“The government broke the rules of the Charter by forcing summer job applicants to say they agreed with certain beliefs. That hurt people's freedom of conscience and religion. I want the member to admit right now that this policy was wrong.”

“Mr. Speaker, I listened with great joy to my colleague. It is always a pleasure. I say it is not what he says, but how loud he says it. The member talked about the Canada summer jobs grant. I am going to give him and the Liberals a very simple lesson in constitutional law. The charter was passed to protect the citizenry from the government, yet the government made people sign an attestation about what they believed. The government was using the Constitution as a sword from citizen to citizen. The government messed up. That was completely unconstitutional. Will the member renounce this unconstitutional policy right here, right now? We all know it was wrong. It offended freedom of conscience and freedom of religion. Will he renounce it right now? He is, after all, part of the party that said it is the party of the charter. Let us hear it.”

“Our job numbers are very bad. Workforce participation is at a 29-year low, and youth unemployment is at 13%. All parties agreed on a report with good solutions to fix this. I want to know why the government will not use those solutions.”

“Mr. Speaker, let us highlight the dire situation we are in. It is one that the member is desperate to gloss over. We have the worst workforce participation situation in almost 30 years, according to the latest job numbers. We are at a 29-year low in terms of workforce participation in this country. We lost 110,000 jobs in the last two months alone. Unemployment is up to 6.5%. In particular, youth unemployment is up to 13%. That is significantly higher than it has been in the past. It is much above the sustained pre-pandemic averages, for example. Basically, what we hear from members’ offices is that it is good enough. It simply is not good enough. We should be providing hope and opportunity to young people and all Canadians. Instead, we have this 29-year low in workforce participation. This unanimous all-party report contains constructive solutions. Why will the Liberals not adopt some of those solutions?”

“The member opposite says youth unemployment has been an issue since 2012 and that current programs will fix it. Why did the government not create these programs ten years ago?”

“Mr. Speaker, in response to my colleague’s last question, the member opposite tried to go back to 2012 to argue that this youth unemployment problem is one that has persisted. He also said that the government is putting programs in place that are going to solve it. My question is, why did the government not put those programs in place a decade ago when they had the opportunity?”

“The member says the Liberals did not set up these programs before because the government was different back then. I want him to admit that the government he served for 10 years was a failure.”

“Mr. Speaker, in response to my last question, the hon. member across the way said that there is a new government and that it has changed from the old government, and that is why the Liberals did not put these programs in place then. I would like to know if the member now admits that the government he was part of for 10 years was a failure.”

“Businesses can now apply for federal summer jobs for students. But over the years, the federal government keeps stepping into provincial responsibilities. I want the member to explain how youth jobs would be affected if the federal government stayed out of these provincial matters.”

“Mr. Speaker, my colleague touched on several issues in her speech. I would like to begin by thanking her for highlighting the fact that the application period for summer jobs is now under way for businesses and organizations seeking to recruit students. The deadline for submitting applications is a month away. People can go to their federal constituency office, find their MP and take the necessary steps to secure the jobs. Of course, all of this must be carefully balanced. My question is this: My colleague was elected, if I am not mistaken, in 2019 and has been serving in this House ever since. She has therefore had the opportunity to observe how, over the years, the government has increasingly encroached on provincial areas of responsibility. There may have been a change 18 months ago, but the more things change, the more they stay the same. Could she explain to the House the direct impact of a federal government that does not interfere in these matters, specifically on youth employment?”

“Many young people struggle to find their first job after graduation. How can the federal government help them?”

“Mr. Speaker, my colleague’s speech was very interesting. I always learn something new about Quebec when she speaks. I want to continue to learn more about the communities she represents. I know she has always wanted to learn more about the communities I represent. My question may be simple, but it is sincere. After graduation, many young people in our communities struggle to find their first job. How can the federal government help them?”

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“Young people face the highest unemployment in 25 years, while high rents and food costs make life unaffordable. I want the House to adopt this committee report on youth jobs and follow its recommendations. The government must cut taxes and red tape, fund job placements, fix employment insurance for seasonal workers, and report back to Parliament on whether job training actually leads to real work.”

