Science and Research Committee on May 5th, 2022

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Okay, thank you.

Are those things that the U.S. is doing right now? Are they currently putting those initiatives in place? Is that why they're taking these students? Why are they taking that talent from Canada? What is the number one or number two reason?

[Nicholas Schiavo]

It's the nature of the global labour market. Again, being able to work remotely means there are a lot more options on the table. That's a huge factor.

Again, when you are up against the Metas and Amazons of the world, it is hard for Canadian SMEs, Canadian scale-ups, to compete with those wages. If you're a new grad and you're looking at a $200,000 or $300,000 starting salary, it's very tempting. At the end of the day, it's not wages that create wealth; it's IP, and it's by generating Canadian companies and Canadian entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship.

Our message is let's have Canadians working for Canadian companies who are creating that innovation here at home.

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Thank you.

Of the 13 recommendations, you've given a couple of priorities. Which ones do you think can be done by the end of 2022?

[Nicholas Schiavo]

One of the key ones would be committing to a national summit on skilled labour. This is a non-partisan exercise. We would love to see all sectors, colleges and universities, of course, innovators and entrepreneurs, and the federal government as well as provinces at the table to really develop capacity building and to apply a talent lens. That's a very easy win.

Beyond that, we'd love to see some pilot projects in terms of a high-potential tech visa and a digital nomad strategy. These are strategies or visas that have either been adopted by other jurisdictions around the world or are being considered. They very much speak to the idea of increasing labour density of the skilled labour market. It's bringing more tech talent to Canada, even if there isn't that concrete job offer, that concrete visa, with the idea that they'd then be able to work for Canadian companies and integrate more into our economy and our ecosystem.

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Thank you very much.

My colleague asked if you're starting to expand on a national vision for innovation. This is for all of our witnesses. If you can submit anything in writing that you don't have the chance to answer today to the committee, we'd be able to put that in a report.

My last question is for Mr. McKerlie.

How are you engaging local employers through the college system for job gaps? Again, if I miss you, please submit that answer in writing.

[Ron McKerlie]

We work directly with about 2,000 employers in the Hamilton community. Some of them are very comprehensive and can give us lists of employees they need over the next couple of years based on retirement and growth. Some of them are not quite as sophisticated.

We have a program called City School in which we will customize the credential to the employer, large ones like Dofasco or much smaller employers. We often seek out people who are in under-represented or marginalized communities and will offer them free education through the City School program with an employer and a job to—

[The Chair, Liberal, Kirsty Duncan]

Mr. McKerlie, I'm sorry to interrupt.

Perhaps, Mr. Williams, you might like a written response.

[Ryan Williams, Conservative, Bay of Quinte, ON]

Yes, please. I'd like it for that one and the previous one. Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kirsty Duncan]

Thank you very much to both of you.

Now we will go to Monsieur Lauzon for five minutes.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'd like to thank my colleagues for being here this evening. I'd also like to thank all the witnesses who are taking the time to participate in the excellent study the committee is currently doing.

My first question is for Mr. McKerlie.

Mohawk College is located near the U.S. border. You talked a lot about international learners, but also about workforce retention.

What is your organization doing to retain this workforce? What are you doing to work with people who live not far from the U.S. border?

[Ron McKerlie]

We have limited opportunities to retain students once they graduate. We work with employers, obviously, to try to get local job offers in students' hands before graduation. On average right now, our students would get 2.3 job offers each before graduation. It's the highest it's ever been, but students still leave for a variety of reasons, such as better pay and other opportunities. Remote work, as was mentioned by one of the other witnesses, plays into this right now.

We just had a student graduate and immediately go to work for a Swiss company, staying in Hamilton but working remotely. It's getting tougher to retain students domestically when they have opportunities globally, some of which might be higher-paying jobs, but we do try to work directly with employers.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Thank you.

What recommendations would you like to make to the committee? As the government, how could we help you more to retain students?

[Ron McKerlie]

One idea we might look at is a situation where we subsidize tuition for domestic students with the proviso that they stay and work locally or at least in Canada and if they did that, they wouldn't have to pay back the student loan.

Other countries are looking at that type of opportunity to try to keep down the level of debt for students and to entice them to pick a job locally or at least nationally rather than internationally upon graduation.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Since you are surrounded by rural communities, you have a clientele that comes from that area.

Do you have problems with people who study at your university who come from somewhat remote rural communities?

[Ron McKerlie]

Some of our students would come from primarily urban regions around the Golden Horseshoe, although some would come from rural communities. There are always issues in terms of access to education when you have to travel, but in the last two years we solved a lot of those by offering remote programs.

I'm not sure if that's what you were getting at, but the issues are less now than they were before the pandemic.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Thank you.

I have a question for Ms. Wishart.

In a study you co-wrote, you mention the importance of understanding the effects of exposure and radiation on wildlife, an essential responsibility in the case of nuclear energy. You did a study that addressed radiation exposure in songbirds.

How could the results of a study like yours lead to improvement or innovation in our technologies? I'd like you to give an explanation that would help me understand that.

[Andrea Wishart]

Thank you, and thank you for looking into my research past. That study came out about 11 years ago now and has a bit of uptake.

Part of the reason we study things like the effects of ionizing radiation damage on wildlife is to understand the impact of technology that can advance human interests but maintain the health of the ecosystems around it and highlight some of those issues.

In that particular study, one species typically is found more urban compared to the other species that had a little bit more damage. We can better advance the technology, and also decide where to put those sorts of technologies in the landscape so that we can minimize the effect on the environment.

[Stéphane Lauzon, Liberal, Argenteuil—La Petite-Nation, QC]

Thank you, Ms. Wishart.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kirsty Duncan]

Thank you, Mr. Lauzon.

Colleagues, I'm cognizant of the time and will be fair.

I will let Mr. Blanchette-Joncas speak, and then Mr. Cannings, for one minute each.

The floor is yours, Mr. Blanchette-Joncas, and you have one minute.

[Maxime Blanchette-Joncas, Bloc, Rimouski-Neigette—Témiscouata—Les Basques, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

I'm going to go back to Mr. Bergen and Mr. Schiavo from the Council of Canadian Innovators.

What are your expectations of the federal government? What is the most urgent thing for making sure we are able not only to attract talent, but also to cultivate and retain it, as you say in your documents?

[Nicholas Schiavo]

There's a lot in there. Thank you for that question. It's very important.

I would say get talent here as soon as possible. Look at the innovative programs I mentioned, the high-tech visa and the digital nomad strategy. Digitize the entirety of IRCC and the global talent stream so that the process is smoother. Ensure that there are stronger pathways to permanent residency for folks who come here with that talent.

The reality is that we need it now. The sooner we can get that done, the better, while also looking at things like upskilling and capacity-building.

[The Chair, Liberal, Kirsty Duncan]

Wow. That was impressive. Thank you, both of you.

Mr. Cannings, you have one minute, please.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.

I was going to dive into visas more broadly, but I think I will just go straight to Mr. McKerlie and ask about student visas.

As MPs we all deal with immigration issues. Often it's taking years to get visas. With students it must be much more urgent to get that visa in a timely manner. I'm just wondering if you could give us some examples of visa issues that you've encountered at Mohawk College and how that can be fixed.

[Ron McKerlie]

Thank you very much.

We have a large number of students who would be waiting months for their visas.

Anything we can do to speed that up obviously will be helpful.

I see the yellow card from the chair.

[Richard Cannings, NDP, South Okanagan—West Kootenay, BC]

Thank you.