Hon. Peter Harder: Thank you very much for being here, secretary of state.

There is a theme going on here. I want to speak about the ability of Canada’s labour force to meet the demands that we anticipate with major projects and other infrastructure, as well as the training and attraction that are both necessary. Yesterday, at the major projects special joint committee hearing, we heard about the need to better coordinate the project demands with the existing labour force.

Can you expand upon your earlier comments about work that is under way? I am thinking of the testimony last night with respect to the barriers between provinces and territories that are adding costs and delays.

Hon. John Zerucelli, P.C., M.P., Secretary of State (Labour): Thank you very much, senator. It is nice to see you.

There are a number of different aspects to that question. The starting point is just understanding the scope of the problem. We expect a number of retirements to take place over the next 10 years. There is also the scale of building, and you put that into a bit of a mix. There is also our ability and capacity to bring in new people and put that into the mix. In the next 10 years, we expect there to be a shortfall.

This is why, in the last budget, we then announced a multi-phase plan. Remember, apprentices are largely a provincial and territorial responsibility. We have to try to fill the gaps. One aspect of that is encouraging employers, through incentives, to bring on young apprentices and ensuring and encouraging young people to finish their Red Seal trades apprenticeship with a $5,000 grant. We are very excited about that, by the way.

There are those aspects of incentivizing, and I could go into more details about that plan, but that is part of it: ensuring we actually have people working —

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The Hon. the Speaker: Thank you, secretary.