“Mr. Speaker, I will be splitting my time this evening. This evening, we are continuing the discussion on the jobs crisis facing our youth. Young people continue to experience Canada as a place where it is hard to find a good job and even harder to build a good life where they can have the financial security enjoyed by their parents and grandparents. Getting a first employer to take a chance on them can be very difficult. We argue monthly in the House about the latest job numbers, but there is no question that youth unemployment is up and is in fact at its highest point in more than 25 years, excluding the pandemic. We also have a 29-year low in youth workforce participation. Young people are facing a tough labour market at a time when they have never needed more income to afford a home, a family and a good life. I attended the Vancouver Island Economic Alliance’s summit last week. The 2026 economic update was so well done but so discouraging. It estimates that labour force participation among island youth aged 15 to 25 fell from 65% in 2021 to 62% in 2026. VIEA also reports that the share of islanders aged 15 to 25 fell by about 4% between 2016 and 2024, while the share over 65 grew by about the same amount. Future growth will depend on generating more value per worker through higher productivity. Those figures cannot tell us what any individual young person is doing. There was an excellent panel on youth employment during the VIEA state of the island economic summit in Nanaimo last week, and at it, the three panellists did their absolute best to make light of the situation. One quipped, “Who said being a stay-at-home 25-year-old isn’t a career?” Another pointed out that it is pretty hard not to take every chance possible to engage in the workforce, given the cost of everything. The third panellist came to Canada from a country that he described as unsafe and impoverished and noticed that these days, “Canada sometimes feels like home.” When I listened to these young people trying to make light of their situation, it really impacted me, because these days, when I ask young people what they want to do for a career, an answer I now get frequently is “whatever makes the most money”. Young workers tell me that they cannot wait for an ideal job or a stable schedule. They need paid work now because they need it to cover rent. They need it to cover transportation costs to get to work, and they need to do all of that before they figure out how to eat. This morning at committee, one of our local food bank people came to talk to committee about the increase in food bank use in our region. It is so distressing to hear of the increase in the number of young people needing to use food banks. It is a direct result of how difficult it is to find the kind of work that will pay for rent and transportation and still leave enough for food. The Vancouver Island Real Estate Board reported a benchmark price of $798,400 for a single-family home in Nanaimo in September 2026, requiring a household income in the $165,000 to $200,000 range for it to be affordable. For most young people, that number is so high that it is virtually meaningless. The average rent for a studio apartment in Nanaimo as of October 26 is between $1,500 and $1,700. Average rent for a basement apartment in Ladysmith is running over $1,350 a month. That rent is considered affordable at a salary range between about $55,000 and $68,000 a year. That is hardly an entry-level job these days. Conservatives are trying to be constructive. To that end, we proposed the Conservative youth jobs plan, which includes a recommendation to build homes where the training and jobs are. Workers need housing near jobs, especially given the high transportation and fuel costs, and we need to make sure that those homes are affordable. I am pleased to see that the report we are discussing here today enshrines several of the concepts in our Conservative job plan in its formal recommendations, recognizing the need for stable funding for student workplace programs and more funded placements for young people facing financial barriers or living in regions with high youth unemployment. Funded placements can help employers assess a new worker and also let that new worker test whether a career is right for them. The report also recommends reducing tax and regulatory barriers to job creation and recognizing work across sectors, including in natural resources and manufacturing. VIEA’s economic update counts about 40,000 people employed in construction and about 18,000 in value-added manufacturing on the island. These are employment counts, not vacancies. What they show, though, is why training should connect to industries already employing people in our region. We call on the government to reduce both taxes and red tape to allow for productivity growth, which we believe will in turn help with youth unemployment. We need a climate where there is opportunity for people to start and grow a business, one that includes paid entry-level trades placements for young people, including those having trouble getting their first opportunity. We should measure whether the government’s announcements in this area lead to actual apprenticeships or whether they lead to ghost jobs, false opportunities and dead ends. The government’s own data validates these fears. Last spring’s economic update reported that more than 100,000 new apprentices registered in 2024, but only about 34,000 completed an apprenticeship. These are different cohorts, but the numbers highlight the need for registration targets to be matched with completion and employment results so that we can know whether these programs are effective. The committee recommends judging training programs by their effectiveness and shifting money away from programs that are not preparing young people for work. This would help Parliament see whether participants finish training and move into jobs, if the report is adopted and turned into real accountability. An apprentice may have to leave paid work for blocks of classroom training, to care for a relative or for other reasons. We need to recognize the dignity and value of all work and a firm respect for all sectors of the economy. The report recommends reviewing income support and adapting employment insurance to fit the way that many young people work today, including when they have to piece together shifts across employers or rely on seasonal work. That would fit Vancouver Island very well, where tourism and construction follow the seasons. Someone trying to finish an apprenticeship should be able to manage the weeks when the paycheques stop. The report also asks the government to consider youth employment opportunities when setting immigration levels, with attention to entry-level openings and affordability. Why we need to legislate that the government needs to do workplace planning is beyond me, but here we are. Young people are as diverse as Canada. The 15-to-24 age group includes full-time students looking for summer work and young people who have left school and need a full-time job. A program that works for one will not necessarily work for another, which is why we need a variety of programs and a thoughtful approach to this work. In addition, young people should get the chance to help shape these employment programs through meaningful consultations, and the results should be reported both by region and by the circumstances that affect access to that work. This is an issue that needs continuous monitoring. Parliament should receive regular reports on the share of young participants who complete training and remain employed in their field a year later. Parliament should pay attention to rates of youth unemployment, and we should be speaking about this topic far more in the House. That would show our youth whether the government’s trade target is becoming a real route into work. That is what we need at this time. We owe it to youth in Nanaimo—Ladysmith and across Canada to ensure that training can lead to a job that makes it possible to stay in our communities and that makes it possible to build a life that can include a home, a family and all of the opportunities we had.”

