Thank you.
I would like to focus my recommendations on two aspects: the supply of labour and infrastructure.
Before the pandemic, Canada was dealing with a significant labour shortage in the supply chain and transportation sectors. The situation is only getting worse.
As a leading employer in Canada in transportation, we know that Canada can make significant investments in the supply chain infrastructure, but those investments may falter if Canada does not invest in the workforce.
We think that governments are key partners for accessing global talent and reducing career barriers in supply chains.
The first step goes through immigration. We recommend exploring ways to prioritize positions related to the supply chain and logistics as part of provincial nominee programs in order to attract global talent to Canada. That is essential, as many supply chain jobs in Canada are in communities with an aging population and a slowing growth rate. Without immigration, the long term trend will be the moving of those jobs to urban centres or the atrophying of supply chains. However, immigration is only one part of the solution.
It can cost from $10,000 to $15,000 in training for someone to obtain a commercial drivers license. We strongly encourage the federal government to establish a new qualified training program with a mandate to offset those training costs. It is essential that this funding be given to individuals and not to businesses. That would foster labour mobility, career flexibility and competition, in addition to reducing the financial barriers to entry into the profession.
When it comes to infrastructure, recent events have further emphasized the fragility of our supply chains and put increased pressure on businesses and networks to adapt. We recommend that the government adopt a supply chain strategy that takes into account future challenges in congestion, reduces transit time and ensures infrastructure redundancy in our trade corridors.
Finally, we must learn lessons from the pandemic, as well as from recent extreme weather events and develop, with the United States, a guide that ensures real-time responses to urgent trans-border regulatory exemption requests, so as to maintain the movement of essential goods in case of a supply chain crisis.
Walmart Canada is prepared to work with governments to ensure our supply chains' resilience over the coming decades.
We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.