Showing posts with label Labour economics. Show all posts

Study Shows Vast Skills, Labour Shortages Looming for Canada’s Tech Sector

20 April 2011

March 29, 2011
Canada’s ICT sector, representing the country’s information, communications and technology employment base, is facing alarming skills and labour shortages in the next five years. Today’s release of Outlook for Human Resources in the ICT Labour Market, 2011-2016 by the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC) , in partnership with the Information Technology Association of Canada (ITAC) , underscores the shortages, and paints a picture of a new job market for ICT that has radically changed. ICTC also reported that all stakeholders in the sector—industry and education, the associations that represent them, and government—recognize the looming shortages and are poised to act.

The new report underscores that in most regions in Canada and for most ICT occupations, demand will far exceed supply. Employers will encounter systemic shortages when recruiting for ICT jobs that require five or more years’ experience. The severity of these shortages will increase when employers are seeking to recruit ICT people with leading edge skills such as marketing, accounting and finance competencies.

The results also show a new job market for ICT, one that has radically changed. Industry now needs workers with the leading edge package of skills, for example systems analysis and design combined with marketing, operations management and HR management, or people with particular combinations of domain experience (such as e-health, e-finance and digital media) together with ICT expertise.

Over the next five years, Canadian employers will need to hire an estimated 106,000 ICT workers.

“The potential skills and labour shortage crisis has been identified as one of the most defining issues facing the ICT sector in Canada today, said Bernard Courtois, President and CEO of ITAC. Global job mobility, technological change, demographics, declining enrolments, and shifting investment patterns have combined to create a pending shortfall among skilled ICT workers. “ITAC and other sector stakeholders asked ICTC to help us understand the reasons for these trends and offer regional and occupational forecast,” said Courtois, “and we are now armed with this fresh survey information and ground-breaking analysis by leading Canadian experts to assess current and forecasted trends, and to recommend and implement corrective actions.”

http://www.ictc-ctic.ca

No way around labour shortage

Location of bitumen depoits ("tarsands&qu...

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Oilpatch companies already struggling to meet their labour needs have received an ominous warning from the Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada: they ain’t seen nothing yet.

The council is projecting that the domestic petroleum industry could require as many as 130,000 additional workers by 2020, including 102,000 in Alberta. Even under its most pessimistic of forecasts — with low oil and gas prices and very little capital investment — the council anticipates that another 39,000 workers will be needed, with 33,000 of these Alberta-based.
These conclusions are contained in a Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada report entitled The Decade Ahead: Labour Market Projections and Analysis for Canada’s Oil and Gas Industry to 2020.
“There’s no way around it, Canada’s petroleum industry will struggle to find the workers it needs over the next 10 years,” said Cheryl Knight, the council’s executive director and CEO, in a release.
“Not only will we need to replace thousands of our most skilled and experienced workers, but (we’ll need to) prepare for future growth as well.”
Workers leaving the industry will account for much of the job growth, said the report, with age-related attrition expected to open up 45,800 to 54,000 positions.
Bruce Thiessen, CEO of High Arctic Energy Services Inc., told the Advocate last month that manpower was his Red Deer-based company’s biggest challenge.
“We’ve got equipment sitting at the fence right now that I could have utilized throughout this year, but just couldn’t get to because of the people situation.”
And earlier this year, Essential Energy Services Ltd. CEO Garnet Amundson said labour constraints were holding his company to an equipment utilization rate of about 65 per cent.
“Our industry, with the types of services we provide, should be able to operate up to about an 85 per cent utilization. So there’s about a 20 per cent utilization gap that we would like to fill, but can’t find enough good people.”
Charles Strachey, regional communications manager for Alberta Employment and Immigration, said energy companies are becoming more aggressive in their hunt for workers. One third of the employers booked for an April 6 job fair at his department’s Red Deer office are from that sector.
The Petroleum Human Resources Council of Canada report said that approximately 171,000 people worked in the petroleum sector in 2009. Services accounted for more than 80,000 of these, with exploration and production employing 66,000, and the oilsands another 12,000. Workers in the pipeline and offshore sectors made up the balance.
The council’s report anticipates that available jobs in the services sector will increase by between 18,100 and 72,000 by 2020, with exploration and production needs jumping between 7,400 and 36,700, and oilsands positions between 9,000 and 14,900.
The need will be greatest in Alberta, said the report, which ironically could deter prospective workers from moving here.
“History has shown that significant growth in industry activity and resulting labour demand drives up inflation and the cost of living, which in turn can be a deterrent to attracting workers.”
Workers of all types will be needed, said the report, but some vocations will be in greater demand than others. These include oil and gas drilling and services field workers and supervisors; heavy-duty equipment mechanics, industrial electricians, instrumentation technicians and millwrights and machinists; engineers; steam-ticketed operators; geologists and geophysicists; production accountants; drilling co-ordinators and production managers; and landmen and purchasing agents.
The report recommends a number of measures be minimize the impact of the labour crunch. These include the industry communicating its labour needs to government and post-secondary and training institutions; sourcing workers from diverse labour pools; increasing the emphasis on employee retention and training; seeking innovation and technological advancement; and collaborating within the industry.
“Labour supply to ensure sustainable expansion of Canada’s petroleum industry will take diversification, development and collaboration.”
hrichards@reddeeradvocate.com

