Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s always a pleasure to see you in that seat.

Today I’m proud to be rising in the House to talk about the third reading of Bill 149, the Working for Workers Four Act, 2024. As always, Madam Speaker, I want to start by thanking the supreme God for giving me the ability to stand in this place. Thank you to the residents of Mississauga–Malton for giving me an opportunity to serve. Thank you to my family and friends for always supporting me. And thank you to the staff; you’re always ahead of us, so that we can stand up and be the voice of our riding and our government.

Madam Speaker, it is an honour to join the Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development—and my fellow parliamentary assistant who will be speaking after me—in highlighting the important measures this bill is going to have in place. We will be talking about AI, improving oversight and helping the newcomer, through my speech.

I want to begin by saying that in a few short months in the new portfolio, our minister has done an incredible job by bringing these policy solutions forward to address the issues facing workers across our province. At the same time, I want to take an opportunity to thank our leader, our Premier, for his support for standing up for the workers. Without his leadership, this is not possible. That is why, Madam Speaker, the changes we’re making under these acts are helping millions of workers in our province, and we’ll continue to support them.

Talking about AI in job postings, Madam Speaker: Our government’s focus has been to help not only workers in our province, but also the job seekers. The Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development spoke earlier and talked about the importance of disclosing salary ranges, but we must also consider that the ways we look for employment have drastically changed.

Once upon a time, I do remember, when I came to Canada on January 15, 2000, we used to have a paper-based résumé. We’d go door-to-door and we’d ask for a job. Things have changed since then, Madam Speaker. We know, in the last few decades, with the changes in technology, there has been a very rapid shift in how people look for and apply for jobs. With the rise of Internet and the modernization of our world, most job ads are now posted online. By the way, back then it was even harder for us as a new job seeker to go and find a computer. Now we have computers everywhere. In fact, we have that power in our phones, as well.

While this makes job postings more accessible, it does come with challenges. More specifically, there have been recent technological developments in the artificial intelligence space. Technology and life have to move on. There are advantages of technology. Yes, there is always trouble and the constraints that comes with it. The use of AI has been skyrocketing in virtually every aspect of our professional lives. In fact, in February 2023—just look at the data: five, 10, 15 years back—it was almost zero; today, almost 7% of all businesses in Ontario were planning to adopt some level of AI assistance over the next 12 months. It may sound as a little bit as 7%, but think about it: If you go back 10 or 15 years, nobody used to do online shopping. Today, online shopping is normal. And that is why, Madam Speaker, rather than waiting for the time to come, we are taking decisive action today. With that, our government is making sure to change our laws and protect the changes in the workplace so that job seekers do not have to go through the trouble.

While the application of AI promises greater efficiency and accuracy, it can also adopt harmful biases and decision-making practices without the employer’s knowledge. That is why the use of AI in recruitment generates high volumes of personal data about job applicants and the employees. For a worker who applies to an online ad, within the fraction of a second of hitting send on their résumé, a recruiter’s AI system can choose the applicant as a preferred candidate and screen out thousands of other applicants. AI systems are able to determine age, sex, race, religion, political affiliation and can even evaluate social media accounts to see if someone’s personal traits could be a fit or not fit for the company’s culture. That level of information is deeply concerning. Everyone should have a fair and equal shot at a job, and things like age, sex, race, religion should not be a barrier for employment.

That is why, Madam Speaker, in response to growing concern about the ethical, legal and privacy implications of AI, our government is also proposing to require employers to disclose in job ads if AI is being used in the recruitment process. If the legislation is passed, it would make Ontario the first jurisdiction in Canada to require businesses to disclose on publicly advertised job ads if AI is used. It is critical that we strike a balance between transparency and also supporting technological innovation, and that is what we’re doing here through this bill.

