamber of commerce here in Canada, we're also membership based. We have over 500 members, most of which are small and medium-sized Canadian companies. We offer services to both members and non-members, which include market research, coordination of trade delegations, and B-to-B meetings. We organize trade events, business delegations, and institutional delegations. We also work in facilitating investment attractions both in Canada and in Italy, and we offer a virtual office and soft landing services to our members and non-members.

In the past, we've also published a series of books and publications which give an overview of the successes and achievements of the business community and the Italian-Canadian business community, mainly in Toronto and the GTA. Lately, we again started collaborating with a group called GIT, Gruppo Italia. This is a group of Italian companies that have recently opened offices in Canada or started a business here. We offer them assistance in linking them with the right professionals and the right companies here that could help them solve some problems or give them suggestions and assistance to further develop their business networks and business relations in Canada.

This is mainly—

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Your time is almost up. Do you have any final comments?

[Tiziana Tedesco]

No. I was just going to say that this is mainly what we do, and the kind of services we provide. That's about it, actually.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

That's fine. When we have dialogue with the MPs, if you have any more comments, we'll have lots of time to get them in.

We are going to move over to the Polish Canadian Business and Professional Association of the wonderful town of Windsor. Is it a town or a city?

[Tracey Ramsey, NDP, Essex, ON]

It's a city.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Yes. This committee had the pleasure of going to that city.

Welcome. You have the floor.

[Anna Barycka, Board Director and Youth Committee Chair, Polish Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Good afternoon.

The Polish Canadian Business and Professional Association of Windsor was incorporated in 1997 as a non-profit corporation in Ontario. We support the needs of business leaders, established professionals, community organizers, and young people of Polish heritage in Windsor.

For the last 22 years, we've organized annual Polish business dinners for business leaders and young people. We invite high-ranking keynote speakers, such as the late Honourable Herb Gray, former deputy prime minister of Canada; diplomats, such as trade consuls and ambassadors of Poland to Canada; the city mayors of Windsor and our twin city, Lublin, Poland; and international trade lawyers, just to name a few. These dinners also serve as a venue to promote businesses in Windsor, especially those owned and operated by Canadians of Polish heritage, such as Eagle Press, one of the largest press manufacturers in all of North America.

Besides business dinners, our association spearheaded five Polish weeks in Windsor. During each week, we organize over 20 events celebrating our heritage with food, traditional dance performances, and educational activities with the University of Windsor and the City of Windsor. These types of events encourage trade between Canada and Poland on a local level. For example, our Tatry Song & Dance Ensemble has 70 dancers. This group has been importing traditional costumes from Poland for the last 40 years.

The third type of activity our association focuses on is Canada-Poland promotional materials, such as display exhibitions. Our new exhibition is a Polish-Canadian commemorative exhibition called “Canada 150”. It has nine displays divided into three groups.

The first group, “Contributions of Poles to Canada”, includes well-known Canadians of Polish heritage, such as Casimir Gzowski and Alexandre Kierzkowski.

The second group, “Reasons Why Poles are Grateful to Canada”, includes information on the Polish army Kosciuszko training camp at Niagara-on-the-Lake during World War I, the Polish army recruiting station in Windsor during World War II, and “The Odyssey of Wawel Treasures”, which are Polish national artifacts that were held safe in Canada during World War II. Some were actually stored in the Macdonald building, in the basement.

The third group is “Contributions of Poles to the World”. This includes displays with lesser-known information about Pope John Paul II, Marie Sklodowska-Curie, and of course Chopin.

Actually, the opening of this last group of displays is this Thursday in the Macdonald building.

These exhibitions also create trade opportunities between Canada and Poland. Often, archival material for our displays is purchased from Polish collectors and museums. Most recently, in 2017, our association received a $17,000 donation from the Polish Senate to cover the costs of four displays for our Canada 150 project, highlighting members of Parliament in Canada of Polish heritage. So far, we've counted 22 of them.

