Finance committee  Thank you, Mr. Chairman and committee members. My name is Sean Strickland, and I serve as the executive director of Canada's Building Trades Unions, the national voice for over 600,000 skilled tradespeople in Canada who belong to 14 international unions and work in more than 60 different trades and occupations.

International Trade committee  I would agree that it needs to be a multi-faceted approach of the carrot and the stick in terms of providing incentives. There's the Canadian way and there's the U.S. way, and we usually find a way that's somewhere in between. I'd also like to say, in terms of context, that the discussion we're having today is really important for Canadians.

International Trade committee  Union training innovation programs have a tremendous impact in terms of tens of millions of dollars in investment in union training centres across Canada. We have over 195 of them. We invest over $250 million of industry funds to train journeypeople and also apprentices. The union training innovation program has helped us to purchase more equipment to help us position our workers for the new technologies of the future to help with decarbonization.

International Trade committee  I would leave it to the industry experts, who have done a much deeper dive into the different segments of the Inflation Reduction Act. I would put a different spin on it. What we need to do in response is adopt some of the language to make sure we create good-paying union jobs and good middle-class jobs.

International Trade committee  Sure. Thank you for the question. The labour mobility tax deduction treats a worker more fairly than a tax credit would, so we were really pleased that the tax deduction was included in the last federal budget. Previously, construction workers weren't allowed to deduct travel expenses for going to work or for accommodation when they had to travel for work.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much for the question. It's been alluded to previously by other witnesses that we have a labour availability challenge in Canada in a variety of sectors. One of them is construction. We bring in thousands of apprentices every year to the unionized industry, just to keep pace with retirements.

International Trade committee  They're all good-paying union jobs. All the proponents for small modular reactors in Canada are signing MOUs with unions to make sure that those are built using union labour as well.

International Trade committee  Thank you for the question. Part of my comments has always been centred around pursuing our competitive advantage in responding to the IRA. I think nuclear is one of our competitive advantages. We have a strong track record of nuclear in Ontario. We have a strong track record of nuclear in New Brunswick.

International Trade committee  I think it would be fairly easy. Through regulation or through the process of applying for a tax credit, that application includes a commitment from the proponent that they are going to create well-paying union jobs and make a commitment to apprenticeship. I think it's pretty straightforward.

International Trade committee  I think that, up until the Inflation Reduction Act, Canada was doing a very good job. Canada continues to do a very good job according to my daily business of talking to proponents of major infrastructure projects. You know that there are hydrogen projects in Newfoundland that are approaching a final investment decision and hydrogen projects in Alberta.

International Trade committee  Thank you very much, Madam Chair and members of the committee. Thank you for the opportunity to address the committee on the potential trade impacts of the United States Inflation Reduction Act on workers in Canada. My name is Sean Strickland and I'm the executive director of Canada's Building Trades Unions, part of North America's Building Trades Unions.

Transport committee  Certainly. I think the more harmonization we can do across Canada, the better it is for workers and for the Canadian economy. In terms of the harmonization of the skilled trades, we have made some good advancements with the Red Seal trades and the Gold Seal certifications. The system's still not perfect.

Transport committee  Well, I would agree with you that in the province of Ontario, which is also my home province, the government has done a really good job of promoting skilled trades with career options and opportunities, largely through the work of Minister McNaughton. I would disagree with you with respect to what the federal government is doing with skilled trades.

Transport committee  Maybe I could take that, MP Koutrakis, with the consent of the Chair. In the unionized construction industry, we work hand in hand with our employers. If our union contractors aren't going to work, our union members aren't going to work. When it comes to labour force development, to workforce development, we have dozens of diversity programs across the country, and in many jurisdictions our employers are part of what are called “joint apprenticeship and training trusts”.

Transport committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and members of the committee. I really appreciate the opportunity to address you today on the issue of labour availability in the transportation sector. My name is Sean Strickland. I'm the executive director of Canada's Building Trades Unions. I represent 14 international construction unions, 60 different trades and over 600,000 members across Canada.