Canada: New Employer Compliance Requirements Take Effect Soon

"Memorial to Commemorate the Chinese Rail...

Image by Shaun Merritt via FlickrEmployers should be prepared for new restrictions on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program taking effect April 1, 2011. Employers will be required to demonstrate past compliance with program rules and commitments in order to participate in the program. Further, some foreign workers will be subject to a four-year limit on employment in Canada.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will introduce new restrictions for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) effective April 1, 2011. Employers will be required to demonstrate their past compliance with program rules and commitments, and risk suspension from the TFWP for past program violations. In addition, some foreign nationals will be subject to a four-year limit on the time they can work in Canada under the TFWP.
New Compliance Requirements for Employers

Effective April 1, 2011, employers seeking to hire foreign workers will have their compliance with TFWP requirements over the preceding two years assessed. CIC will examine whether a sponsoring employer has provided its TFWP workers with wages, working conditions and an occupation that were substantially the same as the terms and conditions of the job offer that supported the work permit application.
An employer who does not meet the terms and conditions of the job offer may be subject to a two-year probationary period during which it may not hire a foreign worker under the program, unless the employer can show its earlier noncompliance was justified. Acceptable justifications to excuse noncompliance can include:

A change in federal or provincial laws;
A change in the applicable collective bargaining agreements;
A good faith error in interpretation by the employer concerning its obligations to the foreign worker, so long as the employer subsequently provided compensation or made sufficient attempts to do so to all foreign workers who were affected by the error;
An unintentional accounting or administrative error made by the employer, so long as the employer subsequently provided compensation or made sufficient attempts to do so to all foreign workers who were affected by the error;
If the employer implemented measures that did not disproportionately affect foreign workers in response to dramatic economic changes directly affecting the employer, or
Similar or related circumstances.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada will also maintain a public list of noncompliant employers on its website.
Though these new regulations do not take effect until April 1, they will apply to employers retroactively. As such, employers should review all work permits obtained on or after April 1, 2009 to ensure that the wages, working conditions and occupation have remained substantially the same as disclosed in the employer’s original offers of employment. If necessary, remedial action must be taken by the employer to ensure compliance with the regulations.
Four-Year Employment Limit for Some Work Permit Holders

The new TFWP rules will limit some work permit holders to a cumulative maximum period of four years of work in Canada. Once the four-year cap is reached, these individuals will not be eligible to apply for another work permit for a period of four years. However, the new cap will not apply to certain workers who enter in a category that is exempt from the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) requirement. This includes foreign nationals holding work permits that are issued pursuant to an international trade treaty, such as NAFTA or the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), or those holding positions that are exempt from LMO requirements because they create or maintain significant benefits for Canadians (such as intra-company transferees, among others).
Note that the four-year limit applies to employment authorization. It does not limit a foreign national’s stay in Canada to four years. In theory, those subject to the four-year work limit may be eligible to obtain another form of immigration status, such as student or dependent status, if they qualify. However, employers should still plan ahead and explore options for permanent residence for those foreign employees who may be subject to the four-year cap.

