:
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the members of the committee as well for giving me the opportunity to talk to you about the labour program and why I think it plays such a vital role in our economy.
Canada, as you've heard, is making good progress towards recovery in this recession. We have strong fundamentals. We have prudent economic management by our government. Internationally, we're seen as a good place to do business and we want to keep it that way.
Now our job in the labour program is to support our government's goals of streamlining operations, reducing the burden of red tape, and finding efficiencies, but at the same time, we want to maintain those services we provide to Canadians. We are doing a couple of things. We are consolidating the Government Employees Compensation Act, otherwise known as GECA, to improve internal efficiency and effectiveness.
GECA provides injury benefits to federal public service employees or their dependants for work-related injuries and diseases. Last fiscal year, about $120 million was paid to individuals. The labour program also implemented the first stage of the labour electronic access forms project, or the LEAF project. This project takes previous paper-based reporting systems and streamlines them, which has reduced the burden on businesses and increased employer electronic reporting by 300%.
In general, and in the big picture, though, as the Minister of Labour, I want Canada to continue to be a good place to live and a good place to work. Our program is very busy in promoting safe, healthy, inclusive, and productive workplaces in federally regulated private sector businesses. Almost 10% of Canadians are employed in federally regulated sectors of the economy, such as banking, telecommunications, broadcasting, air, international rail, road, and pipeline transportation, shipping and related services, uranium mining, and of course crown corporations. These are only a small portion of industries in Canada, but they do provide the infrastructure that forms the backbone of our national economy. They are very important, and Canadians are entitled to be treated fairly on the job. Through our legislation, our programs, and our services, we try to foster good working conditions, workplaces that are free from discrimination, and as well, strong labour management relationships in the workplace, because we know that for our economy to thrive, we need to have labour peace and we need to have labour stability.
The labour program promotes cooperative labour relations in federally regulated businesses, and we do this through the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, otherwise known as FMCS. That's available to help workers and employers resolve their differences without resorting to a strike or a lockout. And just to give you an idea, last year our officers in FMCS helped with the ratification of more than 300 collective bargaining agreements under our jurisdiction. In the past five years, their success rate has been 94%. So 94% of collective bargaining negotiations were resolved without a work stoppage when FMCS was involved. It's a very good record. It's one that we're proud of.
We also work with parties to help them resolve issues and build cooperative relationships before they get to collective bargaining, and in that vein, FMCS provides preventive mediation assistance. They've done it in 68 workplace workshops and two conference workshops, and they've dealt with 50 grievance mediation cases in the past year.
But fostering a stable economy goes beyond ensuring labour peace. Good working conditions are one way to attract and retain skilled workers, and to optimize productivity as well. As Minister of Labour, occupational health and safety is a really big part of my mandate too. We are committed to working with unions. We're committed to working with employers and provinces, international partners and experts in the field, not only to raise awareness but also to improve occupational health and safety measures. We believe that people have the right to work in a healthy and safe environment, and all Canadians, no matter where they work or in what field they specialize, should return home safe after their workday.
In the past months, I have attended a number of events, and a number of MPs I know have attended events, to discuss important issues with respect to safety at work, especially April 28 being the day of mourning. The labour program has also introduced important initiatives to help protect our vulnerable workers. We are working to require federally regulated private sector employers to insure their employees’ long-term disability plans so that the promised benefits are there when they need them most, and we are protecting Canadian workers whose employers have gone bankrupt and closed down and didn't pay the money that was owed to Canadians.
Last year we added $1.4 million annually in operating funds to ensure that through the program that facilitates this, the wage earner protection program, the applicants get the benefits they are entitled to in a timely fashion.
The additional funding improved WEPP administration and improved the processing of the applications. Actually, in recent months Service Canada has exceeded its service standards for processing these applications. They complete more than 90% within the 42-day standard, rather than just 80% in the 42-day standard. Between July 7, 2008, and March 31, 2013, there have been 58,000 claimants, and they've received more than $133 million overall WEPP payments. Nearly half of those were fully compensated, with the remaining receiving the maximum payment.