As I said, I came to Canada on January 15, 2000. Like any other newcomer, I do remember the time when we came here, the jobs were there, but the support structure was not present. Now, Madam Speaker, the government of Ontario, with its open arms, has long been a place where people from all corners of the globe can seek new opportunities and start a fresh life. Immigrants bring a wealth of culture, knowledge and experience, and many of our caucus members are immigrants and we do know that. Many of us could be working in professions and skilled trades we desperately need as engineers, architects and teachers, but at the same time, we continue to face barriers. This is simply unacceptable, especially when we talk about Ontario having a labour shortage with over 200,000 jobs going unfilled.

Madam Speaker, when I came to Canada, I had an undergrad in chemical engineering, but I was not able to find work in exactly what I was doing. Thankfully, by God’s grace, I was able to start my career in a similar industry. But not everybody gets that chance. The data shows only a quarter of internationally trained immigrants in Ontario work in their regulated professions, compared to 50% of those who are domestically trained. What does that mean? It means that with these unfair barriers we are losing a lot of opportunity.

Scotiabank, for example, in a 2021 report, estimates that bringing immigrant unemployment and labour market participation rates in line with the Canadian-born population could increase Ontario’s GDP by $12 billion to $20 billion per year, and if you look at a five-year span, it could be as good as $100 billion. With that what comes is it gives the newcomers and residents of Ontario more prosperity. Plus, at the same time, when we’re increasing the GDP, everyone thrives. The government gets extra revenue; the government can use it to serve more people.

It begins, at the same time, with addressing barriers internationally trained individuals may face when having their qualifications assessed. That is why regulated professions sometimes rely on third parties when conducting assessment of qualifications for newcomers. What are we doing? We’re making sure that with the proposed changes to the Fair Access to Regulated Professions and Compulsory Trades Act our government would have the authority to be able to put rules in place to improve transparency and accountability for the assessment of qualifications by regulated professions, especially when they work with third parties to conduct these assessments. These amendments, if passed, would provide authority to make a regulation to ensure that the regulated professions work transparently with their third-party partners to be able to assess newcomer qualifications with more accountability and stronger oversight. We’re making sure that our system is more efficient and improves the experience for immigrants. It would also help them transition into good jobs right here in Ontario while meeting our province’s labour standards.

Madam Speaker, it’s not just that we’re doing; we’re actually making sure we are going the extra mile to support our newcomers by prohibiting Canadian experience requirements in job postings and application forms. There’s another barrier that newcomers face in recruitment places that screens them out of the job opportunity. When we talk about the chicken or the egg: For anyone to get a job, every time they go to an employer, the employer will ask for Canadian experience, and to get Canadian experience, they need a job. If they don’t have a job, they don’t have Canadian experience, and if they don’t have Canadian experience, they don’t get a job. That is exactly, Madam Speaker—we’re making sure that we are prohibiting Canadian experience requirements in job postings and application forms.

This bill, if passed, would help ensure that newcomers with the right job qualifications are not screened out of job postings before those qualifications are even considered. This new legislation would also make Ontario the first in Canada to prohibit the inclusion of any requirements related to Canadian experience in publicly advertised job postings in employment standards legislation.

Connecting a newcomer with a job that they are qualified for means that it’s not just a paycheque; it is prosperity. It allows them to unleash their full potential in careers that are meaningful and personal to them and allows them to contribute as a community in their new home. It is a win-win situation.

Madam Speaker, in closing, I want to say thank you to the workers of Ontario. You’re the driving force for our province. We’ve seen in our province, when we started as a government in 2018—more than 700,000 new workers are working today. The revenue of government increased from $150 billion to over $202 billion in the last five years. Thank you for all your hard work. Thank you for making sure that we, together, are able to build Ontario, push innovation and contribute to economic growth.

Ontario, as we know today, is leading the way in putting workers first. Our latest Working for Workers bill, if passed, will help workers find good jobs, while helping to build a stronger Ontario that works for all of us.

I call on all members of this House: Let’s join hands. Let’s support our workers. Let’s support Bill 149, the Working for Workers Four Act, 2023, and let’s build a better and a stronger Ontario.