Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to speak in this very important emergency debate. This is an issue that is very important to the residents of my riding of Davenport, and indeed to all Canadians. I am glad we are here this evening. It is important for every member, for every party and for anyone who wants the chance to speak to be able to do so, because we are faced with a serious situation that concerns many Canadians.
I am going to start by agreeing with something that the Minister of Foreign Affairs said so eloquently this morning on the radio. I agree with it completely. I believe that the member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville spoke her truth as she had wanted to at the justice committee yesterday. As an aside, I also want to personally very much say that I value the member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville. I value her as part of our caucus. I value her leadership on so many issues of importance to this government and I hold her in absolutely high regard.
Having said that, I am also in strong agreement that the Prime Minister would never have applied improper pressure, that the Prime Minister has always been very aware of and very clear on the unique role of the Attorney General and would never have exerted inappropriate pressure on the former attorney general. I also very much believe our Prime Minister when he says he completely disagrees with the characterization of events as stated by the member of Parliament for Vancouver Granville. I wanted to state this up front so it is very clear where I stand.
The rest of my time will be spent speaking to our government's efforts to focus on creating well-paying jobs for our families of today and tomorrow and also on how, even through the course of all of this going on over the last few weeks, we continue to remain focused on 37 million Canadians and making their lives better and making this country better. We will never lose sight of why we are here in this venerable chamber.
As our Prime Minister has said, our government will always stand up for Canadian workers and the importance of the rule of law. We will focus on jobs and growing the middle class and strengthening our economy.
In fact, our platform in 2015 set out our plan to create jobs and to help Canadians get the training they need to find and keep good jobs. Since November 2015, Canada has gained over 800,000 jobs, nearly three-quarters of which are full time. We know that job numbers fluctuate in the short term, and that is why we are focused on our long-term plan for economic growth and a stronger middle class, giving Canadians the support they need to find and keep good, well-paying jobs.
We are also proud that we have created over 70,000 Canada summer jobs. This is an enormous accomplishment that will give our youth the best start in their careers and their work life. This has amounted to a tripling of the amount of money we have spent on Canada summer jobs in my working-class riding of Davenport since we have come into office. It means a lot to the youth, and I know it will have a big impact on their lives.
Getting back to overall jobs, provincially the largest gains within Canada have been in Ontario, in British Columbia and also in Quebec over the last year. The three industries that saw the most growth in employment over the last year were utilities, with an 8.3% increase; transportation and warehousing, with almost 8%; and business, building and other support, with an almost 6% increase. The gains in employment were concentrated not only among youth aged 15 to 24 but also among men aged 55 and over.
Moreover, between January 2018 and January 2019, the average hourly wage among all workers increased by 2%. This is super-important in ridings like Davenport in cities like Toronto, where the cost of living continues to increase. It is really great to see that we have success in terms of increasing wages.
There were of course discussions about the potential loss of 9,000 jobs in communities across the country, including the possible impact on pensions, in the SNC-Lavalin affair that has been dominating the news. It is the job of any prime minister to stand up for Canadian workers, and I would say it is the job of all parliamentarians to stand up for Canadian workers, for Canadian jobs and for our economy.
In her appearance before the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights, the former attorney general even confirmed that it is appropriate to discuss job impacts in this particular situation. There have been suggestions that this government only cares about jobs in Quebec, and this is absolutely not the case. We care about jobs right across the country, in every province and territory.
Indeed, it is important to note that SNC-Lavalin does not have offices only in Quebec. It has offices across Canada. In British Columbia, it has offices in Kelowna, Nanaimo, Nelson and Victoria. In Alberta, it has offices in Calgary, Fort McMurray, Edmonton and Grande Prairie. In Saskatchewan, it has offices in Regina and Saskatoon. In Ontario, it has offices in Sarnia, Toronto, London, Mississauga and Burlington. In Quebec, it has a number of locations: Gatineau, Laval, Longueuil, Montreal and Val-d'Or. In Newfoundland and Labrador, it has offices in Corner Brook and Mount Pearl. Finally, in Nova Scotia, it has offices in Antigonish and Halifax. The government rightly cares about any decision that impacts families, livelihoods, jobs and communities right across the country.
Let us not forget the impact of SNC-Lavalin on indirect jobs. We are not taking into consideration the many thousands of indirect jobs that are created by SNC-Lavalin in other industries that are at the heart of our economy.
Jobs matter not only as a way to ensure our livelihood but also as a way to contribute to our national tax base. This enables us to create programs like the highly successful Canada child benefit, which is the most significant public policy innovation since universal health care. It contributes to helping families with the high cost of raising their kids and to making a real difference in the lives of families in the middle class and those working hard to join it.
The new Canada child benefit, as we have said many times before, is simpler and tax-free, and it is targeted to income. It provides support to those who need it most. Nine in 10 Canadian families are better off under the new system, and receiving the single targeted benefit is helping to lift 300,000 children out of poverty. In addition, it helps middle-class parents buy their kids school supplies and sign them up for activities. We continue to hear from Canadians about the positive impact the Canada child benefit is having on their lives.
Indeed, we have been hearing great news over the last few days from Stats Canada, which shows very clearly that in fact 800,000 Canadians have been lifted out of poverty since we came into government, with almost 300,000 fewer children living below the poverty line compared to—