Source: Fragomen

Labour shortage? Are older workers part of the solution?

Image by thinkpanama via FlickrBy Harvey Enchin

Get used to older workers, they'll soon by the norm rather than the exception

With the Canadian unemployment rate at 7.6 per cent and forecasts of slow economic growth ahead, perhaps the last thing on anyone’s mind is a labour shortage. Indeed, the focus of governments at all levels has been creating jobs, not finding people to fill them.

But the demographic reality is that as early as 2016, by some estimates, more people will be leaving the labour force than entering it. Since 2001, the number of people 65 years and older has increased by 11.5 per cent, while the number under 15 has declined by 2.5 per cent. By 2031, 25 per cent of Canada’s population will be over 65.

Many analysts argue that neither an increase in fertility rates nor higher levels of immigration will dramatically alter the outcome. The population is aging and there’s not much we can do about it.

In British Columbia, labour demand is expected to grow by approximately 80,000 more than labour supply by 2019, according to the provincial government’s Labour Market Outlook 2009-2019. Contractors maintaining the power grid and building new lines, for example, are looking for 200 to 300 skilled workers they think they’ll need to complete projects on the books for 2014. And a recent report, British Columbia’s Green Economy: Securing the Workforce of Tomorrow, warned that the province will face a shortage of 65,000 environmental workers by 2020.

Canada is not alone in coping with what some Cassandras call the demographic time bomb. Japan’s population began shrinking three years ago; a quarter of its people are over 65, children make up only 13 per cent. It’s a similar story in Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea.

Given this scenario, societies will be challenged to remain productive, sustain prosperity and care for their elderly.

Fortunately, the 65-plus cohort is in better health than at any time in the past and many senior citizens seem willing and able to work beyond what used to be the mandatory retirement age. When the Canada Pension Plan officially became a government plan in 1965, life expectancy for men was 68 years and for women 74 years. Today, statistically speaking, men can expect to live for 79 years, and women for 84 years. In other words, time spent in retirement has, theoretically, quintupled. Recognizing this demographic sea-change and the pressures it puts on public pension plans, the federal government has begun the process to reform the system,

However, much more must be done in both the public and private sectors to accommodate an older workforce. In the latest issue of WorkSafeBC’s magazine, senior ergonomist Peter Goyert noted the average age of an injured worker has climbed above 40 for the first time and pointed out some of the issues facing employers of older workers. "We don’t see or hear as well," he explained. "Our colour perception deteriorates. Our reflexes slow down and we don’t sleep as well. We’re less flexible and our range of motion shrinks. Our bones thin, our balance declines, and we lose muscle and respiratory and cardiovascular function."

Goyert says an injured worker who needs time off will miss his age in days; a 20-year-old will miss 20 days, a 60-year-old, 60 days.

Older workers bring much to the table — experience, wisdom, loyalty and work ethic — but employers will have to invest more in safety, training (especially in new technologies), and programs that promote well-being to keep them on the job.

Barring any cataclysmic event that reshapes our demographic future, the older worker will be around for a while. And that’s a good thing.