On another note, we are also ensuring that parents of critically ill, murdered, and missing children can't lose their jobs while they're taking time to care for their families and themselves in these devastating situations.
Last year we eliminated mandatory retirement in the federal jurisdiction so that older workers may continue to work for as long as they wish.
Canada's deepening trade relationships with international partners provide significant economic opportunities for businesses in Canada. The labour program contributes to this by negotiating labour cooperation agreements or labour chapters in the context of free trade agreement negotiations. They're going on right now with the European Union, Morocco, Ukraine, Korea, Japan, and the 11 countries of the trans-Pacific partnership.
Last year we finalized the Canada–Honduras labour cooperation agreement. These labour cooperation agreements are really important because they protect workers' rights while we develop our trade relationships, ensuring a level playing field and a competitive position for our businesses.
The Government of Canada also promotes good governance internationally through the labour funding program. The program helps by supporting domestic and international projects to support labour rights and improve workplace safety around the world. I have seen first-hand a number of these projects in other countries.
Our government is committed to ensuring that workplaces are safe, healthy, and free from barriers to employment, because our workplaces really are the engine room of the economy, and all individuals should have that opportunity to achieve and contribute their full potential. Everyone—employers, employees, governments—has a role to play when it becomes apparent that we need to promote inclusive workplaces that are free from discrimination.
I am the minister responsible for employment equity, and I take the issue very seriously. Last month I tabled the 2011 Employment Equity Act annual report, which describes the progress made by federally regulated employers in achieving an equitable workforce and represents Canada's diverse population. The report took a look at hiring, retention, and promotion of women, aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, and members of visible minorities.
We know that embracing diversity includes being open to hiring women in non-traditional roles as well, and we need to embrace diversity to maintain our competitive edge in a global economy because we are facing labour shortages. No one in Canada should be refused employment for a reason that is unrelated to their working ability.
Mr. Chair, in conclusion, our government has never wavered from our commitment to Canadians to strengthen the economy. The labour program continues to work diligently to support this commitment while enabling fair, safe, inclusive, and productive Canadian federally regulated workplaces.
On that note, I will wrap up and welcome any questions people may have with respect to the work of the labour program.
Thanks.
Thank you, Madam Minister, for being with us today. We appreciate your being here. We share all of your concerns on health and safety in the workplace. The NDP hopes that all Canadian workers will not be risking their lives while trying to earn a living, and will be able to continue to benefit from the possibility of associating and organizing to negotiate their working conditions, that is to say, safe working conditions.
I want to ask you some questions on a matter that is of great concern to us. As the Minister of Labour, you are responsible for labour relations, and so I want to take advantage of your presence here to ask you some questions regarding division 17 of Bill . In that provision, Treasury Board gives itself some unprecedented powers to intervene in the collective bargaining of crown corporations. Those corporations have very particular missions and mandates and should indeed be independent and at arm's length from the government.
I was just at the Standing Committee on Finance where a professor from Queen's University, Mr. George Smith, told us that this interference was a breach of the spirit of the Canada Labour Code. According to that code, negotiations must take place between the employer, that is to say the crown corporation, and its employees. Thus, the federal government should not get involved in those negotiations.
Do you not think that this interference is unnecessary, and, as Mr. Smith pointed out, that it may jeopardize labour relations and collective bargaining and make them completely dysfunctional?
:
I'd like to thank the member for the question.
From the formation of the policy it made a lot of sense to bring in this program, and I agree with the member. The federal government will step into the shoes of the employee who's owed back wages, severance, and termination. We started with a program that was a little smaller in scope and we've expanded it twice. Those expansions have been important, because they reflect that we hear what's happening across the country.
We had a situation whereby wages were covered, and then we expanded it to include severance and termination, because we were hearing from people, unions and workers alike, around the country that this was needed, and we did that.
Then we heard in some cases there were people whose companies would try to reorganize or restructure or go into receivership and they were unsuccessful eventually, but the way the timing worked in the program, those people would not have been eligible for WEPP, so we expanded it again to make sure we captured those people.
