Good morning. Thank you for the opportunity to address this committee on the study of adapting infrastructure to face climate change.
My name is Rita Rahmati, Canada's Building Trades Unions government relations manager. I'm joined here today by my colleague Mike Gordon, the director of training for UA Canada, the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry.
CBTU represents 14 international construction unions, including the UA, and represents over 600,000 skilled trades workers from coast to coast to coast. The UA represents approximately 360,000 piping professionals across North America.
As witnesses before us have shared, Canada and the world are seeing the impacts of climate change, from flooding to wildfires. Our members have the knowledge, skills and abilities to build and rebuild Canada's infrastructure. While this committee will have heard from other witnesses on the concerning impacts that climate change has begun to have on communities and infrastructure, our remarks will focus on long-term solutions to address climate change and mitigate its impacts on infrastructure as well as the labour requirements to support adapting infrastructure.