Today’s international students are tomorrow’s immigrants to Canada

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International students are looked at as prospective immigrants by not only the federal government, but also immigration experts across the country. Many of these students are also expected to become business owners, once they settle down in the country upon becoming immigrants. That’s the expectation anyway. And, in anticipation, the country has begun attracting the world’s best and brightest students, offering them a fast track to permanent residency status.
“They [international students] will match the essential roles in business in the future,” said Ontario’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Eric Hoskins at a recent symposium. “Our labour market is an international one.”
Other experts also believe that making this strategy the foundation for immigration sets Canada apart from other countries that attract international students. Experts at the conference organized by the World Education Services (WES), including representatives of the government, educational institutions and settlement agencies, discussed the possibilities at the Symposium on International Students: The New Skilled Migrants.
However, Canada, which annually receives around 85,000 international students per year, is still behind the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Australia on the market share.
“We need to provide appropriate supports for those intending to become permanent residents,” says Timothy Owen, director of WES, a foreign credentials evaluation organization, citing it as a reason for the relatively smaller influx of international students in Canada. “They will study here, like what they see and stay. They will be ideally positioned to become part of a highly skilled Canadian workforce.”
However, educational institutions must focus on the needs of each province and offer courses that will help fill the jobs that are vacant due to a lack of qualified people in certain specialized professions.
“There are many people without jobs and jobs without people,” says Philip Steenkamp, British Columbia’s deputy minister of advanced education and labour market development. In B.C., 1.1 million jobs are expected to be created in the next 10 years, and immigrants are expected to fill a third of those jobs.
“People with specific skills will be essential,” notes Steenkamp.
The lack of Canadian work experience faced by immigrants is highlighted as a continuing concern by educational experts, who believe that barrier will remain unchanged for a long time. “Skilled work plus Canadian education plus work experience is the key for the Canadian job market,” says Catrina Tapley, of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Some advantages for international students to break this barrier are programs offering off-campus as well as post-graduate work permits. Tapley believes that work permit and co-op programs are of vital importance to international students who aim to become Canadians. Another good reason, according to her, is immigrants with previous Canadian work experiences earn approximately $10,000 per year more than skilled immigrants.

http://canadianimmigrant.ca/settlingincanada/immigrationlaw/article/7891

Government of Canada Helping Internationally Trained Professionals in British Columbia

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Canada's Economic Action Plan is helping new Canadians get jobs in their fields

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Dec. 10, 2010) - The Government of Canada and the Province of British Columbia are supporting a project that will help internationally trained professionals put their knowledge and skills to work sooner. The Honourable Stockwell Day, President of the Treasury Board, Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway and Minister Responsible for British Columbia, on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, along with the Honourable Ida Chong, Minister of Regional Economic and Skills Development for British Columbia, made the announcement today.
"Attracting and retaining the best international talent to address existing and future labour market challenges is critical to Canada's long-term economic success," said Minister Day. "Through our Economic Action Plan, we are working with partners such as the Province of British Columbia to improve foreign credential recognition so that newcomers can maximize their talents."
The Government of Canada is providing over $4 million in funding to the British Columbia Ministry of Regional Economic and Skills Development. This funding will enable the Province to establish a fair and timely process for recognizing foreign credentials so that skilled newcomers can find jobs in their fields. Internationally trained professionals will also benefit from bridge-to-work and mentorship programs in various occupations.
Additionally, the Province will launch its own version of the Working in Canada online tool, where newcomers can access up-to-date labour market information, before and after arriving in Canada.
"With over a million B.C. job openings forecast by 2019, immigrants will play an important role in ensuring we have the skilled workers needed for our future economy," said Minister Chong. "We appreciate and look forward to working with our federal partners in their efforts to improve the foreign credential recognition process, which will help immigrants connect with relevant employment options, and provide employers with the information they need to hire, train and retain skilled immigrants."
This news release is available in alternative formats upon request.
Backgrounder
The Government of Canada, through its Economic Action Plan, is investing $50 million to work with the provinces and territories and stakeholders to address barriers to foreign credential recognition. This investment directly contributed to the development of the Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.
Under the Framework, foreign credential and experience recognition will be streamlined for key occupations, including some health care professions. This means that foreign-trained professionals who submit an application to be licensed or registered to work in certain fields will be advised within one year whether their credentials and experience will be recognized. Otherwise, they will be advised of additional requirements or be directed to alternative occupations that would benefit from their skills and experience.
The Framework is part of the Government of Canada's strategy to have the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world.
With the Economic Action Plan's $50-million investment, the Government will:

develop the principles that will guide the process of foreign credential recognition;
establish standards for the timely handling of requests;
identify key occupations that will be the priority for developing recognition standards; and
help people who want to come to Canada understand what they need to know before they arrive.