“Young people need help getting jobs right away. I urge the member to bring these ideas to his government colleagues. I am ready to work with him to turn our jobs plan into real policy.”

“Mr. Speaker, I can see from the length of my hon. colleague’s question that this is a topic he is genuinely interested in. I am pleased to see someone from the government taking this topic seriously. I would urge him to take to his colleagues the ideas that he has expressed, because our youth need the kind of support that the Conservatives are offering through the jobs plan that they are proposing. They need it as soon as possible. I would be happy to work with the member anytime to see our proposals and plans implemented into policies that will help youth in my communities and across Canada.”

“I will work with the member to push the government to use youth skills to fix 24 Sussex Drive, but a committee decides that. Young people spend too much time on screens and need more chances to learn trades and shop class in school.”

“Mr. Speaker, one of the things I love about our communities on Vancouver Island is that we have an incredible array of creative suggestions. I want to thank the member for that one. Unfortunately, that will not be up to me. That will be up to the committee that is planning the renovation of 24 Sussex. I would be delighted to join with the member in pursuing this proposal and encouraging the government to make use of the skills and creativity of our youth in every way possible. I would add one more thing. Part of the concern we have about our young people right now is that they spend so much time on screens, and they are not developing gross motor skills, except in their thumbs. I would love to see more youth getting the opportunity to learn shop and trades in school.”

“We want education and job training to match what employers need, so young Canadians can get good jobs here at home. I want the member to tell us what her community is doing to make that happen.”

“Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for the excellent work she does representing her constituents. One of the first things I did when I became shadow minister for jobs is spend a bit of time travelling around and talking to people in different regions. I spent some time in the member’s riding, and she set up some great engagements for me as part of that trip. I know she has been a champion of recognizing and appreciating trades work. Some of the recommendations we have put forward have been about doing more to align education and training with the needs of the labour market and training Canadian young people for jobs here in Canada. I wonder if the member can share a bit about the work happening in her riding to achieve that.”

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“I want to encourage young people to work in the skilled trades. My community, and Vancouver Island University, are great places to learn these skills.”

“Mr. Speaker, thank you so much for the time you spent in my community learning not just about trades, but about all the things that our young people are interested in. As the member knows, I am in the trades since I am a goldsmith. I look for every opportunity I can to encourage people to learn to do things with their hands because I find that very satisfying. We have an incredible university in my community, Vancouver Island University, and I would encourage anyone who is interested in the trades to look into my community as a place to learn.”

“The Speaker and the other Speakers are welcome to visit my riding anytime to see our communities.”