It's one of those programs where you're continually listening to make sure you're getting it right, and the good part about it is that we're managing the money very well. Putting that extra money into the administration allows us to deal with matters more quickly. We have had an increase in the number of applications as a result of expanding the program, but I'm hoping we're going to see fewer bankruptcies around the country so that we'll not have to use the program as much.
It's a successful program in the way it's run, in that it gets money into the hands of people who very much need it, but it's a program that you don't want to have necessarily, because you're addressing a situation where employers are closing and not paying their employees. But we don't believe they should bear the brunt of it, so we step in and we make a payment to make sure that during that period of time they have some cover and help.
It's one of the clearest programs we've put in place that goes to the root of helping people, and you can see it around the country. As time goes by and we work with more trustees and more recipients and they understand how it works, our department works much better and we're able to move those service standards along. But the goal, quite frankly, is that we have a situation where people don't need access to this program.
:
I'll answer the questions.
In the Canada Labour Code, under federally regulated, it is mandated that should a member of the union request financial statements of the union leadership, they are to provide them free of charge. That is covered in the Canada Labour Code.
Bill is not solely limited to the Canada Labour Code. As you know, it's coming in through a different act that is pan-Canadian in all jurisdictions. There are three provinces in Canada—Alberta, P.E.I., and Saskatchewan—that have no reporting requirements within their provincial statutes. So there are three provinces where, even if you asked for financial statements, you're not necessarily going to get them; you can't get any information. There is a gap in terms of what can be asked for on reporting provisions across the country.
With respect to the burden, I will tell you that it's not an insignificant amount of money that we're talking about here. For the purposes of our own, we took a look at the federal private jurisdiction, the very general calculations that you can glean. It's about a half a billion dollars in dues that are paid in the federal private jurisdiction. That's just 10% of the entire workforce in Canada, and that's a significant number. If you extrapolate that, you're in the $5 billion range in terms of union dues and maybe even more.
So when you talk about the burden on unions, I think they have adequate resources to provide this information, which is being sought by their members, and I'm comfortable with Bill .
First I would like to say that Deputy Minister Shugart regrets he cannot be here today. He had other unmovable business to attend to.
[Translation]
I am pleased to appear before you in my capacity as Associate Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.
I would like to begin by introducing my colleagues who are with me today: Karen Jackson, Senior Associate Deputy Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and Chief Operating Officer for Service Canada; Alain Séguin, Chief Financial Officer, and Douglas Stewart, Vice-President, Regional Operations and Assisted Housing, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, who will speak to you later; Michel Tremblay, Director, Financial Planning and Budgets, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The department I represent helps Canadians at crucial stages in their lives, whether they are still in school or raising a family, looking for a job or retiring from the workforce. The department is responsible for delivering high-quality services that are timely and accessible, through Service Canada.
[English]
Allow me to offer the committee an overview of HRSDC's portion of the 2013-14 main estimates tabled on February 25 this year.
The estimates amount to $50.5 billion. Of this, $48.1 billion, or more than 95%, will directly affect and benefit Canadians through statutory transfer payments such as old age security, the Canada Pension Plan, the universal child care benefit, the Canada student loans and grants programs, and the Canada education savings grant.
Statutory items are included in the estimates for information only because Parliament has already approved the purpose of the expenditures and the terms and conditions under which they may be made through other legislation.
You will note that the forecasted spending on the old age security program increases year after year because of our aging population and the planned increase in the amount of the average monthly benefit. It is estimated that between 2009 and 2016 there will be an increase of more than one million beneficiaries for both the Canada Pension Plan and the old age security program.
Besides statutory items, the 2013-14 main estimates include quoted appropriations, which consist of two votes: HRSDC vote 1, on the operating expenditure side, and vote 5, grants and contributions.
In relation to vote 1, operating expenditures, the department spent $769 million in 2011-12. The department planned to spend $654 million in 2012-13, a decrease of $115 million, and plans to spend $627 million in 2013-14, a further decrease of $27 million.
