Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to speak in favour of Motion No. 190, “That the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities be instructed to undertake a study on the labour shortages of the greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.”
I want to thank the member for Mississauga East—Cooksville for his ongoing passion for, and work on, this issue.
One-fifth of Ontario's current construction workforce will be retiring in the next 10 years. Sustaining industry capacity through recruitment and training efforts is, and will continue to be, a high priority for industry leaders. The number of major refurbishment, infrastructure and transportation projects is expected to rise significantly in the coming decade, and even today these projects are developing at a rapid pace across the country.
Parts of my riding of Don Valley West feel like an ongoing construction zone. Once finished, the Eglinton Crosstown will be one of many projects that significantly improve the lives of all of us, but it is taking a huge number of skilled workers to make it a reality. New condo and apartment construction, home renovation and city infrastructure projects are everywhere. The economy is booming and the development of our communities is necessary to keep up with a fast moving, growing population. With the booming Toronto economy and more projects like these just around the corner, recruiting highly qualified tradesmen and tradeswomen will be vital to the growth of our community and our country as a whole.
From the perspective of my home province, it is clear that Ontario requires the recruitment of workers in the construction industry from outside the province. The aging workforce, along with many retirements, will account for a higher share of new job openings within the next decade. While the Ontario population ages, natural population growth will not be enough to sustain our labour requirements. Immigration and migration to the province will be necessary to sustain labour requirements, especially in the construction industry.
I very much expect that a study on labour shortages in the GTA and Hamilton area would help Canadians understand the great need for immigrants who are skilled in the trades and other jobs. It would add to the sense of urgency to address this problem.
The Carpenters' District Council of Ontario recently appealed to me in my role as chairperson of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration about this pending crisis in the labour market. The council represents hard-working, skilled women and men across Canada and is committed to providing training and apprenticeship programs that allow people from a diverse range of backgrounds to enter the workforce and build meaningful careers in carpentry, drywall and resilient flooring, to name just a few.
The Carpenters' Union, like many other trade unions, has known for some time that Canada is facing an increasingly significant shortage in the skilled trades. In 2018, BuildForce Canada reported that by 2027, 21% of the nationwide construction labour force will need to be replaced. Further, to meet the overall labour requirements of Canadian construction over the next decade, nearly 30,000 new skilled workers will be required. BuildForce recently reported that with the growing demand for construction services in Ontario, our province alone will face a deficit of some 23,000 skilled workers in the next decade. Finally, a Stats Canada report noted that the construction industry is working at 92% capacity, the highest rate in nearly 30 years.
The Carpenters' Union and other unions say that we need a fresh look at how Canada recruits and hires workers in the trades industry. Altered immigration patterns and the lack of young workers joining the trades in the numbers required demands that we find a new way to attract people to work in our skilled trades sector. Immigration programs need to be adjusted to ensure that the right candidates are being selected to work in the right areas to relieve specific and consistently expanding skilled labour shortages.
Our government is committed to addressing these concerns. We eliminated the four-year cumulative duration rule, imposed by the Conservatives, in order to prevent unnecessary hardship and instability for both workers and employers. Our government is further increasing opportunities for temporary workers looking to transition to permanent residence.
These are all constructive steps, but we know that more work needs to be done. Undertaking the study called for in Motion No. 190 would address the concerns of the construction industry in an important and constructive way. A study designed to provide solutions for how to increase construction skill development in the Hamilton and Toronto region would be a vital tool in moving forward and addressing industry trends. The time to take further action is now.
Last November, the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration completed a study entitled “Immigration to Atlantic Canada: Moving to the Future”. This study was similar to the one envisioned in this motion, focusing in large part on labour shortages, this one particularly on shortages in the four Atlantic provinces.
The study showed that in order to combat both short and long-term labour shortages in the region, immigration levels in Atlantic Canada needed to be increased. Low birth rates, elevated death rates and an increasingly aging population mean that Atlantic Canada will require other sources to stabilize and grow its population. The study found that immigration provides an important piece of an overall solution. The study made it clear that the four Atlantic provinces need to recruit and retain more immigrants to fill the labour shortages gap. This was particularly relevant for the Atlantic region's infrastructure industry.
That is the key aim of the Atlantic immigration pilot program. As of March 2017, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada started accepting permanent resident applications through this pilot program, a three-year immigration project that includes a specific stream for international graduates. Outreach to individual businesses has led to significant interest and participation in the program. Jobs have been identified in various sectors, with teams overseas already having success in recruiting qualified immigrants as a result of the pilot program.
One of the goals of Motion No. 190 is an analysis of the Atlantic immigration pilot and its initiatives. This pilot project could serve as a model to address the skilled worker needs in the greater Toronto and Hamilton areas. I know that the pilot project in Atlantic Canada is already showing signs of success, and introducing something similar in Toronto and Hamilton would benefit the province and, subsequently, the whole country.
As the MP for Don Valley West, I know this study would assist our government's ability to address the current need and trend in the construction industry. It is abundantly clear that Ontario needs to do more to recruit and retain new Canadians who are skilled in the trades. My constituents need strong, qualified people in the construction industry if we are going to continue to take advantage of a booming economy, maintain our quality of life and grow the middle class.
From carpentry to landscaping, and everything in-between, addressing the labour shortages via Motion No. 190 is a step in the right direction. For that reason, I fully support this motion. Again, I thank the member for Mississauga East—Cooksville for this wonderful initiative.