Mr. Speaker, the PBO report is consistent with what we have been saying: “Aggregate numbers may obscure what is occurring in some regions and sectors across the country”. That is consistent with what employers are telling us across the country. For example, the construction sector says that we need 319,000 new workers in the next 10 years. The mining and industry sector says we will need 145,000 workers by 2020. The petroleum sector says we will need 130,000 workers by 2020.
We need to take steps, working with our provincial partners, to provide training so we can train the next generation of Canadian workers.