The total decrease of $142 million is mainly attributable to the transfer of activities to Shared Services Canada; the 2010 strategic review; savings identified as part of the budget 2012 spending review or the deficit reduction action plan; and the allocation from Treasury Board central votes in 2011-12 to cover off expenditures such as the immediate settlements for severance pay due to revisions to specified collective agreements.
[Translation]
As for vote 5, Grants and Contributions, the 2013-2014 main estimates level is $1.76 million, an increase of $1 million from the 2012-2013 main estimates. This variance is mainly due to announcements in the 2012 Economic Action Plan such as the Youth Employment Strategy to assist more young people in gaining tangible skills and experience. These increases are offset by reductions attributable to the ending of programs and to the 2010 Strategic Review.
Through grants and contributions, the department grants funding to other administrations and organizations in the volunteer sector and the private sector to support projects which meet the needs of Canadians in the workforce and in social development. Please note that the funding of some of these programs is of limited duration, which can lead to variances in fiscal years in the case of a program that has not yet been extended.
For instance, the 2010 budget allocated $45 million over three years to the extension of the adaptation fund which finances the capital costs for construction and renovation work to make facilities more accessible to disabled persons. The fund expired on March 31, 2013. The 2013 Economic Action Plan proposes making the adaptation fund permanent and allocating $15 million a year to it.
[English]
The financial information included in the main estimates reflects the impact of the strategic review in 2011 and the budget 2012 reductions, which led to savings of $273.9 million and $40.5 million respectively in 2013-14. By 2014-15, the savings will reach $294 million from strategic review and $184 million from the budget 2012 spending review.
In budget 2011, the government reiterated its commitment to generate ongoing savings from operating efficiencies and productivity improvements by announcing the review of departmental spending. HRSDC did a thorough review, and the savings found in budget 2012 will ensure that we focus on core programs and services and streamline our internal operations.
At the same time, we are not reducing the quality of our services to Canadians. The implementation of the department's savings initiatives remains on track and savings targets will be met. These initiatives support the department's commitment to reduce government spending and provide greater value for taxpayers' money.
Savings initiatives from the deficit reduction action plan will result in the elimination of 1,885 full-time positions. HRSDC has a workforce management strategy in place to ensure all employees are treated according to the public service values and to help manage staffing changes over the next three years.
[Translation]
Since this is a more technical question, I believe it is important to point out that several changes were made to the format of the 2013-2014 main estimates in order to increase the amount of information provided and the overall usefulness of that publication. For instance, information on real expenditures in 2011-2012, and up-to-date estimates for 2012-2013 are provided to put the 2013-2014 figures in context.
In the case of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, you will note that employment insurance benefits and Canada Pension Plan benefits are excluded from the department's main estimates. The Employment Insurance operations account and the Canada Pension Plan operations account are two specified purpose accounts. The Employment Insurance operations account is included in the consolidated data of the Government of Canada. The Canada Pension Plan is not incorporated into the government's financial statements since—
I am pleased to be here today on behalf of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the CMHC.
As Canada's national housing agency, CMHC has a mandate to improve housing quality, choice and affordability for all Canadians.
[English]
In 2013-14, CMHC is estimating budget expenditures of $2.1 billion. Just over $2 billion of this amount will be used to provide assistance to Canadians in housing need, including low-income families, seniors, people with disabilities, aboriginal people, and victims of family violence. The balance will support CMHC's housing market analysis work and policy, research, and information transfer activities.
CMHC's estimated budgetary expenditures for 2013-14 represent a net decrease of $39.2 million from last year's main estimates. The difference is mainly due to savings as a result of budget 2012 reductions, reduced expenditures due to the expiry of long-term housing project operating agreements, and changes in the timing of funding requirements for new commitments of affordable housing. These reductions are partially offset by increases in operating expenses and an increase in funding for housing construction and rehabilitation on reserve.
The main estimates also reflect non-budgetary expenditures for CMHC. The number in the estimates is negative, as we will repay more than we borrow from the consolidated revenue fund in 2013-14. CMHC is estimating non-budgetary repayments of $41.9 billion this fiscal year, primarily due to changes in loan repayments under the insured mortgage purchase program.
Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to be here.
