Skilled immigrant-worker need to skyrocket by 2020, study says

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By Ian Shelton, Times Colonist June 18, 2010

 

Robert Cui was happily shocked last July. After two years of scraping by in Victoria, two years of weighing the value of going to a meeting or ponying up $2.25 for bus fare, the single father from northern China was a security check away from a post with the Department of National Defence.
"I just couldn't believe it. I didn't believe I could get anything from the federal government," Cui said, pointing to eight fruitless interviews with provincial departments.
The elation was short-lived. Not yet a Canadian citizen, Cui was not eligible for the job.
Cui was crushed but took the bad news in stride.
"Sometimes it's just about how to accept reality."
Cui's disappointment is common among recent immigrants. But a looming labour shortage and dwindling numbers of skilled workers immigrating to B.C. mean the province will be forced to share in his troubles.
In the next decade, B.C. will depend on immigrants to fill about one in three job openings, according to the recently released British Columbia Labour Market Outlook: 2009-2019. At the same time, the number of skilled workers immigrating to the province appears to have hit a 15-year low.
About 15,100 skilled workers settled in the province last year, based on B.C. Stats numbers and provincial government targets. It's the lowest total since 1994.
These numbers include federal skilled worker program immigrants -- 12,081 for 2009 -- and provincial nominee program numbers -- a target of 3,000 for fiscal 2009-10 -- as well as actual numbers for a mix of previous fiscal and calendar years.
The problem has not gone unnoticed in the provincial government.
"Immigration is the key to future economic growth in B.C.," Moira Stilwell, the minister in charge of labour market development said by e-mail. "Even though the economy has slowed down, skilled labour shortages remain."
Until a decade ago, engineers, accountants and other immigrants selected for their skills arrived under the federal skilled worker program. Since then, the B.C. government has expanded its provincial nominee program, which fast-tracks applications for people with skills in short supply locally.
The program took in 2,500 skilled workers in 2008, with about 3,000 expected during the last fiscal year and more than twice that number hoped for by 2012.
During the same time, though, the federal program has dwindled, delivering half the number of skilled immigrants to the province last year as it did at its peak, more than a decade ago.
To some extent, the program is a victim of its own success -- attracting a glut of immigrants that settlement services were ill-prepared to absorb.
Annie Shum, a counsellor with the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre, said the problems of credential recognition, language barriers and a lack of North American experience continue to plague her customers.
Shum heads up the centre's Skills Connect program, a provincial initiative that supports skilled immigrants hunting for work. She said that the challenges immigrants face are often hard to predict.

"I know of one client who is an engineer. She comes from a country where they're at war right now so it's impossible to get her credentials from the university," said Shum.
Stilwell said some studies place the outflow of immigrants to other provinces and countries at as high as one in three, though B.C. gains more immigrants from other provinces than it loses.
"Regardless of the actual figures, the loss of immigrants ... is a matter of concern to B.C. as it represents not just a loss of human capital to the province, but a missed opportunity for both the province and the immigrant."
For Cui, the pressures of migration took a personal toll. The loneliness and relative poverty that accompanied the move to Canada strained his marriage to the breaking point. His wife returned home two years ago, leaving Cui with his son Bob, now six years old.
He said he doesn't fault Bob's mother. He said he accepted her choice and has moved forward.
Last week, he found work at a large electronics manufacturer, Schneider Electric in Saanich, which produces sensors for power systems. More secure than he's been in a long time, Cui said he never doubted his choice to migrate.
"Whatever happens, I got my son here," he said.
"I win."

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Canada: Challenges and Oportunities for Immigrants.

