Industry committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. I am grateful for the opportunity to address the committee this afternoon concerning Bill C-273. My name is Marc Brazeau, and I am the president of the Automotive Industries Association of Canada. With me is Scott Smith, our director of government and ind

Industry committee  When we started this process of identifying potential solutions and quantifying the problem—because that's where we started four or five years ago, as we saw the problem coming—and when we engaged organizations such as CAA, which represents millions of motorists across Canada, th

Industry committee  One of the outcomes of our meetings, Brian, when we met on October 15, was specifically that issue. It wasn't clear to us initially whether fleet vehicles would continue to be repairable in the aftermarket. We spent an entire afternoon walking through the agreement. We identified

Industry committee  I could perhaps answer this question and then invite my colleagues to comment. AIA is pleased to see that there exists a sufficient precedent in the form of the cost structure already in place in the United States. There therefore is no real justification to move very much away

Human Resources committee  Good morning, Madam Chair. Our chairman of the board, Robert Pitt, and I, are very pleased to be here this morning on behalf of the 4,000-member locations and branches that belong to the Automotive Industries Association of Canada, to discuss Canada's labour market development a

Human Resources committee  Thank you for the question. There is no doubt that training relies on a partnership between industry, government and workers. I'll give you an example that my board chairman mentioned earlier. Five years ago, we took over a training program strictly for body shops, called I-CAR

Human Resources committee  We work with various partners to be able to deliver training tailored to the industry's specific needs.

Human Resources committee  Attracting the best and the brightest is our focus as an industry, like a lot of the other industries. So if the best and the brightest don't fit the definition that's currently established for the LMDAs, then it's a challenge for us. Like my colleague here, we promote flexibil

Human Resources committee  Maybe I'll start. We're in an industry where a car is a car, so whether you are in the east part of the country or the west part, you're basically working on the same type of vehicle. I think there are a couple of things there that are facts, and one is that in general, a lot of

Human Resources committee  I would say, strictly from the point of view of our industry, that the apprenticeship program is our bread and butter. We're seeing diminishing numbers; we're seeing a high drop-off rate, something you alluded to. There's a responsibility that we assume as employers, by the way

Human Resources committee  If there's an opportunity to attract and not to exclude the best and the brightest as a result of their not falling within the definition, I think there's a need to look at that, because the critical skill shortages that we will see in the future will require us to be as flexible

Human Resources committee  We would favour as much flexibility as possible, because the winds shift, the needs will shift, the demands will shift. To address your earlier question about the formula, I like to see a formula strictly based on where the needs are, rather than per capita-based. What are the j

Human Resources committee  I'll use Quebec as an example. Quebec has a law requiring employers with a total payroll of $1 million or more to invest 1% of that amount in training. Many of our members who are subject to the condition use that funding. If the money isn't used, it goes to an organization cha

Human Resources committee  Yes. One example that I'd like to share with you is that we do work very closely as an industry with community colleges, whether it be NATE, Red River College, or Georgian College. We get involved very intimately with those colleges, and in some cases we fund programs specificall

Human Resources committee  Do you mean implementing the measure on a national scale?