“Mr. Speaker, I want to ensure that the Speaker and all of his hon. colleagues as Speakers understand that they are welcome to come to my riding anytime. I would welcome them to see our communities.”

“Canada faces a youth unemployment crisis. The youth unemployment rate is 14 percent, and 48,000 young people lost their jobs last month. We need to support the Conservative plan to fix this. We must cut taxes and red tape to grow the economy, train youth for jobs that actually need workers like the skilled trades, build homes near those jobs, and fix our broken immigration system.”

“Mr. Speaker, I am thankful for the opportunity to speak about this motion tonight. I want to highlight the fact that everybody in Canada, if not the world, is welcome in Louis-Saint-Laurent—Akiawenhrahk, because obviously Quebec City is the most fantastic city in the world. As Prime Minister Harper used to say, each and every Canadian should have two cities in their heart. The first is where they were born and the second is Quebec City. However, as I was born in Quebec City, I have a conflict of interest. I want to talk about this debate today regarding youth employment. Young Canadians are currently facing a serious crisis. It is important to recognize that the teenage years are not exactly the best years in one’s life. We try things out, we discover ourselves a little and discover life. We face challenges that are sometimes a bit sad. Sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fail, but that is part of life. One of the great things about being a teenager, especially in our late teens on the cusp of becoming a young adult, is our first job. We all remember our first job. I would say it is the first step toward adulthood. It is a time when we stop being completely dependent on our parents, although, of course, we are always emotionally attached to them. We start making money. We start working. We start making some money. I will always remember how, in June 1980, I was working at the Brunet pharmacy at Place L’Ormière which, by the way, is still in business. When it changed hands about 10 years ago, I went to see the new owners to tell them that the pharmacy gave me my first job, and they were happy to hear it. Receiving that first paycheque at the age of 15, 16 or 17 is a big deal. In my day, in 1980, seeing a three-digit figure on a paycheque was really something. Earning $4 an hour and receiving a three-digit paycheque was fantastic. Those are memories that stay with a person. I am sure that my colleague, the member for Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, who is also the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance and a former Quebec finance minister, remembers that. He knows just how much respect I have for him. He balanced the Quebec government’s budget. I would encourage him to follow his own example to balance the federal budget. I am sure that he, too, remembers his first cheque, although it may have had four digits on it. Maybe he started working at a bank when he was 16, who knows. As we know, he has a Ph.D. in economics, which is no small feat. The reality is that a young person’s first job marks the first step toward adulthood, and it is something they remember forever. That is why it needs to be a great opportunity and a great experience. Right now, however, the youth unemployment rate in Canada is very high. We are talking about 14%. That is more than twice as high as Canada’s current unemployment rate of 6.5%, which is on the rise. We need to be cautious. That said, among young people 15 to 24, the rate stands at 14%. Over the past month, 48,000 youth jobs were lost. In Quebec, the situation is not necessarily any better, since the youth unemployment rate is twice as high as that of people 30 to 54. In short, from coast to coast to coast, and particularly in Quebec, we are facing a youth unemployment crisis. Members will recall that everyone had a job right after COVID-19. Businesses, coffee shops and plants everywhere kept saying that they were hiring. Some restaurants were even closed on Monday evenings because they could not hire enough staff. Whenever I ordered my coffee at the drive-through of a well-known national chain, I always thanked the lady or gentleman for being there to serve me. There were plenty of jobs available. Those were different times. The unemployment rate was 5.3%. In 2025, it rose to a little over 8%, and now in 2026, it is around 10%. Specifically, for those aged 15 to 19, the unemployment rate is 12.5%. In Ontario, the unemployment rate is 22.6%. In Alberta, the youth unemployment rate is 24.1%. Almost one in four young people is unemployed. Sadly, it reminds me of 1982-83, when youth unemployment was over 25% and interest rates were hovering around 21% or 22%. Every generation has its challenges. I will not make anyone cry about my generation today. I think of my father’s generation. He was told that they were going to put a helmet on his head and that he had to go and kill the Nazis to save humanity. Let us just say that it was much more demanding for my parents’ generation than for mine. At the same time, we hope that our children and grandchildren will have the same opportunities, which, unfortunately, is not always the case. To close on the issue of unemployment, among those without a high school diploma, the unemployment rate is at 17%. We need to tackle the issue of youth unemployment head-on. As I said earlier, people take great pride in taking that first step in their adult life, with a paycheque with three digits or sometimes four digits. It should be a good experience, and young people should be able to have that opportunity. The Conservatives have a four-point plan. First, we must free up the economy. The government keeps bragging about wanting to speed up major projects and cut red tape, but the fact remains that, after 11 years of Liberal governance, Canada is lagging behind in this area. It is crucial that we unblock major projects. We must fully develop our natural resources. We must also enable all of our research chairs to achieve their full potential. We must put an end to anti-resource laws. We must lower taxes to accelerate production and leave more money in businesses’ pockets so that they can grow, rather than forcing them to send money to Ottawa or to the provinces, which leaves them with less money. They know how to create wealth. It is not the government that creates wealth. It is businesses that do that. We need to give them more freedom to operate. We also need to fix the training system. The programs we have right now are too cookie-cutter, in our opinion. We need programs that are much better tailored to our needs. I am thinking of the Canada student financial assistance program in particular. We believe that we should focus on jobs where there are needs, jobs for which employers are actively seeking workers. Let us be very honest. In the past, we used to say that education is an investment. That is still true. Earning a university degree, whether at the undergraduate, master’s or doctoral level, remains important. We can all agree on that. I should point out that, when I was young, skilled trades were not held in particularly high regard. Today, we need these jobs, and young men and women can have amazing careers and lives with core trades that are essential to our economy. I am talking about plumbing and electrical work. People can do multiple tasks to build homes or build infrastructure. Those workers must not be overlooked. On the contrary, they deserve to be valued, just as all forms of work deserve to be valued. We also need to build housing where the jobs are. We often hear businesses in regions outside the major urban centres described as being “remote”. In reality, it would be just as accurate to say that the urban centres are remote from those regions. It may sound a little pretentious to describe them as being far away, but the distance from Montreal to the Gaspé Peninsula is exactly the same as the distance from the Gaspé Peninsula to Montreal. I checked. It is the same distance in both directions. A region should not be put down that way. I see that my colleague from Marc-Aurèle-Fortin agrees with me. He is nodding his head. To share a little story, when I was the leader of the provincial Action démocratique du Québec, or ADQ, I was in Matane when there was talk about opening a CEGEP in Montreal. I said that a CEGEP was going to open in Matane and that people from Montreal would come to Matane, because people from Matane go to Montreal, and the distance is the same both ways. We therefore have to overhaul training, build housing where the jobs are, and fix our immigration system. Unfortunately, for the past 10 years, Canada has pursued a one-size-fits-all approach to immigration. We opened the door like that with no respect for the immigrants themselves. Never forget that immigrants are the first victims of the kind of disrespectful immigration we have had for the past 10 years. Therefore, it is a cocktail of proposals that includes liberating the economy, overhauling training, repairing immigration and building housing to fight youth unemployment.”