:
Mr. Chair, the selection criteria for these positions were published as part of the recruitment process. It was a very public process. Candidates were assessed against selection criteria to ensure they'd be able to determine appeals professionally and objectively and provide written reasons for their decisions.
Applicants meeting the essential education and experience requirements at the first level of screening were then asked to complete a written assessment, which included a knowledge test and a decision-writing test.
The knowledge test covers many of the criteria. It looks at the candidates' knowledge of the legislation related to the mandate and activities of the new tribunal: administrative law, principles of natural justice, practices followed by the administrative tribunals in Canada, the appeals process, and operation of an administrative tribunal.
In the decision-making part of the test, candidates were given a scenario in which they were asked to prepare a decision, which was to include a statement of the issue, the facts that were in the scenario, an analysis, and a conclusion. This test was scored by the Department of Justice lawyers at HRSDC.
The next step was the interviews, which assessed the other competencies we were looking for, including the ability to work effectively and independently, the ability to think conceptually, effective verbal communications, and personal suitability.
Through the screening process, we had 716 people who applied. Of those, 570 were screened in after meeting the essential criteria, and 490 were left after the knowledge test. There were 254 candidates left after the decision-making test, and 162 candidates were deemed to be eligible for the pool of candidates to be recommended by the minister for appointment. Out of 716 people, the pool was winnowed down to 162 for up to 70 positions.
I think the process was extremely rigorous and it was based on all of the criteria that were published—many levels of knowledge and ability and a capacity to work effectively.
:
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for bringing a focus to the strategies to retain and recruit older workers, and thank you for the opportunity to present on the study.
CARP is a national non-profit, non-partisan organization, with about 300,000 members across the country and 56 chapters. We advocate for changes in public policy that will improve our quality of life as all Canadians age.
The issue of older workers actually straddles our main advocacy pillars: our financial security, our rights, and to a large extent our health.
Canadians are continuing to work because they want to and because they need to. Older workers represent an increasing proportion of the workforce, partly because of the size of the boomer generation and partly because that group is staying in the workforce longer.
Despite the gains in workplace equity and the more common presence of older workers in the workplace, they still face barriers in keeping the jobs they have, in getting new ones, or returning to the workforce after leaving it to care for loved ones or to recover from the devastation of their savings in the recent market crash.
To address some of these concerns and barriers, CARP recommends that the federal government work with the provinces to develop, fund, and support phased retirement benefits and flexible work schedules; extension of workplace health and dental coverage; job match, skills training, and transition support programs; caregiver support, caregiver leave, and long-term care insurance coverage; and innovative management strategies to create, say, an emeritus role for older workers, intergenerational sensitivity, and zero tolerance for workplace age discrimination.
First, of course, we should decide who we mean when we say “an older worker”.
If we mean those Canadians who are over 55 years of age, we're talking about 3.5 million Canadians who are in the workforce today, or nearly 20% of the Canadian workforce.
If we include all those over 45—in some industries, that's an older worker—we're talking about nearly 8 million Canadians, or about 44% of the Canadian workforce. This is a huge group of people who can be affected by the ideas that come out of this committee.
The surprising group is those over 65, those we don't normally think of as a priority target for recruitment or retention in the workforce. Over 600,000 seniors are in the Canadian workforce today, double the number in 2006, when there were just over 300,000 seniors in the workforce.
This reflects some positive trends. Canadians are living longer, healthier lives, and with the end of mandatory retirement are continuing to contribute to the economy.
The rate of increase is also instructive. In addition to the almost doubling of the number of seniors in the workforce since 2006, those aged 60 to 64 increased their participation by 46%. This increase in participation is happening at a time in their lives when we would be expecting them to be winding down.
The largest part of the increase took place in 2008, when the economy took a nosedive and retirement savings were devastated.
This leads to the other main reason that Canadians are still working: they need to.
In fact, when we polled our members this past weekend in preparation for this presentation, we found that among those still working, the reasons were almost equally divided between wanting to and needing to.
