Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank the witnesses for joining us today for this important study.
I agree with you, Mr. Stoffer. Veterans and Canadian Armed Forces members are the people who work to ensure that we can all sit here today and live in a democracy and a sovereign country. We must indeed think of them as they make the transition to civilian life.
The profile of veterans has changed significantly in two key ways. The first is age. The average age is 34. We must also consider the fact that they need a rewarding career. They want to continue serving their country and we need them.
Second, they're working on dual‑use technologies. They're now increasingly involved in drones, cybersecurity, aerospace, maintenance and shipbuilding, among other areas. I'm thinking of icebreaker maintenance, for example.
Canada also needs young workers in this age group. I looked at the statistics. They show that, over the next 10 years, we'll need 593,000 workers in Red Seal trades. Our schools can't train them, but some people have received training in these trades. The recognition of these diplomas isn't just a service provided to veterans. It's a service provided to Canada.
Ms. Bussey, I was really happy to hear you say earlier that we need to take care of the training program and the recognition of diplomas while these people are serving in the military. Could you tell us more about this key issue?