“The government needs to listen to businesses instead of making one-size-fits-all programs. Job markets are different in each area. For example, Montreal has much higher unemployment than Chaudière-Appalaches. We must fix youth unemployment regionally, not nationally.”

“Mr. Speaker, the more things change, the more they stay the same. We are currently on the evening shift. That is where we find ourselves in 2026. In all seriousness, the MP and Parliamentary Secretary’s question is quite relevant. The federal government absolutely must listen to businesses and respond to their needs. All too often, the government introduces one-size-fits-all programs, assuming that a single approach will work for everyone, but that is not the case. Take immigration and employment issues, for example. The unemployment rate is much higher in Montreal than in Chaudière-Appalaches. In Chaudière-Appalaches—the right side of the St. Lawrence River—the unemployment rate is 2%. When I say “right”, I am exaggerating a little, but there are quite a few Conservative MPs across all constituencies. It is clear that, if we want to tackle the issue of youth employment, we must do so on a regional, not national, basis.”

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“It is getting harder for young people to get a first job. Starting work late means they miss out on money, experience, and skills for better-paying jobs. Can my colleague explain the long-term harms of entering the workforce late?”

“Mr. Speaker, my colleague spoke eloquently about the importance of a first job. I have fond memories of my own first work experiences. It is becoming increasingly difficult for young people to get their first job. When they are late entering the workforce, they acquire less experience and have less financial resources. They also have fewer opportunities to gain the skills they need to get better-paying jobs. Can my colleague explain the long-term consequences of entering the workforce late?”

“Young people need the chance to get their first job. During COVID, the government gave young people $2,000 a month to stay home. Businesses could not compete with that to hire them. Conservatives were right to oppose those payments.”

“Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague first and foremost for his excellent French. I do not know if anyone has seen him play the piano, but it is impressive. On top of that, he penned the biography of Quebec’s future premier, the current Leader of the Opposition. What young people need is to be given the chance and the privilege to experience the happiness of getting their first job. Unfortunately, I must bring up the sad memory of what happened during COVID. I know that we were flying by the seat of our pants, we all understand that, but it was too bad to see young people being given money to stay home. They received $2,000 a month. I am sure that all members heard from business owners and job creators who said that young people wanted to work, but that if they were getting $2,000 a month to stay home, employers could not compete with that. We pointed out at the time that this was a mistake. It was not easy to stand up against something that a lot of people clearly liked, but we did it, and it was the right thing to do.”

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“All Canadians should travel across the country to see how rich and beautiful Canada is.”

“Mr. Speaker, yes, absolutely, all Canadians are invited to travel the length and breadth of Canada to discover the riches and beauty of the most beautiful country in the world: Canada.”

“I want the government to agree to this committee report. Young people face a jobs crisis. The government should cut taxes and rules so businesses can hire again. It should link immigration to available jobs and homes. It should also bring back grants for apprentices, fund work placements, and help workers find homes they can afford.”

“Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Bowmanville—Oshawa North. Today’s debate is about whether young Canadians have a fair chance to get started in life. Too many young Canadians are sending out resumes and knocking on doors, but every day, they are finding that no one is calling them back and no one is hiring them. How are they supposed to build a future if they cannot get their first chance? I have a youth advisory council, and its members said to me that they feel as though they are on a bus that is driven by someone who does not look back to ask where the passengers want to go. All they can do is sit on the bus and look out the window. This is quite telling, but I have a message to these young Canadians: They deserve a seat on the bus, and they deserve to have a say as to where the bus is headed. Members of the House believe that their contributions, their insights as to what policies are best to help them are incredibly valuable. Let us imagine spending our last year of school looking forward to graduating, only to face months of unanswered job applications. The latest labour force survey shows that Canada lost 68,000 jobs in September alone, following another 42,000 lost in August. That is 110,000 fewer jobs in just two months. Youth unemployment stood at 13%. Employment among young Canadians aged 15 to 24 fell by 48,000 people in September alone. Let us think about the student who needs shifts in order to pay for school, or a graduate who keeps sending out résumés while the student loan payments are coming due. For young people, it often means putting off buying a home or starting