A number of surveys have focused on people who tell us that they're deferring their retirement. In our poll, we found that those who had already retired did so by the time they were age 60. Among those who have not yet retired, they do not expect to do so until age 71. That's just within the sample of our members.
Your challenge to us—to identify the strategies for employers to recruit and retain older workers—is certainly a very positive characterization of the issue. In fact, we first have to establish that there is a trend among employers wanting to recruit and retain older workers. Certainly this committee's work might spark that trend, but it's not the reality on the ground.
Surveys conducted by StatsCan and private polling firms have reflected the sense by older workers that they are undervalued, discriminated against due to their age, and pessimistic about their job prospects. Indeed, when we polled in December 2011, fully one-quarter of them said they had either themselves suffered age discrimination in the workplace or knew somebody who had. Almost half thought this was a very common situation in the workplace.
Nonetheless, our members tend to prefer to focus on strategies and solutions, as evidenced by their support of the government's elimination of mandatory retirement, which took effect in December 2012. That was something that CARP had pursued vigorously over the years. That removed legislated age discrimination, along with the previous changes in provincial legislation, but that didn't necessarily eliminate workplace age discrimination generally.
Just to reinforce that there's a real need today to still deal with that issue, the Ontario government quietly passed legislation in 2011 to restore mandatory retirement for firefighters, based on the same regressive arguments, I might add, that I had to listen to when we came before this committee and others to ask for the elimination of mandatory retirement in federally regulated industries. It should come as no surprise that people said they did not get the same opportunities for advancement, they were more likely to be laid off, and they were given undesirable work assignments, all on account of their age. It explains their strong support for a workplace that ensures equal opportunity and equal pay regardless of age.
Employers can be asked to demonstrate that they indeed value older workers in the workplace by addressing the actual needs of older workers, extending health and dental coverage beyond the usual age 65 limitation, phasing in retirement or flexible work schedules to accommodate their need to wind down and to care for a loved one, creating proactive programs to actively recruit older workers, and/or involving them in specific projects to have a specific goal in the organization.
Not much weight was given in our polling for long service recognition awards and programs. These people are confronted with hard choices in their lives and need real work, fair treatment, and remuneration and benefits they can actually use.
These strategies would certainly help employers to retain older workers, primarily by demonstrating that they actually want them to stay.
Strategies are also needed to help older workers find jobs. Older workers have told pollsters they believe they are not getting jobs because of their age, and far-sighted employers, who choose to target older workers in their recruiting, are highly likely to have a very strong response. That's why CARP is very supportive of the Third Quarter initiative, which was given $6 million over three years in the 2012 budget to match prospective employers with qualified employees.
Of importance here is that it actually overcomes one of the major barriers that older workers and candidates face; that is, they have found that there are unreceptive employers who see their age as a disadvantage. Looking over the jobs that are available, we see there are more full-time jobs instead of casual and more insecure jobs.
Lastly, I want to focus on the opportunity to innovate in the workplace. I think employers have to anticipate the need for intergenerational sensitivity and tensions. They need to develop clear roles for older employees, such as recruitment, outreach, special projects, or mentoring. Work schedules need to be adjusted so that they can accommodate perhaps part-time employment for busy periods, seasonal changes, a reduced work week, and so on.
In conclusion, older workers want to continue to contribute to the Canadian labour force. Governments, government leadership, and support is needed, along with forward-thinking employers, to ensure that we benefit from that contribution.
Thank you very much.
:
Mr. Chair, ladies and gentlemen members of the House, on behalf of the president of the Fédération des aînés et aînées francophones du Canada, Mr. Michel Vézina, who could not be present today, I want to thank you for having invited the federation to appear before the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.
The Fédération des aînés et ainées francophones du Canada speaks for 400,000 francophone persons of 50 years of age or more who live in minority situations in Canada. We represent 27,000 senior francophone members who pay dues to our network. Our organization's mission is to defend the rights and interests of senior francophones in Canada and to promote their needs so as to allow them to achieve their full potential in their language and culture.
