Our Appearance Before Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities

February 3, 2026

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On December 9, 2025, Pascal Chan, Vice President of Strategic Policy & Supply Chains at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, appeared before the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities to highlight why reliable supply chains are essential to Canada’s trading economy. He addressed the growing impact of labour disruptions on businesses and workers and called for reforms to the Canada Labour Code to protect critical trade infrastructure, boost productivity, and preserve Canada’s credibility as a global trading partner.

The opening remarks are available below.

On January 30, the Canadian Chamber submitted our recommendations for the HUMA study on the definition of “work” and the use of section 107 in the Canada Labour Code.

    My name is Pascal Chan. I’m the Vice-President, Strategic Policy and Supply Chains, at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, which is Canada’s largest and most activated business network, representing over 400 chambers of commerce and boards of trade across the country, as well as 200,000 businesses of all sizes in all sectors and all areas of the country, working to create the conditions for our collective success. 

    I’d like to start by thanking the members of the committee for taking on this important study and for inviting me to appear today. 

At the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, we spend a considerable amount of time talking about economic growth, productivity and Canada’s competitiveness in the global economy. 

That begins with who we are, and we are a trading nation. According to the World Bank, trade accounts for two-thirds of Canada’s GDP, and so reliable supply chains are non-negotiable. 

With that said, the list of challenges that impact our supply chains yet sitting outside our control continues to grow: the COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather events such as wildfires and floods, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, attacks on merchant vessels in the Red Sea, and a historic drought in the Panama Canal. The next obstacle is surely just around the corner. 

Here at home, you’d be forgiven for thinking we must be doing everything in our power to protect our ability to trade, but you’d be mistaken. Our Business Data Lab’s analysis of Employment and Social Development Canada data revealed that in 2023, we lost the most working days to labour disruption since 1986. 

Last year, the Canadian rail network ground to a halt, and then later, our largest east and west coast ports shut down simultaneously. Looking back a couple of years, you can add in Vancouver grain terminals, the St. Lawrence Seaway, two major airlines and the B.C. ports, again, along with an overwhelming strike mandate for Canadian border services agents. 

When it’s all said and done, it really feels like we’ve outright progressed to flaunting how little we care about ensuring businesses can keep the lights on and cut the paycheques that Canadian workers use to provide for their families. This hasn’t gone unnoticed. Canadians are concerned. 

A recent survey conducted by Nanos Research revealed that Canadians are 11 times more likely to say that the federal government is doing too little when it comes to ensuring labour stability and the reliability of our nation’s critical supply chain, while the majority of respondents are also concerned about the impact of labour disputes on the affordability and availability of goods. 

Additionally, Statistics Canada’s Canadian Survey on Business Conditions revealed that in Q2, exporters, usually among the most optimistic businesses, were trailing other firms, with that advantage completely eroded. The drop reflects supply chain disruptions, tariff anxieties, higher costs, and softening demand. 

The Bank of Canada has raised the pressing need to increase productivity, noting in its assessment that our nation has trade agreements granting us better access to global markets than any country in the world. Along with that access comes opportunity, and the world increasingly needs what Canada can provide. We have the resources to meet the world’s demand for food and energy security, but we risk squandering that opportunity if we don’t act with urgency. 

Looking at where we are today, free flowing trade with the United States is no longer a given. The  Prime Minister  has stated his objective of doubling Canada’s non-U.S. exports over the next decade. 

While speeding up our ability to build trade-enabling infrastructure projects is critical, so is convincing our international trading partners that we can, quite literally, deliver the goods. 

Trade is built on trust; if Canadian companies cannot get their goods to market, we risk losing those markets while compromising efforts to diversify our trading relationships. 

The government should amend the Canada Labour Code to provide new dispute resolution tools for all federally regulated trade infrastructure, as well as establishing the authority for the federal cabinet to act when collective bargaining fails. 

Thank you again for having me here today and for your efforts to build a prosperous nation for all Canadians. 

    I look forward to answering your questions.