The British Columbia Ministry of Regional Economic and Skills Development is responsible for providing an integrated approach to regional economic development by leveraging the alignment of post-secondary education and training offered through colleges and institutes, by delivering immigration and labour market development programming, and by building capacity for regional economic and community development across the province.
The Foreign Credential Recognition Program aims to improve the integration of internationally trained workers into the workforce. The Program provides funding to and works with the provinces and territories and stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, post-secondary institutions, sector councils and employers, to implement projects that facilitate the assessment and recognition of qualifications acquired in other countries.
The Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO) was established in May 2007 to help internationally trained workers receive the information, path-finding and referral services, in Canada and overseas, to have their credentials assessed quickly so they can find work faster in the fields for which they have been trained. The FCRO works with federal, provincial and territorial partners, and foreign credential assessment and recognition bodies, to strengthen foreign credential recognition processes across the country. Internet services for internationally trained workers can be found on the FCRO website at the following address: www.credentials.gc.ca.

There Is No Wealth but From Men: Why Immigration Is Good for the Economy

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2010 has been rife with anti-immigrant rhetoric and action on both sides of the Atlantic. There were the atrocious anti-migrant riots in Italy and the passing of controversial Arizona law SB 1070. France has taken a demagogic turn, which some commentators dub xenophobic. Even Canada, which is celebrated for its progressive immigration policies, has experienced unprecedented immigrant-bashing rhetoric around the arrival of a boat carrying Sri Lankan self-proclaimed refugees.
There is an emerging conventional wisdom across the Atlantic that increasingly characterizes immigrants as a prime source of the ills of our societies. But do economic studies back this up? In short, no.
Immigration has an undisputed effect on economic growth. Migration reduces imbalance in the labor market without imposing a significant impact on public finances. Indeed, without immigration, the population of several European countries, particularly Germany, Spain and Italy, would have declined long ago. In Canada, over 70% of the growth in the labor force during the 1990's is attributable to immigration, a figure that could someday reach 100%. Given the overrepresentation of young people among immigrants, immigration also brings down the age of the population, relieving pressure on the pensions systems. Moreover, migrants help grow a host country's market access by creating valuable business networks with their countries of origin. The benefits continue. In most member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), the proportion of immigrants with university degrees is greater than that recorded for the native population. A recent study demonstrates that immigration fuels innovation, an economic boon. From a historical point of view, the example of the great transatlantic migration, from Europe to the Americas of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century has amply demonstrated the salutary effect of immigration on growth.
Conventional wisdom is also wrong in linking immigration and native unemployment. The notion that immigrants cause natives to lose their jobs is simply not supported by empirical results. There is not a fixed number of jobs in an economy, and immigrants often do not compete directly with native workers in the labor market.
Migrants are first and foremost consumers who help expand the economy even before stimulating the labor supply. Their demand stimulates the supply of goods and services which in turn lead to job creation. Except in very special cases, immigrant inflows are extremely low compared to the workforce already available in a country. As such, the absorption of newly arrived migrant on the labor market generally proves to be relatively easy. In fact, when the economy is in a recession, migrants are the first to lose their jobs.
Most studies in fact demonstrate the existence of a positive relationship between immigrant and native labor forces. In fact, people coming from earlier waves of migrants are most directly in competition with newly arrived immigrants rather than the natives. In time of expansion, workers tend to raise their expectations and to shy away from activities that are most painful and least valued, thus generating the need for the recruitment of low-skilled immigrants. Consequently, the idea that immigrants take the jobs of the natives seems to be simply xenophobic political posturing.
Regarding the impact of immigration on wages, a recent meta-analysis of the available data concluded that the impact of immigration on the earnings of the native born population is statistically insignificant. Migrants are not responsible for alleged decrease of salaries or social dumping. Migrants are convenient scapegoats.
In countries with limited sectoral and geographical mobility, foreign labor can alleviate the shortages. The foreign workforce, being more mobile than the native one -- since migrants have relatively less material and family ties in their host country -- helps diffuse tensions in the labor market and helps reinvigorate certain regions. Some shortages are already apparent on the labor markets of most OECD countries, particularly for specialties related to new technologies and health.

