Public Accounts committee  Sorry, specifically designed to protect—

Public Accounts committee  Definitely, we have that data on how much is expended on the temporary foreign worker program. I'm not sure about the second part, but we'll look into it.

Public Accounts committee  Absolutely. That's exactly why we haven't done unannounced on-site inspections yet. It's the analysis we're doing before implementing something like this that would take into consideration those kinds of.... We want to make sure our employees are protected. We want to make sure t

Public Accounts committee  I wish I could say that it's an easy thing to solve, but some things are difficult. There are always demands, as you've just heard from the conversation that's taking place here today. There are always, on the one hand, those employers who are saying, “I truly cannot find employe

Public Accounts committee  I can answer that. To a certain extent, the program has evolved significantly. Because of all these pressures that are constantly evolving, it has different impacts on the labour market and on wages as it evolves. The primary thing we keep in mind is that when an offer is made, i

Public Accounts committee  [Inaudible—Editor]

Public Accounts committee  We are in the process of consulting representatives from sectors, such as the seafood sector. We want to develop an action plan with employers to work together to ensure that this does not happen, and we are in the process of adjusting this plan.

Public Accounts committee  That is a good question. Achieving that balance is exactly what I was talking about earlier. There are also cases where employers do not have access to Canadian workers and have to close their plants if they are unable to hire people from outside Canada. That is not good for Cana

Public Accounts committee  Let me repeat what I already said. It is always hard to know whether it is really necessary to hire people from other countries for a given processing plant. That is exactly what we are trying to do with the review by sector; we are trying to find ways of preventing those situati

Public Accounts committee  A number of reforms have taken place over the last number of years that have resulted in a reduction in those numbers. One of the key factors, I would say, is the increase in fees, which were increased from $275 to $1,000 for each position that an employer wants to—

Public Accounts committee  There are many factors that I can go through. We've strengthened advertising requirements. We've introduced a cap on the number of TFWs. We've limited the length of time a TFW could stay working to one year. There are transition plans required. Their fees were increased. There a

Public Accounts committee  I will start to answer this question and perhaps someone will want to add something. There are requirements set out in the program that everyone must meet. I mentioned, for instance, that employers must first inform Canadians of their needs before they get a positive labour mar

Public Accounts committee  The decrease has more or less stabilized. Mr. Thompson, do you have the exact figures?

Public Accounts committee  I will let Ms. MacLean answer that question.

Public Accounts committee  We do have performance measures in place that are actually reported publicly, and I can get into the details of what those are, but—