Bill Gates commends Canada's immigration approach

English: Signage at Canada Place, Vancouver, B...
English: Signage at Canada Place, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
VANCOUVER - Canada's open approach to immigration and its willingness to welcome tens of thousands of Syrian refugees is an "enlightened" move that will benefit the country's business sector, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates says.
The business leader and philanthropist was in Vancouver on Tuesday to speak at the Emerging Cascadia Innovation Conference, aimed at strengthening the technology and business ties between British Columbia and Washington state.
"I think Canada's very well positioned. It's got good, strong universities, good policies — certainly more enlightened immigration policies than most countries have, which is a real asset," said Gates, who is listed by the American business magazine Forbes as the richest man in the world with a $81-billion (U.S.) net worth.
Gates commended Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his role in helping people fleeing conflict in the Middle East.
"He as a leader wants to remind people about openness and taking in refugees in an appropriate way."
Gates also spoke about the need to address the gender gap in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as the importance of investing in education.
"It is no coincidence that if you look at high-tech jobs in a location there is a very strong correlation to where you have very high-quality universities," he said.
Gates addressed the crowd of mostly business and government leaders alongside Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who's been at the helm of the company since 2014.
"I'm very, very excited about the work we're doing in Vancouver," Nadella said, adding that he hopes to establish the same research and development partnerships with the University of British Columbia that exist with the University of Washington.
"It's the human capital that is going to make a fundamental impact in terms of what Microsoft's future is."
In 2014, the Canadian government sped up the immigration process by exempting Microsoft from having its foreign employees complete labour market impact assessments.
The federal government has been criticized for the move, as Microsoft faces accusations of using Vancouver as a "staging ground" for non-Americans to qualify more quickly for a transfer to the U.S.
Earlier on Tuesday, the premier of British Columbia and governor of Washington state advocated for the expansion of an innovation corridor between the two jurisdictions to bolster research efforts, which they predicted will one day lead researchers to find a cure for cancer.
The success and the potential of strengthening cross-border collaboration was trumpeted by Premier Christy Clark and Gov. Jay Inslee.
The leaders also floated the possibility of developing joint academic degree programs, which could be started on one side of the border and finished on the other, as well as linking PhD certificates to offers of citizenship.
Clark and Inslee's speeches focused heavily on past successes as both leaders gear up in the coming months to face voters for re-election.
Clark drew laughter and applause when she referenced the common features of Washington state and B.C., which she said included an abundance of rain, mountains and ocean, as well as opposition to U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump.
— Follow @gwomand on Twitter
Source: https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/bill-gates-commends-canadas-immigration-approach/ar-BBwplHR

John McCallum wants to 'substantially increase' immigration to fill Canada's labour needs

English: The recreation of the immigration hal...
English: The recreation of the immigration hall at Pier 21, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Canada's immigration minister points to an aging population and looming labour shortages

By Susana Mas, CBC News Posted: Aug 12, 2016 6:03 PM ET Last Updated: Aug 12, 2016 7:03 PM ET

If Immigration Minister John McCallum gets his way, Canada will significantly increase immigration beyond its current record level as a way to fill the country's labour needs.
Pointing to an aging population and looming labour shortages, McCallum made the pitch in Manila during a speech to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines on Friday.
"So why not substantially increase the number of immigrants coming to Canada? And that is, I think, I hope, what we are about to do," McCallum said, according to a transcript of his remarks obtained by CBC News.

  • Earlier in the week, McCallum was in Beijing, where he sought to open more offices where Chinese can apply for visas, in the hope of attracting more high-skilled workers.
The Trudeau government is already seeking to admit between 280,000 and 305,000 new permanent residents in 2016 — a record increase from the 260,000 to 285,000 newcomers the previous Conservative government had planned to welcome by the end of 2015.
Key to the Liberal government's larger plan to promote innovation and grow the economy is McCallum's three-year immigration plan, which he plans to unveil this fall.
McCallum said no final decision on immigration has been made and that he has to get his cabinet colleagues on board with his new plan and convince Canadians it's the right thing to do.
"But the direction in which I would like to go is to increase substantially the number of immigrants," McCallum said Friday.

Reducing 'barriers' to immigration

The express entry system launched under the previous Conservative government promised transformative changes to Canada's economic immigration policy.
McCallum will ease some of the rules to make it easier for international students to come to Canada and become permanent residents.
He is also going to eliminate what is known as a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) —  a document all employers need to hire foreign nationals over Canadian workers.
Businesses have said it is the biggest flaw with express entry, a requirement the previous government borrowed from the temporary foreign worker program.
The Liberal government also tasked a parliamentary committee with a review of the controversial foreign worker program, but Parliament adjourned before the report was tabled. It will now be made public in the fall.
"So we're going to make it easier for international students, we're going to reduce some of the barriers in our immigration system … we don't think that every immigrant needs to go through what we call a labour market impact assessment process. We think it can be simplified. We think there are some rules which are no longer necessary," McCallum said.
"Now, we have to convince Canadians of this. But I think it's a good idea."
McCallum, who worked as a chief economist at one of Canada's Big Five banks and a professor of economics before he entered politics, also acknowledged he has his work cut out for him.
"Not every Canadian will agree. But I think with our mindset of welcoming newcomers in the beginning, with the facts of the labour shortages, aging population, we have a good case to make, and I think we will be able to convince a higher proportion of Canadians that this is the right way for Canada to go."
Philippines is currently the top source country for permanent residents in Canada, according to data published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada as of May 31.
The immigration minister also said that processing times for reuniting families from the Philippines has dropped "dramatically" to 12 months, "cut in half in just a year."
The Liberal government promised during last fall's federal election campaign to reduce processing wait times in all categories.
Follow @SusanaMas on Twitter.

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