Human Resources committee  At the end of day, of course, with these programs, it all comes down to cost. Who's going to pick up that increased cost? We need to go back and remember that.... Earlier, I had spoken to you about the average increase in income for women coming into a particular company, but the average increase that women see going into trades after being in Women Building Futures is 128%, which translates into a 47% increase in tax paid.

Human Resources committee  I think one of the things I can think of just off the top of my head this morning is the example of the Canada job fund agreements. The funds from those agreements are accessed by employers to deal with training costs. I don't see why some of those costs couldn't be built into that type of program so that for the employers who are putting in the training, who are contributing to the costs of recruiting and training and retaining that person, could take advantage of the program, and the government would be putting in its fair share too, so that at the end of the day, it would really be up to whether or not that individual is the type of worker the company wants to hire.

Human Resources committee  I'd like to see it longer and I'd like to see it be customizable—

Human Resources committee  —so that it meets the needs of the individual woman. I don't see why we can't do that.

Human Resources committee  Again, I think that having the benefit of knowing that you can take an extended, a different type of maternity benefit, which would meet your needs and those of your children, is only going to encourage women to consider jobs that are going to support them in that whole effort, and support them in earning a much better living, which is what you find in those non-traditional careers.

Human Resources committee  Statistically it shows that women come back to work after maternity leave at a very high rate.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for your question, Ramesh. I think it will help to attract and retain women. I think it's a big retention benefit. So when women are looking at these career opportunities, what we find is that women tend to be quite thoughtful, and before getting into a career, before taking training to get into the career, they're asking those questions.

Human Resources committee  My number one suggestion would be to invest. Invest in Canada's most significant workforce. They're already there. They've already proven they have the work ethic we need. Make sure we are meeting the needs of women and the employers. In the scenario that I mentioned to you of the refinery and all those women, that employer paid the whole shot—the housing, the training costs, and all of that.

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the opportunity to be here today to speak to this issue. At Women Building Futures, we work with companies that are engaged in Canada's construction, maintenance, and energy sector, and we work with women like Melodie every day. I don't mean to repeat any of the wonderful points that were made by my fellow speaker, so my response will focus on a bit of a different perspective in all of this.

Human Resources committee  Yes, I can. Thank you.

Status of Women committee  I'd have to think on it.

Status of Women committee  Yes, unfortunately.

Status of Women committee  I don't know. When we figure it out, let me know.

Status of Women committee  Access to capital is a constant. Whether you're wanting to come into programs like ours, for example, we're not a post-secondary, so there are no student loans to come into our programs which means women need alternative sources of capital funding to come into these programs. There's no funding from government.

Status of Women committee  I think the key informants here are definitely industry, parents, organizations where youth are their mandate, and the kids themselves, yes.