Immigration has no significant impact on public spending. Indeed, the great majority of immigrants do pay taxes and add public revenue, particularly high-skilled immigrants. The consequences are positive for some public services, such as defense and interest on the national debt, for which immigrants do not impose costs. The bolstering effect of immigration on the U.S Social Security's finances is particularly compelling.
Economic data provide us with two certainties. First, immigration has positive effects on the overall prosperity of a nation. Second, with the ailing economy, migrants are used as scapegoats by uninspired politicians to scare up votes. Indeed, isn't the United States, a country completely made up of immigrants, the boldest example of the benefits of immigration for a nation?

Follow Rabah Ghezali on Twitter: www.twitter.com/RabahGhezali

Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management - NOC 1122

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Professionals who provide business services to management are on the list of 29 eligible occupations under the Federal Skilled Worker program.

To find out if you qualify for a Canadian immigration (permanent resident) visa please fill out our free eligibility assessment.

This group includes those who provide services to management such as analyzing the operations, managerial methods or functions of an organization in order to propose, plan and implement improvements, or analyzing advertising needs and developing appropriate advertising plans. They are employed by management consulting firms, advertising agencies and throughout the public and private sectors or are self-employed.

(Description from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada's National Occupation Classification, used by Canadian immigration officers, to assess an applicant's work experience.)

Management consultants perform some or all of the following duties:

Analyze and provide advice on the managerial methods and organization of a public or private sector establishment
Conduct research to determine efficiency and effectiveness of managerial policies and programs
Conduct assessments and propose improvements to methods, systems and procedures in areas such as operations, human resources, records management and communications
Conduct quality audits and develop quality management and quality assurance standards for ISO (International Organization for Standardization) registration
Plan the reorganization of the operations of an establishment
May supervise contracted researchers or clerical staff.

Advertising and promotion consultants perform some or all of the following duties:

Assess characteristics of products or services to be promoted and advise on the advertising needs of an establishment
Advise clients on advertising or sales promotion strategies
Develop and implement advertising campaigns appropriate for print or electronic media.

Why your employment prospects in Canada are excellent:

This group includes those who provide services to management such as analyzing the operations, managerial methods or functions of an organization in order to propose, plan and implement improvements, or analyzing advertising needs and developing appropriate advertising plans.
They are employed by management consulting firms, advertising agencies and throughout the public and private sectors or are self-employed.
The growing trend toward globalization and the evolving technical revolution have forced many companies to hire professionals in these fields in order to stay competitive with changing business practices.
This occupation is only regulated in Alberta.

Some areas of Canada where your occupation is in demand:

While there is a shortage of Professionals in Occupations in Business Services to Management across Canada, the following cities and provinces listed below have a particularly high demand for this occupation.

British Columbia

Employment prospects are considered to be good throughout the province.
While projected new jobs between 2010 and 2015 is predicted at 1,790 and job vacancies due to retirements during the same period is estimated at 2,470.

Manitoba

Employment prospects are expected to be good in the 2010-2014 period.
Most employment opportunities will arise as a result of turnover (especially retirements later in the forecast period), and the mobility between companies.
Jobs in this occupational group are available across the Province, although approximately 77% are located in Winnipeg.

New Brunswick
Fredericton, Woodstock, Grand Falls, Edmundston, New Brunswick:

Employment prospects are good in these local areas.
A large government presence, and a number of national, regional, and local firms create considerable consulting opportunities.
Subcontracting services, such as advertising, is becoming increasingly popular and will be creating more opportunities for advertising account executives and promotion specialists.
The majority of job opportunities in this occupation will be a result of attrition.
For consultants, those individuals who have experience or knowledge of new management theories and practices, and those skilled in computerized management tools may have an advantage over others seeking employment in this field.
For advertising account executives and promotion specialists, job opportunities will be greater for those skilled in utilizing the types of media outlets used to reach a diverse customer base.
This occupation is classified as "significant" because there is a large percentage of professional occupations in business services to management working within the area and it is a strategically important occupation to the local labour market.