a family. Young couples are putting their lives on hold. After months of unanswered applications, it is hard not to lose confidence. This is being felt close to home as well. York Region reports that the average monthly number of people receiving employment insurance rose by more than 56% between 2023 and 2025. That is 56% more families trying to pay their bills while also looking for work. The region’s review also found that although new job postings increased between December 2024 and December 2025, the share offering full-time work fell from 84% to 75%. Finding a posting and finding enough dependable work to pay one’s bills are two very different things. Young people should have the chance to save, become independent and build a future in their own community. I was door knocking in my riding of Newmarket—Aurora and met a young welder who was living in his parents’ basement. He said that he makes a good living but still cannot afford to buy a house. He wants to be independent. He wants to start his life, but he does not want to have to live two to three hours away from his parents. He wants to stay close to home and build a family in his own community, but it is nearly impossible for him to do that today. As a mother, I want my children to have that chance of building a future here in Canada. As a member of Parliament, I want every young person in Newmarket—Aurora and across this country to have that chance as well. A young Canadian cannot get a job at a business that cannot afford to hire one. That is why an employment plan has to address the costs facing the people who create those jobs. A small business owner has to make payroll every month before hiring another person. They need to know that they can afford to pay them. If the government wants young Canadians to be working, it needs to make it easier to open a business, to build a project or to hire another employee. The committee’s first recommendation calls for reducing taxes and red tape. Conservatives have proposed a youth jobs plan that starts with getting the economy moving by repealing antiresource laws, reducing taxes that discourage reinvestment and removing the red tape that is holding back homebuilding and business growth. We want businesses investing in Canada, taking on more work and hiring our people to do it. The report also calls on the government to consider jobs and housing when setting immigration levels, and to help qualified newcomers work in the field they have expertise in. We should not be inviting someone here with professional qualifications only to leave them unable to work in their profession. It is also unfair to young people when the government fails to consider how many entry-level jobs and homes are actually available. A young person looking for their first job and a newcomer trying to use their qualifications both deserve a fair chance to contribute and to build a career. The government needs to plan around the jobs and housing available and to work with the provinces to get qualified people working in their field. We also have to make sure that training leads to work. Young people put years into their education. Many take on debt, and many have their family make sacrifices to help them. Recommendation 10 calls for training funding to go to programs that actually help young people find work. If a program is not delivering, the government should not put money in that program but should direct that money to the program where it will give someone a better chance of getting hired. Our plan would give students more financial help if they choose to study in a field where employers need workers. That means looking at actual job market data and helping young Canadians train for jobs that need to be filled. Young Canadians also keep hearing that they need experience to get their first job. How are they supposed to get experience if they do not get a chance in the first place? The report recommends more student work placements and stable funding for the student work placement program, a program I benefited from when I was in university, in fact. That would help students get experience with an employer while they are still in school so they have something on their résumé when they graduate. Another recommendation suggests bringing back grants that help apprentices pay for their training. If we need more electricians, carpenters or plumbers, we must ensure that the young people entering those trades can finish the training. However, even with the right training and a job offer, there is another layer of complication, another challenge, which is to find somewhere to live. If a young person is willing to move for work but cannot find a home they can afford, how are they supposed to take the job? The report recommends studying a tax write-off for employers that build housing for their workers. My children are little, and I do not know where life will take them in terms of their careers, but I want them to know that they can build a good life here in the country we love, Canada. Young Canadians should be able to look forward to their future instead of wondering whether they will ever be able to afford it. The report gives the government clear recommendations it can act on now to make it easier for businesses to hire, help students get work experience, support apprentices through their training and help workers find housing where the jobs are. Young Canadians should be able to build a future in the country they call home. They are willing to work for it. it is time the government stopped making it harder for them.”

