HUMA Committee Report

Minority Report, Liberal Party of Canada

We would like to thank all of the witnesses that appeared before the HUMA committee during the course of the Labour and Skills Shortages in Canada: Addressing Current and Future Challenges study. The Liberal Party supports the intent of the study and many of its recommendations; however, it feels that the final report did not address all of the key concerns or suggestions of the stakeholder groups that appeared before the Committee or submitted briefs for consideration.

The following are some areas that the Liberal Party believes the Report could have been strengthened.

Labour Market Information

Although we agree with the Report’s recommendations regarding the need for better and more user-friendly labour market information, we believe the report does not go far enough to ensure positive outcomes. It has been over three years since the federal government received the final report, Working Together to Build a Better Labour Market Information System for Canada from the advisory panel on Labour Market Information, chaired by Mr. Don Drummond.  Yet the government has failed to implement most of the advisory panel’s report recommendations.

In some cases, the government has gone in the opposite direction of what the advisory panel recommended. For example, the advisory panel recommended that Statistic Canada improve its ability to collect and disseminate labour market data, and that more funding would be required to pay for these improvements. Budget 2012 saw the government cut significant funding ($33.86 million) from Statistics Canada’s economic, social, census, and Aboriginal statistics collection programs, which provided vital labour market information.

The Liberal Party believes the HUMA report should have recommended the adoption of all the advisory panel’s recommendations concerning labour market information.

Health Human Resources Information

One of the most significant consequences of the aging of the Canadian population is the impact it is having, and will continue to have, on the healthcare system. This coupled with emerging challenges around issues like mental health; demand that we have the right health care workforce to meet these needs.

A key means of managing this is to strike a multi-stakeholder forum, like a national health human resources data and analysis centre, to identify, prioritize and address areas where the training of future health care providers can be brought into greater alignment with the future health care needs.

This body could provide a formal structure for the collection and analysis of Canada’s disparate data sets, the collection of data where needed, and to serve as a resource to governments, federal and provincial, in matters of policy planning for health human resources.

Financial Support for Skilled Trades

Although the government promotes a number of measures it has introduced to assist apprentices, the apprenticeship program completion rates are abysmal. The government’s strategy has failed to increase the apprenticeship graduation rate.

One of the challenges raised to entering and completing apprenticeship programs is the current Employment Insurance system. Canadians have been experiencing increasingly long delays in having their EI applications processed in general. This fact deters, not encourages people to enter an apprenticeship program.

The Liberal Party believes the EI application process must be effective and efficient for the promotion of apprenticeship entry and completion. In addition, we recommend increased support for training in the employment insurance system, including extending benefits for workers who are in training, and looking at options such as pre-qualifying apprentices for EI in the skilled trades.

Canadians with Disabilities

Canadians with disabilities are much more likely to be unemployed, to living in low-income situations, and face discriminatory treatment. Yet there is no recommendation within the report about how to address these issues. We believe that funding for Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities – which has been frozen at current levels for years - should be increased. Further, Canada has signed and ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, but has done nothing to implement it. We believe the government must work with the provinces, territories, disabled Canadians and their organizations to develop an action plan for implementing the convention.

Funding for Aboriginal Education

The First Nations population represents a key part of our future workforce, but a failure to invest in First Nations K-12 education has resulted in some of the worst education outcomes in the country. The federal government must commit to working with First Nations to close the education funding gap that exists between First Nations students and non-First Nations students on an urgent basis, so that every First Nations student receives a high-quality, culturally relevant education.

The funding for the Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP), which provides funding to First Nations and Inuit students has been capped at 2% growth since 1996. This funding rate has failed to either match growth in the target population applying to this program, or for the growing costs of education. The Liberal Party advocates for lifting the cap and fully funding the program so that every qualified learner can attend and graduate from a post-secondary institution.

Incentivizing Co-operative Education

A co-op employer tax credit is a strong incentive for companies, like those in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) industries to take advantage of the talent produced by local colleges and universities. Co-op work terms strengthen the affinity students have to their local industry and community and lessen the likelihood that they will seek opportunities in other tech clusters like Silicon Valley or Boston. In Ontario, the co-op employer tax credit reimburses employers 25% of eligible expenditures up to a maximum of $3,000; smaller businesses are eligible for a higher credit rate of 30%.

The Liberal Party recommends the federal government to consider matching this kind of incentive to increase the opportunity for Canadian co-op students to gain experience in Canadian companies. This significantly increases the likelihood that they will accept full-time employment in Canada after graduation.