Our federation comprises 11 member federations, present in each of the Canadian provinces. We are very pleased about that. Over the past few years, we have noted that the issue of employment among seniors and retired persons was becoming a matter of increasing concern. Seniors and retirees are telling us in greater and greater numbers that their incomes are insufficient and that they have to continue to work or return to the labour market.
The fact that Canadians are less and less financially prepared to retire, and the fluctuations of financial markets these past years, mean that a large number of people of 50 and over have to continue to work, even beyond the age of 65.
The situation will persist, and worsen over the coming years. That is why it is important to ensure that this phenomenon is dealt with properly, both as concerns seniors and retirees who want to continue to work or return to the labour market, and in terms of employers.
With the aging of the Canadian population and the labour shortages that may well follow, Canada does not have a choice and has to react and be proactive in promoting, recruiting and retaining older workers.
This aspect is all the more important for our minority francophone communities. In a labour market where the absence of qualified bilingual personnel is already perceived as a serious social problem, one can readily see that with the rapid aging of the francophone workforce, the situation is only going to get worse in the next few years, especially given that our minority francophone communities are quite aged. We must thus promote conditions that will encourage older francophone and bilingual workers to remain in or to return to the labour market, and preserve the capacity of the labour market to provide services in both official languages.
A study conducted near the end of the 2000-2010 decade by one of our member federations, the Fédération des aînés et retraités francophones de l'Ontario, showed that the challenges to employment for persons of 50 years or more remain major.
I will begin with obstacles to employment. The study showed that there was a lack of awareness among employers. In total, we interviewed 287 employers in Ontario. Even if 69% of them were favourable to putting in place certain measures to meet the needs of older workers, the vast majority of them had never had the opportunity to think about this topic before the study, and no measures had been put in place in businesses or agencies to meet the needs of older workers.
The study also showed that there was sometimes a lack of flexibility on the part of certain employers. The study clearly demonstrated that certain employers were reluctant to put in place measures to encourage older workers to stay on the job.
It must also be said — and my colleague mentioned this earlier — that there are still a lot of biases against older workers, and this prejudice is persistent. These biases are often related to ideas about absenteeism, the lack of ability to adapt to changing conditions, an inability to withstand pressure and stress, or an inability to adapt to new technologies. However, all of the studies show that older workers have lower rates of absenteeism than younger employees, that they are very loyal to their employer, that they have acquired experience and expertise that allow them to adapt to changing situations, and that growing numbers of retirees are very much up to date on technology. As a case in point, I might mention that when I have problems with my computer, I turn to people of 65 or 70 to help me resolve them.
Seniors and retirees encounter another obstacle, that is to say pension programs that are sometimes poorly adapted to the needs of older workers. The fact that seniors have to reimburse a part of the old age security benefits in no way serves to encourage them to return to work. Because of this many of them are less inclined to return to work or to put in a few more hours, since they have to reimburse a part of their benefits.
However, we would like to point out that changes made in 2012 to the Canada Pension Plan do constitute a considerable incentive for people of 50 years or more who want to continue to work.
As for the needs expressed by older workers, seniors and retirees, the study conducted by one of our member federations showed that those who want to stay on the labour market or return to it want shorter schedules and the possibility of working part-time. They are also very open to sharing positions not only with their peers, that is to say with semi-retired colleagues, but also with younger people in mentorship programs. So they are very open in this regard. In fact, the seniors and retirees who were interviewed were very favourable to the idea of being able to transmit their know-how and expertise to the younger generation.
Another need that was expressed was to be able to choose their schedule. They referred to the possibility of working half-days or in very compressed blocks of time, and of having access to leave without pay and flexible working hours. Many of these people would like to travel. And so they would like to be able to take extended leave, often beyond normal vacation periods. They would also like to be given the opportunity of working at home. Working on contract becomes very interesting for many retirees and older workers.
In terms of support services, senior workers and retirees in our communities told us that they would like to have employment and guidance services that are better adapted to the needs of workers of 50 years or over.
Our experience on the ground shows that it is not always easy for existing employment services to adapt to the needs and realities of persons of 50 years or more. The approach to be used with people of that age is very different from the one that is appropriate for a younger clientele that is just entering the labour market.