Ottawa: favorite city in Canada?

Source:
Ottawa-Gatineau tops in list of favourite cities to live
By Krystle Chow, Ottawa Business Journal Staff
Thu, Apr 16, 2009 11:00 AM EST

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(Darren Brown)

Popular urban studies theorist Richard Florida has named Ottawa-Gatineau as the best city in Canada for mid-career people, families and retirees to live in, as well as one of the top three cities for singles and empty-nesters, in his latest book.

Mr. Florida – widely cited for his work on the effect of creative and artistic workers on a city's economic development – said in the Canadian edition of his new book, Who's Your City?, that Ottawa-Gatineau is the most attractive place to live in the country for young professionals and families with children, while Calgary gets top billing for singles and recent university graduates. The National Capital Region took third place for the singles category, after Iqaluit.

In the "empty-nesters" group, Toronto was chosen as the top destination, with Ottawa-Gatineau named as the second-best city for that demographic.

The ranking takes into account the percentage of the city's population that fits a particular life stage, the regional economic growth and climate for creativity, talent and tolerance, the amenities and quality of life factors such as arts and culture, and the specific cost of living.

Despite Ottawa-Gatineau's reputation for being a "boring ... bureaucratic town," the city ranked more highly overall than Canada's three largest urban hubs: Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.

While Mr. Florida named Toronto as the best city for younger baby boomers whose children have left the family home, as well as the second-best place for families with children and retirees, the city was surprisingly left out of the top 10 best places for singles.

Meanwhile, Mr. Florida's book called Montreal and Vancouver "best buy" locations, with the former cited as the eighth-best city for empty-nesters and only the 10th-best destination for all the other life stages.

Vancouver made an appearance on two of the categories – empty-nesters and retirees – taking seventh and sixth place for each respective demographic. It was outshadowed by the provincial capital Victoria, which was named as the fourth-best location for singles, empty-nesters and retirees, and eighth-best for young professionals.

Canada working with the EU on labour mobility and foreign credential recognition

Wednesday, 01 April 2009

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) Minister Diane Finley has signed three new agreements with her counterparts in the European Union to improve labour mobility between Canada and the EU. The goals of these agreements are to improve foreign credential recognition, facilitate international labour mobility, and strengthen the Canada-EU partnership.

Two of today's announced agreements focus on engineers and environmental professionals, seeking to align practices in the engineering field and to develop mutual certification frameworks for environmental workers in Canada and the EU. The third will help organize two roundtable discussions on foreign credential recognition and labour mobility, one in Europe this year and the other in Canada in 2010.

"The Government of Canada, through HRSDC, is again demonstrating leadership by investigating mechanisms to allow the Canadian environment sector to reach its full economic and employment potential in the global economy by funding a scoping project to document reciprocal mobility of competent workers between Canada and the European Union," said Grant Trump, of the Environmental Career Organization of Canada.

Source: canadavisa.com

The 38 occupations in demand in Canada

With the new changes on the immigration laws after 2008, there are now a new list of the 38 most demanded occupations in Canada, here’s the list:

* 0111: Financial Managers
* 0213: Computer and Information Systems Managers
* 0311: Managers in Health Care
* 0631: Restaurant and Food Service Managers
* 0632: Accommodation Service Managers
* 0711: Construction Managers
* 1111: Financial Auditors and Accountants
* 2113: Geologists, Geochemists and Geophysicists
* 2143: Mining Engineers
* 2144: Geological Engineers
* 2145: Petroleum Engineers
* 3111: Specialist Physicians
* 3112: General Practitioners and Family Physicians
* 3141: Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists
* 3143: Occupational Therapists
* 3142: Physiotherapists
* 3151: Head Nurses and Supervisors
* 3152: Registered Nurses
* 3215: Medical Radiation Technologists
* 3233: Licensed Practical Nurses
* 4121: University Professors
* 4131: College and Other Vocational Instructors
* 6241: Chefs
* 6242: Cooks
* 7213: Contractors and Supervisors, Pipefitting Trades
* 7215: Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
* 7217: Contractors and Supervisors, Heavy Construction Equipment Crews
* 7241: Electricians (Except Industrial and Power System)
* 7242: Industrial Electricians
* 7251: Plumbers
* 7252: Steamfitters, Pipe fitters and Sprinkler System Installers
* 7265: Welders and Related Machine Operators
* 7312: Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
* 7371: Crane Operators
* 7372: Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction
* 8221: Supervisors, Mining and Quarrying
* 8222: Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service
* 9212: Supervisors, Petroleum, Gas and Chemical Processing and Utilities