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Most new immigrants are pleased to be living here and have positive views of Canada's social and political environment. However, after four years in the country, their biggest difficulties are still finding an adequate job, and dealing with the language barrier, according to two new reports from the third wave of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC).
The first report, "Immigrants' perspectives on their first four years in Canada", examines immigrants' assessments of life in Canada and the difficulties they face here.
Four years after arriving in Canada, the majority of new immigrants (84%) were positive about their decision to come here.
When asked about the single-most important reason for settling permanently in Canada, the most prevalent responses were the quality of life here (32%), the desire to be close to family and friends (20%), the future prospects for their family in Canada (18%) and the peaceful nature of the country (9%).
The report found that two-thirds of new immigrants said that life in Canada has lived up to their expectations.
These new immigrants were also asked what had been their biggest difficulties since arrival. The difficulty mentioned by the most immigrants was finding an adequate job (46%), followed by learning English or French (26%).
The second report, Knowledge of Official Languages among New Immigrants: How Important is it in the Labour Market? examines these two difficulties in detail. It analyzes the relationship between new immigrants' knowledge of the two official languages and their chances of finding an "appropriate" job.
It shows that the employment rate of immigrants increased with their ability to speak English.
Moreover, the ability to speak English is linked with the kind of job that new immigrants find, as those who reported speaking English well or very well were more likely to have an "appropriate" job than those who reported speaking it less well. However, the relationship between the self-reported ability to speak French and the chances of having an "appropriate" job was not as clear.

Two-thirds said Canada lived up to their expectations

The first report, "Immigrants' perspectives on their first four years in Canada", examines immigrants' subjective assessments and perceptions of life in Canada and the challenges they face here.

Note to readers This release summarizes the findings of two reports based on data from the third and final wave of the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC). This survey was designed to study how newly arrived immigrants adjust over time to living in Canada. During the first LSIC interview, some 12,000 immigrants aged 15 and over were interviewed between April 2001 and May 2002, about six months after their arrival. During the second LSIC interview, about 9,300 of the same immigrants were interviewed again in 2003, about two years after their arrival. In 2005, about 7,700 of the same immigrants were interviewed a third time, around four years after their arrival.

Immigrants come to Canada with expectations, whether realistic or not, about what life will be like. LSIC respondents were asked whether life in Canada is better than they had expected, about what they had expected, or worse than they had expected.
About two-thirds of new immigrants reported a fairly positive congruence between their expectations and their experiences, while about one-third reported a low or declining degree of congruence between their expectations and experiences. Immigrants in different admission categories differed in this regard. While 15% of economic immigrants reported that their expectations of life in Canada had consistently been exceeded, this was the case for about one-third of family class immigrants and refugees.
Four years after arriving in Canada, the majority of new immigrants (84%) were positive about their decision to come here. However, those who felt their expectations about life in Canada had not been met were less likely than others to feel this way.
When asked about the single-most important reason for settling permanently in Canada, the most prevalent responses were the quality of life here (32%), the desire to be close to family and friends (20%), the future prospects for their family in Canada (18%) and the peaceful nature of the country (9%). Less than 5% cited employment-related reasons.

Immigrants themselves underscore difficulties in the job market

During the past 15 years, numerous studies have documented the difficult labour market faced by new immigrants. The findings of these studies have been underscored by immigrants themselves in the LSIC data.
The study found that between 7 and 24 months after arrival 62% of all new immigrants aged 25 to 44 had looked for a job, and that during the period between 25 to 48 months after arrival 53% had done so. The majority of job seekers reported that they experienced a problem or difficulty when searching for employment.
Considering all difficulties cited when seeking employment, lack of Canadian work experience was mentioned most often (50%), followed by lack of contacts in the job market (37%), lack of recognition of foreign experience (37%), lack of recognition of foreign qualifications (35%) and language barriers (32%).
New immigrants often experienced multiple problems when looking for work. For example, almost two-third of job seekers who reported a language problem also reported that lack of work experience was a difficulty.

Greatest challenges encountered since arrival

Four years after their arrival in Canada, new immigrants were asked what had been the greatest difficulties they had encountered. Two difficulties came out more than any other: 46% said it was finding an adequate job while 26% said it was learning English or French.
Among all new immigrants admitted in the economic category, almost half (45%) said finding employment was the greatest difficulty they faced while 15% said it was learning English or French. Among refugees, 26% said finding employment was their greatest difficulty and 30% said it was learning English or French.
The report "Immigrants' perspectives on their first four years in Canada", published today in a special edition of Canadian Social Trends (11-008-XWE, free), is now available from the Publications module of our website. For more information about the report, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Grant Schellenberg (613-951-9580 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              613-951-9580      end_of_the_skype_highlighting), Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division.

