Transport Committee on Oct. 26th, 2022

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you.

Mr. Strickland—Sean—it's great to see you again. It's a pleasure, and I appreciate your testimony.

I have a quick question for you, Sean. It's with respect to the training across the country. With the files I've worked on for the past few years up here in Ottawa, what I've heard about harmonizing training and certifications across the country has been loud and clear.

Can you speak a bit on that with respect to not only the higher level but also the transportation sector? Do you think the harmonizing of training and certification across Canada would be beneficial, as it is with the Red Seal program and other programs?

[Sean Strickland]

Certainly. I think the more harmonization we can do across Canada, the better it is for workers and for the Canadian economy.

In terms of the harmonization of the skilled trades, we have made some good advancements with the Red Seal trades and the Gold Seal certifications. The system's still not perfect. The definition of trades in different jurisdictions varies from one province to another. They don't specifically align in terms of a definition of certain trades. That situation creates a barrier to mobility and testing for trades when they travel across the country.

We have a small labour pool in Canada, with a growing economy and increased immigration. This harmonization piece is a critical area that needs to be improved to help meet these labour demand challenges.

[Vance Badawey, Liberal, Niagara Centre, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Strickland.

I will give the floor to Mr. Chahal.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you, Mr. Badawey.

Mr. Gibbons, recently WestJet made a major announcement in Calgary about doubling its capacity with the 787 Dreamliner global connectivity hub. That's in my constituency, and I was very excited about the announcement.

What's the investment, and how many jobs will be created for Calgarians?

[Andrew Gibbons]

Thank you very much for the question, and thanks for your support of the announcement.

Just to restate, we announced that our suite and series of 787 Dreamliners, which is our wide-bodied fleet, will be exclusively housed in Calgary for transatlantic and trans-Pacific flights.

Mayor Gondek and others joined us that day to celebrate this investment, because they know it's going to bring the critical mass to Calgary that will allow for flights that are key for foreign investment and investment attraction and so on. It was a big moment for Calgary. When we announce the actual routes that we're going to bring to the community and to all of western Canada—it's not just a Calgary investment, but for all of western Canada—I think people are going to be very happy.

I'll have to get you the specific economic impact numbers in the report that we commissioned, but generally speaking, a 50% increase in our capacity in Calgary by 2028 is the largest investment and largest bet we've ever made on a community. We're very confident that it's going to work out very well and that the community you represent will feel the same way.

[George Chahal, Liberal, Calgary Skyview, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Schiefke]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chahal and Mr. Gibbons.

That concludes the questioning for today.

On behalf of committee members, I would like to thank all of our witnesses for their testimony and contributing to this very important study for all Canadians.

With that, the meeting is adjourned.