Good afternoon everybody.
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to participate in this study.
My name is Elisha Ram, I'm an associate assistant deputy minister in the Department of Employment and Social Development Canada, and I work in skills and employment programming.
I have with me colleagues Alan Bulley, from our employment program and policy shop, as well as Katie Alexander from our programs operations branch.
We're here today to discuss the forest sector. You heard in the earlier part of the session that the sector is a pillar of the Canadian economy and it plays an important role in creating jobs and supporting local labour markets across the country. You've also heard that the sector is facing a number of challenges, which have resulted in some closures, production curtailment and some layoffs as well. As a result, workers and communities that depend on the sector for their livelihood are feeling the effects.
In situations such as this, our department—ESDC—stands ready to provide essential services to workers, communities and employers. These include supports such as local rapid response efforts through Service Canada; layoff prevention through the work-sharing program; immediate assistance to displaced workers who are eligible for employment insurance part I income benefits; training and re-employment transition supports that are offered by provinces and territories through the labour market transfer agreements with federal financial support; and other skills training and labour market resources available through our department.
With your permission, I will provide additional details on some of these initiatives.
As many of you are aware and as we've heard already, there was a 2017 softwood lumber action plan, which included several measures from our department to support workers and employers affected by the U.S. duties on our softwood lumber products. These included additional investment in skills training and employment supports, as well as job loss mitigation through work-sharing flexibilities.
ESDC has a number of programs and services that are currently available and can be deployed quickly to all sectors of the economy, including forestry. Service Canada actively monitors labour market conditions across the country, assesses potential local and regional unemployment effects and engages in proactive outreach to stakeholders, including employers, labour organizations and affected communities, to ensure that they are aware of the supports that are available to them.
As an example, once we learn of publicly announced layoffs, Service Canada contacts affected employers within 48 hours to assess their needs and offer information sessions. These sessions are commonly delivered in partnership with provincial or territorial representatives, which allows affected employees to learn about both federal and provincial or territorial programs and services that they might qualify for.
I've also already mentioned the work-sharing program. Work-sharing helps employers and workers avoid layoffs when there is a temporary reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the employer's control. Under work-sharing, the Government of Canada provides income support to employees who are eligible for EI and who work a temporarily reduced work week while their employer recovers. This allows employers to retain skilled workers and avoid the process of recruiting and retraining. It also provides workers the opportunity to continue to be employed, retain those skills and receive employment insurance during the days they are not working.
In terms of income support, employment insurance regular benefits provide temporary income support to Canadians who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own, while they look for new work or upgrade their skills. The number of weeks of EI benefits that a person can receive is based on the unemployment rate in the region and the number of insurable hours they have accumulated, up to a maximum of 45 weeks.
To support skills training and employment for Canadians, the Government of Canada provides the provinces and territories with approximately $3 billion every year under the labour market transfer agreements, which include the labour market development agreements and the workforce development agreements. This funding enables provincial and territorial governments to offer a range of skills training and employment supports to help Canadians improve their skills, search for work and keep good jobs.
Provinces and territories have the flexibility to design and deliver employment programming that meets the needs of the local labour markets. In addition to the base funding of almost $3 billion a year, through budget 2017, the Government of Canada made significant additional investments of $2.7 billion over six years to enhance the labour market transfer agreements, starting in 2017-18. This included expanding eligibility for programs and services under the labour market development agreements to allow more individuals to receive employment insurance-funded skills training and employment assistance. Under the workforce development agreements, provinces and territories have added flexibility to provide skills training and employment programming that meet the diverse needs of the clients, with a focus on those who are further removed from the labour market and those who want to upscale.
I mentioned the softwood lumber action plan. The following ESDC measures were included in the plan to support affected workers and employers in forest sector: $50 million over two years in additional targeted funding for jurisdictions under the labour market development agreements to enhance skills training and employment supports for affected forest workers, and $30 million over two years was made available for provinces and territories to undertake research projects on targeted earnings supplements with complementary employment supports to ease employment transition for affected workers. In addition, temporary special measures were introduced under the standard work-sharing program to support longer term business viability and mitigate job loss. This included extending the duration of work-sharing agreements, waiving the mandatory cooling off period between agreements, and providing employers with flexibility regarding the mandatory recovery plan that they must enter into under work-sharing. These special work-sharing measures remain available until the end of this month.
These initiatives were designed to support workers in a sector that was forecast to be facing significant job losses and closures as a result of U.S. duties imposed at the time. However, we saw that lumber prices remained quite high during the period and the sector remained profitable. This meant that the demand for the additional resources that were made available under the softwood lumber action plan was limited. Only some provinces chose to take up the additional resources that were made available for training and employment supports, and there was limited take-up of work-sharing opportunities.
Later on, given the integrated nature of the forest sector, eligibility for the workforce adjustment measures under the softwood lumber action plan was broadened to include workers affected by any trade dispute in the forest sector, not only softwood lumber. This meant that, in the second year of the funding, it was available to all jurisdictions. Five provinces accessed the funding in the second year. These included B.C., Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and Prince Edward Island. This meant that provinces accessed nearly $40 million in additional targeted funding, enabling them to provide skills training and employment supports to affected workers in forestry.
In addition to these programs, our department engages regularly with colleagues in other federal departments, including NRCan, who have responsibilities for the forestry sector. We are in regular contact with the provinces and territories to understand the local labour market needs and consider how the supports that we're providing can be used to meet those needs, and we engage regularly with other stakeholders including labour, business and communities that have an interest in the forest sector. This allows us to understand their needs and consider how our programs can best support them.
Thank you for your attention. My colleagues and I will be happy to take your questions.