Moncton, Shediac, Sackville, Richibucto, New Brunswick:

Employment prospects are good in these local areas.
A large government presence, and a number of national, regional, and local firms create considerable consulting opportunities.
Subcontracting services, such as advertising, is becoming increasingly popular and will be creating more opportunities for advertising account executives and promotion specialists.
The majority of job opportunities in this occupation will be a result of attrition.
Potential employment include: AL-PACK ENTERPRISES LTD, Apropos Marketing Communications Inc., Economical Mutual Insurance Co., Foresight Marketing & Design LTD., Hawk Communications Inc. and Grand & Toy.

Saint John, Sussex, St. Stephen, New Brunswick:

Employment prospects are good in these local areas.
Potential employers include: Credico Marketing, Entreprise Saint John, Irving Oil Ltd., NB Milk Marketing, and Charlotte County Development Corporation Inc.

Ontario

Employment prospects over the next 5 years are considered to be good.
Consulting and freelance work are areas of growth within this occupation.

Ottawa Region, Ontario:

Employment opportunities are good for this occupation and will continue to rise.
Factors contributing to these excellent conditions include changing management concepts and increased productivity as a response to international competition. Corporate structure and work organization methods have also changed, with a corresponding growth in sub-contracting.
In addition, an aging workforce, anticipated skill shortages and competition for workers have lead to a strong demand by companies for workers in this occupation group.
According to the most recent census, about one third of people in this occupation in eastern Ontario were over 55 years of age. As a result, a large number of people will be retiring over the next 5 years leaving a significant amount of jobs needed to be filled.
Potential employers include: Adirondack Information Management, Aramark Canada, Athena Consulting, Dare Human Resources Corporation, Alco Systems Inc., Horizons Renaissance Inc., and Infield Marketing Group

Source: canadavisa.com

Working temporarily in Canada: Special categories—Information technology workers

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IMPORTANT
The simplified entry process for information technology (IT) specialists will come to an end on September 30, 2010.
Effective October 1, 2010, employers who wish to hire foreign workers previously eligible for IT facilitated processing will be required to apply for a Labour Market Opinion.
Note: for employers wanting to hire foreign workers for positions in Quebec, the facilitated process will remain in place for a limited time after September 30, 2010.

To fill critical shortages in Canada’s software industry, Canada has a simplified entry process for workers whose skills are in high demand in that industry.
Under this process, no confirmation letter from Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) is necessary for specific jobs when hiring a foreign worker, since it will not have a negative impact on Canadian or permanent-resident job seekers and workers.
This means that if you are coming to Canada to work in one of the jobs listed below, you do not need a letter from HRSDC, and your work permit application may be processed more quickly.

Note: It is up to your employer to make sure the job you are being offered falls under one of these descriptions.

Temporary foreign workers wishing to take a position in Quebec must obtain a certificat d’acceptation du Québec (CAQ) in order to participate in this facilitated processing. Information for employers is available on the website of the Ministère de l’immigration et des Communautés culturelles (MICC).

Effective October 1, 2010, employers who wish to hire Temporary Foreign Workers previously eligible for IT facilitated processing will be required to apply for a labour market opinion and demonstrate that:

the wage rate meets (or exceeds) the prevailing wage rate for the occupation and region;
the working conditions are consistent with Canadian standards;
efforts to hire Canadians or permanent residents have been made and the TFWP advertising guidelines have been followed;
the employment of the foreign worker will directly create new job opportunities or help retain jobs for Canadians;
the foreign worker will transfer new skills and knowledge to Canadians;
the hiring of the foreign worker will not affect a labour dispute or the employment of any Canadian worker involved in such a dispute.

Please note that employers are required to conduct advertising and recruitment efforts as per TFWP guidelines before submitting a labour market opinion application and should plan sufficient time to conduct these activities. Upon receipt of a complete labour market opinion application, the processing time, on average, takes two to three weeks.
Effective October 1, 2010, work permit applications received by Citizenship and Immigration Canada or by the Canada Border Services Agency at a port of entry, will require a copy of the labour market opinion for the seven specific IT occupations that were previously under the facilitated process.

