Veterans Affairs Committee on April 24th, 2023

[Cora Saunders]

Yes.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

You also mentioned something else. This is something that we've heard from others who've come, although not in this women's study. A veteran is trained in a particular trade during their time in the Canadian Armed Forces, and you become highly competent in those areas. However, when you're released, you're unable to find work in a civilian-equivalent industry simply because you don't have the written qualifications that are in the civilian world for all of that work that you have done within your service for this country.

Is this something that should definitely be changed in the way that Canadian Armed Forces and VAC operate? Should there be an equivalent as you're studying where you have that paperwork when you release?

Mr. Maloney.

[Joseph Maloney]

When a veteran registers with Helmets to Hardhats and they decide they'd like to become a pipefitter, an electrician or a carpenter, we refer them to that geographic area they want to live in. They meet with that trade union and the apprentice coordinator, and they go over the experience they had in the military. Then they compare it to what the civilian apprenticeship program looks like, and they're credited so many hours toward that apprenticeship program.

There's only one trade right now that, when you leave the military—I forget the code name—you can join the millwright union as a full journeyperson and write your Red Seal.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you. I appreciate hearing that.

I have one more brief question in regard to entrepreneurship. We did have another witness come and testify who has a remarkable business, I think, already in the works. However, they commented that this is not something that Veterans Affairs and the Canadian Armed Forces have seen as a high priority, enabling women to take on those business opportunities, which I think—sorry, guys—we're really good at. It's not that you aren't. I'm digging a hole and I'm not going to get out of it.

Patricia, can you share a little about the women who do come? How many succeed? How good of an opportunity is this for those who are saying this is a direction they'd really like to go?

[Col (Ret'd) Patricia Henry]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Do you mean specifically in the area of business?

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Yes.

[Col (Ret'd) Patricia Henry]

That is one thing that we have found at Willis where I am working. That is what women want. They're not interested in cyber, which a lot of people are focused on, but the female veterans do want business. That's consistent with what everyone else here has said.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you.

I have one minute.

Perhaps I'll go to Prince's Trust Canada. Would one of you would like to speak to that?

[Kathleen Kilgour]

Absolutely.

We have found that a disproportionate number of women veterans—25%—are interested in adding entrepreneurship to their post-release life, whether that is a part-time business or full-time business, and incorporating it in some way.

We have found that, with the education and training benefit and with the focus on veterans, employment and the needs of the transitioning member, it is important to provide transitioning training when it is able to have the most impact, which is during their time of service. One to two years before they release is the time when they need transitioning programming—whether it be entrepreneurship or some sort—in order for them to build confidence so they can make a plan to have a positive attitude toward their future.

[Cathay Wagantall, Conservative, Yorkton—Melville, SK]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you so much.

Now we will go to Mrs. Rechie Valdez.

You have the floor for six minutes or less. Please, go ahead.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you to the witnesses who have joined us today, particularly those who have served this country. I appreciate your sacrifice.

Mr. Chair, I'm going to direct my questions first to Coding for Veterans. As a former coder myself, I remember graduating with a handful of women in the class for my computer science degree. Ms. Vazquez, I'm happy to hear that it has really helped you with transitioning into your civilian life.

To either of you, can you clarify how many women veterans have entered the program thus far since you started it?

[Jeff Musson]

There are currently 400 veterans in our program. About 15% are female.

We've had a number of military families, spouses and others approach us to come in the program, but there was no funding mechanism to cover their tuition, so we have engaged with the Province of Ontario, and they have given us funding for 100 positions in our program through Minister McNaughton's ministry of labour, training and skills development in order to increase that number.

I think our 15% is higher than the gender breakdown in the military.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you.

With that funding or with all the initiatives you have, do you see a rise in popularity with regard to coding?

[Jeff Musson]

Absolutely. The mere fact that Canada has a projected deficit of 147,000 IT jobs that are going to go unfilled is very enticing, because it gives a good, solid career and financial stability. Quite frankly, females make some of the best coders out there, so it's win-win across the board.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll direct my next questions to Mrs. Saunders.

Can you share some of the challenges you have heard from women and LGBTQ+ veterans in your role at Helmets to Hardhats?

[Cora Saunders]

I attended the women's forum there in February. I wasn't able to attend in person because of the weather in Newfoundland, but some of the things I heard in that forum from the LGBTQ community.... The level of trust is not there, especially for the LGBTQ community, because of the purge that happened some years ago. One of the ladies said to the team there, “We don't trust you.”

With Helmets to Hardhats, that's fair enough. There is that level of trust that we need to establish with women and members of the LGBTQ community who are applying. That's up to our team when it comes to diversity, inclusion and safe space. I've been in this job just one year. We're trying to get the word out there that we're a safe space. There is a lot of stigma and a lot of stereotypes attached to the building trades. A big part of my job is to help break that down and help educate where the education needs to be.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

You mentioned trust. What recommendations can you make for this committee to help us continue to build that?

[Cora Saunders]

Within the military, I worked in the recruiting sector of the military for a total of 10 years. Even when I was in there, we had things in place. We had the training, the SHARP training and the sensitivity training.

Every time we interviewed a male person entering the military, we asked, “How do you feel about working with women? Do you have any issues with that?” It was always, “No, no,” but we are still seeing that clearly there are some men who have issues with women.

Again, to build that trust, it's to promote it more.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I'll turn with my next questions to Mrs. Henry.

Can you tell us how many women have enrolled in the program you mentioned earlier and how many women were entitled to a nomination with Willis College?

[Col (Ret'd) Patricia Henry]

I don't have the specific number for the business program that you mentioned, but I know that we have dealt with approximately 60 female veterans. I don't have the breakdown of the numbers.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

That's no problem.

With Willis College, what are you doing to ensure that women can have the same opportunities as men when it comes to the program or enticing more women veterans to join?

[Col (Ret'd) Patricia Henry]

As I mentioned before, we do have the MVP team that is specifically there to attract veterans of all types, males and females. One thing that we find with veterans, which might go back to one of the questions you mentioned earlier, is the issue of family. To help out family members....

I should mention that my husband was also in the military, so we have two members. At Willis, we have what is called a working together program. If I take a program at Willis, my husband can go for free. He can apply for a bursary. We have 40 of those bursaries available. That means that he can get his tuition paid for up to the same amount as whatever program I am in. He may have to cover his own books or other things like that.

We do try to encourage that. We find that we have a lot of ex-military males in cyber, which is what they are interested in, so we can provide that support for their wives. They don't have to be ex-military either, by the way. It's more of a total-family, cohesive program.

[Rechie Valdez, Liberal, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Emmanuel Dubourg]

Thank you very much, Mrs. Valdez.

I now invite the committee's second vice-chair, Luc Desilets, to take the floor for the next six minutes.