Citing skilled labour shortages and affordable housing shortfalls as priorities, the local business community had much to tell federal Minister Filomena Tassi on Tuesday.
“You need the talent to work in the jobs to develop the housing, so if any one of those pieces is missing, then the table or the stool has two legs rather than three,” Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Debbi Nicholson told Sudbury.com after the day’s meeting.
“If you’re going to attract skilled people to your community you’ve got to be able to house them.”
On a tour to gather feedback on the federal government’s latest budget, Tassi, the minister of Public Services and Procurement, stopped by Greater Sudbury on Tuesday to meet with the local business community at the downtown Chamber of Commerce office.
She was joined by Sudbury Liberal MP Viviane Lapointe in hosting the meeting to discuss both the budget and the local business community’s ongoing needs – a group represented by an eclectic cross section of proponents, from small business to larger-scale mining sector.
Their chief points of concern – skilled labour shortages and housing – won’t come as a surprise to anyone following the news, as they’ve been oft-repeated concerns in recent months.
On this front, Lapointe pointed to the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program as a priority highlighted during Tuesday’s meeting, at which the business community said they’d like to see it become permanent.
“It has been very successful in attracting and retaining new Canadians here in Sudbury,” Lapointe told Sudbury.com, adding that it was clear coming out of the day’s meeting that she needs to advocate for the pilot program to receive a permanent funding source.
Nicholson echoed this sentiment, noting that it’s been very successful in bringing talented immigrants to the community, which “just grow our community in many ways.”
The city’s new director of economic development, Meredith Armstrong, also cited the program as a priority moving forward in conversation with Sudbury.com late last year. The program’s third year is currently rolling out thanks to a $400,000 investment the federal government announced last year. It is currently planned as a five-year project.
Skilled labour shortages have been cited in various sectors, and have also been linked to rising housing costs and future shortages due to there not being enough people to build as many new homes as the market demands.
“The labour shortage is a concern, so a real focus on looking at what we have done as a government to support labour and ensuring we’re making the proper investments to invest in workers,” Tassi said, pointing to the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot program as one success alongside a new mobility tax deduction for tradespeople.
This deduction allows workers who travel to claim the cost of their hotel and other expenses so they can take on work in other communities.
“If they didn’t have that credit, then they’d just claim employment insurance … because maybe in the area there isn’t the demand, whereas this incentivises them to get to the job,” Tassi said, adding that she was “delighted” to see this platform point become a reality in Budget 2022.
On the housing front, Tassi pointed to various efforts, such as the Rapid Housing Initiative, which aims to create new affordable housing units for vulnerable people, a first-time home buyer tax credit, a Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights and steps to make home inspections a right as helping.
Lapointe noted that affordable housing is the largest gap in the city’s housing continuum, as it is in most places, and that co-operative housing opportunities and rent-to-own deals to shift people toward home ownership will help.
As the local Chamber of Commerce pushed for in the lead-up to the federal budget dropping last week, ongoing pandemic supports were again discussed today.
“If another wave comes, then we will always take a look at what other supports are needed to bring businesses through this time,” Tassi said, adding that as Procurement minister, she’s confident the country remains poised to get what they need, when they need it.
“We got vaccines in arms in a year, and so for us, it’s making sure that as we move forward we’re always looking ahead, and to ensure that we have what we need,” she said, citing their procurement of rapid-tests as demand “went through the roof” in recent months as an example.
The federal government has also launched the Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies to better prepare for future waves of this pandemic and whatever other emergent situations might arise.
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
