Thank you for your question, Senator Poirier. The problem of labour shortages is acute in many provinces and regions within provinces. The government has a number of different measures that it has brought forward and is working with its provincial and territorial partners to address this question. Some of these include reforming economic immigration programs to expand pathways for permanent residency for temporary foreign workers, working with communities and employers to welcome skilled refugees to fill labour shortages and establishing a trusted-employer system to streamline application procedures so that temporary workers can get full-time work.

With respect to more specific groups within the labour force, again, government initiatives like child care should, as the experience in Quebec demonstrated in a spectacular fashion, increase the number of women able to join the workforce, therefore also addressing the labour shortage and helping bolster our economy.