Ottawa-Gatineau adds 2,300 jobs in May

By Robert Bostelaar , The Ottawa Citizen June 4, 2010

OTTAWA — Ottawa-Gatineau added another 2,300 jobs in May, extending a growth spurt that has boosted employment in the capital by 26,000 in the past 12 months.

Despite the increase, part of an unexpected jump of 24,700 new jobs across Canada, a rise in the number of people looking for work kept the region’s jobless rate at 6.0 per cent.

The national unemployment rate stayed at 8.1 per cent, again because more job-seekers entered the labour market, Statistics Canada reported.

May’s growth brought employment in Ottawa-Gatineau to 676,000, surpassing the previous high mark of 674,900 in November 2008, just before the economy was derailed by recession.

Proportionately, however, the region’s employment remains below record levels. Of residents aged 15 and over, 68.5 per cent held jobs last month, compared to 71.2 per cent in November and December 1988.

But Statistics Canada labour analyst Vince Ferrao says the jobs added since May 2009 signal a strengthening economy.

“Over a year it’s gone up by 26,000, and that’s a growth rate of four per cent over 12 months. That’s very healthy,” he said Friday.

Among sectors gaining jobs: retail and wholesale; finance, insurance, real estate and leasing; public administration, and health care and social assistance.

Manufacturing and high tech remain down from a year ago, but Statistics Canada said the tech sector gained an estimated 1,500 jobs in May, bringing it to 47,900.

OTTAWA— The Canadian economy added a greater-than-expected 24,700 jobs in May, the fifth consecutive monthly gain, Statistics Canada reported Friday.

The unemployment rate remain unchanged at 8.1 per cent, the federal agency said, as more people entered the labour market in search of jobs.

Across Canada, jobs were added for a fifth consecutive month.

Full-time employment rose by 67,300 in May, while part-time positions fell by 42,500. The private sector accounted for 43,400 new positions during the month, with the public sector added 9,400 jobs. However, there were 28,000 fewer self-employed workers in May, Statistics Canada said.

Economists had expected about 15,000 jobs to have been created in May, following a record-breaking 108,700 new positions the previous month. Still, most forecasters thought the unemployment rate would ease to eight per cent.

The strongest job gains were in transportation and warehousing, and health care and social assistance. Public administration and agriculture were also higher. The biggest declines were in the information, culture and recreation sectors, as well as in the accommodation and food services, and natural resources industries.

Ontario, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia all saw employment gains in May, while British Columbia and Prince Edward Island lost jobs.

Meanwhile, average hourly wages rose 2.4 per cent in May, in line with gains in the same month a year earlier.

“Over the next few months, we expect the pace of job creation to move back within the 20K to 40K range, as the Canadian economic recovery continues to gain self-sustaining momentum. The unemployment rate should continue its downward trajectory,”said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Economics.

On Tuesday, the Bank of Canada began cranking up its key lending rate for the first time in nearly three years. The central bank increased borrowing cost by 25 basis points to 0.5 per cent amid signs the domestic economy is rebounding strongly, even as the global recovery appears “uneven.”

Canada’s economy grew at a faster pace than expected in the first quarter of this year, led by consumer spending. Gross domestic product rose at an annualized pace of 6.1 per cent between January and March, the biggest jump since the last quarter of 1999, Statistics Canada reported Monday.

“The solid employment gain over the past few months highlights the positive momentum in the Canadian economy, and reinforces the Bank of Canada’s rationale to hike rates earlier this week despite the turmoil in Europe,”said Benjamin Reitzes, an economist at BMO Capital Markets.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Ottawa+Gatineau+adds+jobs/3112728/story.html#ixzz0pvnJnb3O

settlement and integration in Nova Scotia

by Ryan Lum →Halifax News, →Migration

HALIFAX - On May 28, nearly 100 people filled the St. Andrew’s Community Centre Gymnasium to take part in the Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society’s (NSBS) annual public forum, called “Council in the Community,” on timely issues impacting Nova Scotians. This year’s meeting, jointly hosted with Halifax-based Immigrant Settlement and Integration Services (ISIS), was on the theme of access to the legal system in Nova Scotia for immigrants and refugees.

“It’s a two-way street,” when it comes to newcomer interactions with the law, says Sherry Jackson-Smith, who works with immigrants involved with the prison system. “Immigrants have to have a grasp of the Canadian legal system, but legal workers need to understand where they are coming from.”

About half the participants were newcomers to the province - some recently arrived, some more seasoned - who lent their experiences as immigrants or refugees trying to access the legal system or other forms of government service.

This meeting was the first of its kind for the province as far as the organizers are aware, and many were grateful for the conversations.

“Newcomers and legal workers rarely interact outside of a formal setting,” said Mirjana Musanovic, a crisis councilor with ISIS, “so this kind of a meeting stirs up thoughts and ideas that hardly get touched on elsewhere.”

Many newcomers cited difficulties with Canadian legal culture, whether it was through a court, or something like trying to find housing.

“Buying property in my country is easy,” says Linda, an immigrant from China. “Here, you need a lawyer, you need insurance.”

Another man, who preferred not to be named, arrived from Iran 10 months ago under the Nominee Program, and has been unable to get recertified in his profession. “I was a dentist for 16 years. Here, I cannot get my license unless I spend 5 years and pay $100,000”.

For newcomers, language can also be a significant barrier to accessing the proper legal outlets.

“When you don’t speak [one of the official] languages, getting proper legal representation becomes very difficult. Poor translation leads to misinformation, and there is huge waste of the system’s resources because of it,” says Claudine Bertin, who runs Access Language Services, a legal interpretation business. She says that while there is a huge demand for legal interpreters, Nova Scotia Legal Aid has no budget to meet the demand. Most of the newcomers participating in the conference were invited through English classes they are currently enrolled in.

Strategies for supporting newcomers are becoming increasingly important in Nova Scotia. During last summer’s election campaign, Premier Darrell Dexter said that he plans to double the number of immigrants to Nova Scotia in the next 10 years to make up for a widening demand gap in skilled workers.

“To double the number of immigrants, you need to double the capacity of programs that promote access,” said Jack Potter, Diversity and Leadership Outreach coordinator at ISIS, “Ultimately, access to the legal system enhances access to all the other elements of our social support network.”

Jane Kirby, a member of No One Is Illegal Halifax (NOII-Halifax) adds that current immigration policies that restrict immigration status to certain classes of skilled workers, including high application fees and bureaucratic restrictions, bar many people currently living in Canada from accessing legal immigration status. She also says that skilled workers are not the only newcomers filling economic needs.

“An estimated 200 000 to 500 000 people are living without status in Canada, often working in precarious, low-wage jobs,” says Kirby. “These people are filling labour market needs, but because of their economic status are barred from obtaining status in Canada via the immigration system.”

Potter thinks a shift in thinking about immigration is required. “Traditionally, bringing immigrants to Canada has been about fulfilling the needs of the country, which have been mostly economic. What we want to see is a system that considers the needs of immigrants as well.”

Kirby agrees that a shift in thinking is necessary.

“What is needed at the most basic level is an immigration system that looks at migrants as people, not as commodities to fill economic needs,” she says.

Kirby says Canada’s immigration system is currently moving in the opposite direction: late last year, Minister of Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney cut the number of refugees accepted in Canada from 29,000 to 12,000, according to NOII-Halifax. Earlier this month, members of NOII dropped a banner in Halifax to draw attention to reforms Minister Kenney is proposing that would make it more difficult for people to seek asylum in Canada

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