Source: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/special-tech.asp

Advertising requirements before hiring a foreign worker

Canada
June 2 2010
By:Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

In our January 2010 article entitled Obtaining a Work Permit in Canada: The Labour Market Opinion Process, we explained that in order to get a work permit for a foreign worker, an employer in Canada generally must first obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada ("Service Canada"). In order to obtain a positive LMO, Canadian employers must prove that they have made reasonable efforts to fill the position with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. This article discusses Service Canada's advertising requirements relating to this obligation.

Service Canada's minimum advertising requirements were recently modified. And note that the requirements are slightly different for the Province of Québec. If you are hiring an employee who will work in Québec, make sure you follow the Québec rules.

The advertising requirements depend on the level of skills required for the position. In Canada, there is a National Occupational Classification (NOC) system that classifies all jobs. Before starting a recruitment process, it is necessary to identify the code that corresponds to the position to be filled. Occupations are classified in five levels: 0 (management), A (university education usually required), B (either a college education or apprenticeship training usually required), C (secondary school and/or occupation-specific training usually required) or D (on–the-job training usually provided).

Placing an ad at Service Canada's National Job Bank is mandatory before hiring a non-Canadian in any position at skill level B and lower, except when an explicit exemption applies. Positions at levels 0 and A are the only ones for which an advertisement on the Job Bank is not mandatory.

In order to meet the advertising requirements for occupations at levels 0 or A, employers must conduct recruitment activities consistent with the practice within the occupation. For instance, if the normal practice for a certain occupation is to hire a headhunter, or to advertise on well-known internet job sites, journals or national newspapers, either recruitment method will be considered satisfactory. Alternatively, the prospective employer may advertise on the Job Bank for a minimum of 14 calendar days during the three months prior to applying for the LMO.

For occupations at skill level B and lower, both advertisement on the Job Bank and recruitment activities consistent with the practice within the occupation are necessary.

The contents of the advertisement are important. Ads placed on the Job Bank must include certain mandatory information, including the company's name, the wage range and the prevailing wage for the position. Prospective employers are advised to follow very carefully Service Canada's directives. Omission of any information or requirement (for instance, advertising for thirteen days instead of fourteen days) is cause for refusal of the LMO.

The ads have to be carefully drafted since they should provide a fair opportunity to potentially qualified Canadian citizens or permanent residents to be a candidate. At the same time they have to be specific enough to discourage applications from those who are clearly unqualified. Particular attention should be given to the education and experience requirements. These should be appropriate for the type of position and consistent with the requirements for this position according to the NOC.

Afterwards, the employer has to provide proof of these recruitment efforts and provide a report. The report should include the number of applicants for the position and the reasons for rejecting them. The reasons for rejecting applicants should be appropriate and based on objective and clear criteria. Employers should retain proof of recruitment efforts for a minimum of two years, since Service Canada may later contact the employer for verification of the report.

Note that there are certain variations to the minimum advertising requirements for some categories of employees or positions including: academics (university professors), camp counselors who will be working in Ontario, positions covered by collective bargaining agreements that stipulate internal recruitment, positions for which recruitment is done through employer associations, positions in the entertainment sector, positions with a foreign government's representative in Canada, information technology specialists (until September 30, 2010), holders of a post graduation work permit issued after graduating from a Canadian university, company owners who are involved in the day-to-day operation of the company, specialized service technicians and service providers under a warranty, amongst others.

Advertising properly is not the only requirement for obtaining a positive LMO, but is one that deserves considerable attention. Be sure that you meet them all. Also, before starting a recruitment process when contemplating applying for an LMO, do not forget that there are exemptions to the obligation to obtain an LMO (see our March 2010 article Obtaining a Work Permit in Canada: The Simplified Process). Using these exemptions can save prospective employers considerable amount of time, effort and money.

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