As a result of their deliberations committees may make recommendations which they include in their reports for the consideration of the House of Commons or the Government. Recommendations related to this study are listed below.

Recommendation 1

That Employment and Social Development Canada work with Statistics Canada, along with provincial and territorial governments, to ensure that labour market data provide a more complete picture of current labour supply and forecast future labour market demand in the construction industry. This includes:

• accurate, timely and relevant labour market information at the regional and local levels;
• the impact of informal and undocumented labour; and
• a better understanding of areas in which labour market reports may be inconsistent with what is reported by both construction industry and labour stakeholders.

Recommendation 2

That Employment and Social Development Canada work with provincial and territorial governments, along with construction industry and labour stakeholders, to ensure that the national awareness campaign to promote the skilled trades be designed and implemented with a view to:

• attracting a greater number of new entrants to the construction industry;
• increasing apprenticeship completion rates and ensuring the success of tradespeople by promoting available supports;
• building upon industry solutions that have proven successful at raising awareness in the skilled trades as viable career options; and
• placing emphasis on those regions in Canada facing labour shortages.

Further, that at the end of the two-year awareness and promotional campaign, a review of this initiative be conducted, in collaboration with stakeholders, to assess its level of success and evaluate the need for continued investment in this regard.

Recommendation 3

That Employment and Social Development Canada examine emerging and persistent skills gaps in the skilled trades, and develop accurate forecasts, to better inform the development and the review of pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programming.

Recommendation 4

That Employment and Social Development Canada, as it develops an Apprenticeship Strategy, review existing financial supports in consultation with apprentices, tradespeople, as well as construction industry employers and labour stakeholders, to evaluate their effectiveness and explore new, innovative ways to offset the costs associated with training, hiring and working in the skilled trades while at the same time increasing the labour mobility of skilled tradespeople.

Recommendation 5

That Employment and Social Development Canada examine ways to promote labour mobility within Canada to ensure that tradespeople who are Canadians or permanent residents have the first opportunity to fill labour shortages, and work with provinces and territories to remove barriers.

Recommendation 6

That Employment and Social Development Canada, in partnership with provincial and territorial governments, along with construction industry and labour stakeholders, continue to customize apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship supports to the specific needs of equity seeking groups, with the objective of improving the training and the recruitment of people that are underrepresented in the skilled trades and in the construction industry in particular.

Recommendation 7

That Employment and Social Development Canada work with federal departments and agencies to explore options to promote community benefit agreements on publicly funded projects, with the objective of increasing the training and the recruitment of underrepresented groups in the skilled trades, while staying committed to an open, fair and transparent procurement process and obtaining the best possible value for Canadian taxpayers, and without making it more difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to access federal procurement opportunities.

Recommendation 8

That Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada examine ways to better respond to the labour market needs of the construction industry, including:

• working with the Government of Ontario, along with construction industry and labour stakeholders, to review existing economic immigration programs and make any necessary reforms to ensure the needs of the sector are met;
• working with relevant partners and stakeholders to examine challenges, opportunities and potential solutions with regards to the segment of the construction industry workforce that has precarious or no immigration status; and
• working with Employment and Social Development Canada to review the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and make any necessary reforms, with the goal of better responding to the labour market needs of the construction industry, while ensuring that Canadians and permanent residents get the first opportunity to fill labour shortages and while protecting the health and safety of all workers in Canada.