Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to present this petition today on behalf of 24,349 signatories. This petition addresses a request for an extension of the postgraduate work permit. The rationale given is that public policy has recently given 18-month extensions. Based off of that, these petitioners request that the three-year postgraduate work permit time be turned into five years and that the one-year postgraduate work permit time be extended to two years. The reasoning for that is that many students find that it takes some time to find a job in their sector and to make sure that they get the skills they need.
We have shortages of workers in the trades and a lot of trades programs require four years of experience in order to get licensed. Also, for nurses participating in one-year certification programs, we know that there is a shortage of nurses in our country. Therefore, providing them ample opportunities to work and serve Canadians would do Canadians well.