Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, everyone.

My name is Heidi Yetman. I'm the president of the Canadian Teachers' Federation. I represent over 365,000 public sector teachers and educators across Canada.

The federation is an organization that puts teachers and social justice at the core of its existence. We feel passionately about creating a more equitable and just society, and for these reasons, the federation is seeking transformative social change in budget 2025.

In our pre-budget submission, the federation has four key issues that we would like addressed in budget 2025.

First, as I've said before at this committee, we'd like to see the fantastic work being done with the Canadian school food program continued. We have been working closely with our member organizations and the Coalition for Healthy School Food. We've also been consulting with the Government of Canada and monitoring progress on agreements with the provinces. We really appreciate the investment in a national school food program, and we hope to see the funding continued and possibly extended.

Next, the federation is asking for supports for school boards to deal with the influx of new migrants to Canada and those young newcomers who are entering the K-to-12 public education system. Canada has undergone significant demographic changes and welcomed a significant number of new immigrants and families to Canada, and that's a good thing. While education funding is the purview of the provinces, Canada regularly funds official language supports. We need to see proportional official language education funding, both in English and French, to deal with the influx of newcomers to Canada. Teachers and education workers in Canada are already dealing with austerity measures across the board, and we would like to see the federal government step in to address this severe underfunding in a way that respects provincial jurisdiction while also appealing to the federal government's responsibility to ensure that everyone in Canada has the ability to communicate in one of our official languages.

Third, the federation is asking the federal government to help casual teachers, or substitute teachers, with the cost of living. The teaching profession is in the midst of a retention and recruitment crisis, as I've said before at this committee, and having teachers stay in or enter the profession is becoming more and more difficult for a myriad of reasons. Both the federation and the Canadian Labour Congress have resolutions seeking travel deductions for casual teachers. In budget 2025, we would like to see the Government of Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency allow for casual teachers to deduct travel expenses when they're travelling to work.

Finally, I arrive at our most ambitious ask. By the way, today, October 10, is World Mental Health Day; I see some of you wearing green ribbons. We're asking the federal government to commit to permanent and ongoing funding for mental health services under the Canada mental health transfer.

I want to thank the federal government for their budget 2024 investment in youth mental health, but I believe we can and should do more. Recently, the federation partnered with the Canadian Mental Health Association to pilot support for in-school mental health supports for teachers. This project has already shown us that teachers badly need mental health support. Did you know that 39% of Ontario high school students indicate moderate to serious levels of psychological distress?

Mental health remains a significant concern for our members and contributes to the retention and recruitment crisis facing public education workers. It's an ongoing issue impacting the well-being and working conditions of teachers, education workers, students and their families. The Liberal Party of Canada's campaign platform committed to permanent ongoing funding for mental health through the creation of the mental health transfer, so we'd like to see that commitment become a reality and really change the lives of teachers, education workers, youth and families living in Canada.

Thank you, and I look forward to hearing your questions.