“I want the House to approve this report because it offers simple ways to fix the job skills shortage. Government and businesses need to work together to give students training and entry-level jobs. I also urge every member to set up a youth advisory council to hear directly from young people.”

“Mr. Speaker, that is an incredibly important question, and I am a firm believer that we will come up with the best policies when industry and government work close together to find the right policies. In speaking to young people, they want to be part of the solution. I would encourage every member of the House to create a youth advisory council and get recommendations from youth themselves. In speaking to businesses as well, I have learned that they often find a mismatch for the skills needed for a particular job, which is why training and entry-level experience is important for students. When we bring both parties, including the people who are part of the solution, to the table to have a discussion, we will have a better outcome in terms of policies. This report actually has some very simple solutions that would help ease the problem.”

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“Vocational schools help young people get jobs, but the government is attacking them as fraudulent. The government must stop doing this. We also need to recognize foreign credentials properly so trained professionals do not have to compete with young people for entry-level jobs.”

“Mr. Speaker, I have just a brief comment in response to the question from the Liberal opposite, who quite rightly highlighted the need to work on bridging the gaps that exist between employers and young people in skills development. One of the critical institutions that does that work in bridging the gap is the vocational institutions that work with employers to offer vocational skills that are highly aligned with the needs of the labour market. This is for young people, and the government is attacking them. In fact, the Minister for Jobs and Families has viciously and aggressively attacked these institutions and suggested they are all fraudulent. One thing the government needs to do is stop demonizing those who are doing this important work of trying to bridge the gap between employers and young people. I want to thank the member for raising the issue of credential recognition. When skilled professionals trained in other parts of the world are forced to compete with young people for entry-level jobs, that is a big loss to our economy in every sense. How can we do better at addressing this gap in credential recognition so that people who are trained can work in their areas of skill and leave space for young people in entry-level jobs?”