Our association also spearheaded the creation of the Windsor-Lublin twin city partnership agreement in 2000. Since then, there have been delegations from both of our cities, including politicians, scholars, students, and trade professionals. Our association also participated in the Canada Trade Day in Lublin in 2004.

As a result of this partnership, memorandums of understanding have been signed by the University of Windsor and several universities in Lublin to promote scholar and student exchange programs. When the Polish community in Windsor celebrated its 100th anniversary, Lublin donated to Windsor a handmade brass goat fountain worth $35,000.

Another important aspect of our association is our focus on young people. We put a lot of effort into supporting our local youth, from providing scholarships to sponsoring national and international Polish youth conferences, such as Quo Vadis. I personally led the Quo Vadis Polish youth conference in 2010, in Windsor, for 150 Canadian and American students and young professionals, where many Canadian politicians were present, and also the Speaker of the Polish Senate. In 2010, the budget for the conference was $61,000, and both the Canadian and the Polish governments sponsored this conference.

Since the signing of CETA, the window of opportunity for international trade between Canada and Poland has grown. Our association stands firm on motivating and supporting young people to become more educated and more interested in business opportunities with Poland. It would be beneficial to have more internship opportunities in Europe, and a more formal student exchange program between Canada and Poland. Such a program exists in Europe, and it's called Erasmus.

I myself interned in the European Parliament in Brussels a few years ago. The experience inspired me to choose a career in international law. I think the federal government should simplify student exchanges and internship programs for young Canadians.

In conclusion, over the last 20 years of existence our association has generated half a million dollars for our combined projects. The impact of our local community work does indeed have a positive impact upon Canada-Poland trade as well as upon multiculturalism in Canada.

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

Thank you.

Before I go to the other MPs, the city to the north, of course, is Detroit, and they have a large Polish population. Do you have many connections back and forth with them?

[Anna Barycka]

We have, especially through our Polish business dinners. We always invite the representatives of the Polish American Congress and we work that way together, as well as through attending their events, of course.

[The Chair, Liberal, Mark Eyking]

We're going to start off with Mr. Carrie, from the Conservatives, for five minutes.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

My first question will be for Madam Tedesco.

You mentioned in your opening statement the virtual offices that you provide. That perked me up a little bit. Any recommendations you can give to the government for improving and helping simplify the business between countries would be a great asset.

Could you tell us a little bit more about your use of technology in these virtual offices? Do you get assistance from the Canadian government with it, or is it something you do independently? I've never heard of it.

[Tiziana Tedesco]

This is something we do independently. Basically, what we have found is that small and medium-sized companies often have a lot of interest in doing business here in Canada. At the same time, they don't have the strength to go on their own. They need more assistance locally.

We have some offices that we use to welcome the small and medium-sized companies. What we do is suggest and offer to them the opportunity to stay with us for a minimum of three months, or up to six months or even a year, during which time we help them first of all connect with our members and with our network of contacts locally. We organize meetings for them and have them participate in and attend our networking events so that they have as many chances as possible to interact with local businesses and grow their network of business contacts.

At the same time, they can stay at our office and can use our boardroom and our common spaces. We find that this way they have a better idea of what their opportunities are, in the GTA mostly, the greater Toronto area.

We find this to be a very successful project. Once again, they are small and medium-sized companies. This is something we would like to keep doing. The City of Toronto gave us some support for this project, which was very welcome. We are looking forward to continuing to work on this.

[Colin Carrie, Conservative, Oshawa, ON]

Good for you.

We talked to the other panellists a bit about the challenges of a skilled workforce. Maybe we can follow up with you too. Do you have any recommendations for the Canadian immigration system to streamline things, to connect people with certain unique skills from other areas of the world with Canada? Is there something you could suggest?

[Tiziana Tedesco]

Thanks to our members, we usually help the companies come to meet with people. For example, we assist them in opening up a business here, but we won't do all the documentation and provide everything. What we do is set up an appointment for them with a financial institution or with a law firm or an immigration lawyer, who will guide them through the right process to get all the services and assistance they may need.