Human Resources committee  It was really groundbreaking work.

Human Resources committee  We know that in some ways the federal jurisdiction is limited in terms of the businesses. Certainly the vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprises are within provincial jurisdiction. We know that provinces are watching this process very carefully. I've heard directly from provinces that they're waiting to see how we do this and then they'll head down similar paths themselves.

Human Resources committee  That's been an ongoing—

Human Resources committee  There are two aspects to the conversation around timeline. There's setting a date in this bill by which accessibility will be achieved. Then there's also setting timelines within the standards themselves. Some jurisdictions go for rolling timelines. They will establish the employment standard within five years and it will then apply two years later.

Human Resources committee  It speaks very clearly to the idea I was just talking about. It's enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It's the notion that accessibility changes as a concept, so what is acceptable today will not be acceptable in 10 years. The standards will change and we will expect more of people as our thinking evolves.

Human Resources committee  Sorry, to clarify, do you mean the technical details of the standards themselves in the legislation?

Human Resources committee  It's for the same reason I articulated earlier, that we did not want to get into a situation where... Do you mean in the body of the law or as a prepared regulation to be adopted immediately?

Human Resources committee  I would suggest that the law actually lays out a very clear pathway to how we're going to get there, by setting up a standards organization: how that's going to be set up, what they're going to do to develop the standards, the priority areas that we heard through the consultations, whether it's employment or service.

Human Resources committee  I think that's a reality that we are intimately familiar with. We know that disability rates are estimated at around 14%. I would say it's a little higher, but let's go with 14%. Within 15 years, including Canadians who are elderly and with mobility impairments, that's anticipated to go up quite significantly, to over 20%.

Human Resources committee  Welcome to my world.

Human Resources committee  Whether you can't see, and if you're elderly and now you use a mobility aid, you, too, are going to be impacted by this law.

Human Resources committee  What the Conference Board has estimated is that by fully including Canadians with disabilities in the workplace, those who can work, and accommodating these individuals, there's an estimated 1.3% to 1.9% growth of GDP, which is $26 billion to $38 billion annually. It's very significant.

Human Resources committee  I'll give you an example. There's a group in British Columbia called the Presidents Group, which is a group of CEOs from major companies. They have completely recognized the economic potential that we're talking about today. Vancity credit union can show you, and can tell you, how hiring more inclusively has impact at the bottom line quite significantly, whether it's being able to address labour shortages through this untapped labour pool or creating a culture of diversity that results in more innovative solutions.

Human Resources committee  Thank you. These are excellent questions. Again I can talk forever about this, so I'll keep it succinct, Mr. Chair. The point is that we need to establish in the standards the timelines you're talking about. We need to set clear timelines. There are existing standards that are world-class within Canada and internationally that can be adopted immediately and then built upon.

Human Resources committee  The framework established through this legislation will allow for a very technical standard to be developed. Imagine a scenario down the road where counter heights will be dictated through standard. You can imagine that putting that in law would be incredibly clunky, for lack of a better word.