Language: Self-reported ability to speak English and French

The second report, Knowledge of Official Languages among New Immigrants: How Important is it in the Labour Market? examines in detail the two greatest difficulties encountered by new immigrants since their arrival — finding an adequate job and learning English or French. It looks at immigrants' self assessment of their ability to speak each official language and analyzes the relationship between new immigrants' knowledge of the two languages and their chances of finding an "appropriate" job.
In the survey, immigrants were asked to assess how well they could speak each official language at three points in time — six months, two years and four years after their arrival.
Six months after their arrival, 58% of immigrants reported that they were able to speak English well or very well, while the corresponding figure for French was 11%. Four years after arrival, 69% were able to speak English well or very well, and 14% could speak French so.
In Quebec, 55% of immigrants reported speaking French well or very well six months after their arrival. This proportion had climbed to 73% four years after their arrival. The corresponding proportions for English went from 40% to 54%.
For immigrants in Quebec, learning or improving the language of the minority, English, appeared to be just as important as learning or improving the language of the majority, French.
Overall, 45% of immigrants said they had taken language training in English since coming to Canada; 10% had done so in French. In Quebec specifically, 42% of immigrants had taken language training in French since their arrival, while 37% had done so in English. About 16% of Quebec immigrants had taken language training in both official languages.

Knowledge of English increases the chances of having an "appropriate" job

The percentage of immigrants employed grew substantially over time, according to LSIC data. The employment rate of immigrants aged 25 to 44, the prime working-age group, went from 51% six months after arrival to 65% two years after arrival. Four years after arrival, it had reached 75%.
The employment rate of immigrants in the survey's third wave thus approaches the national rate for Canadians in the same age group calculated for the equivalent period, specifically 81.8%.
Knowledge of the two official languages can be expected to be an asset in looking for a job. LSIC data showed that the employment rate of immigrants aged 25 to 44 increased with higher levels of self-reported proficiency in spoken English, for each of the survey's three waves.
Across the country in general, the chances for immigrants of having an "appropriate" job increased with their ability to speak English.
More specifically, immigrant's whose self-reported level of spoken English was good or very good were more likely to have a high-skill job, a job in the intended field, a job similar to the one held before immigrating and a job related to training or education. They also had higher wages, compared to immigrants whose spoken English level was not as good. This was true six months, two years and four years after immigrants' arrival in Canada.
However, the relationship between the self-reported ability to speak French and the chances of having an "appropriate" job was not as strong, nor as persistent.
In Quebec specifically, the impact of language was mainly on earnings. The hourly earnings of immigrants who spoke English very well were generally higher, regardless of the level of French, than those of immigrants who did not speak either official language well.
In Quebec, the level of French spoken by immigrants was not found to be related to their chances of having an "appropriate" job.

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Canada's brand advantage

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Kevin Lynch, BMO Financial Group, Financial Post · Tuesday, Jun. 15, 2010

Corporations and other organizations spend enormous energy on creating, managing and protecting their brands. Through their brands, companies can differentiate themselves in crowded, competitive marketplaces. Many universities, for example, invest considerably in brand recognition to attract students, philanthropy and faculty.
This raises a rather basic question: If brand reputation appears to add value for high-performing companies and institutions, why would they not be similarly valuable for countries. In short, does Canada need a brand?
A number of countries already spend considerable effort on branding efforts. Remember the "Cool Britannia" campaign. France brilliantly markets both high culture and high technology. Ireland as the "Celtic Tiger." Singapore as a sophisticated, business friendly entrepot in Asia. Australia as an Asia-savvy, can-do partner. Israel as a high-tech centre.
What all these countries, and many more, have in common is that they understand that the global marketplace has great opportunity, but it is competitive, fragmented, characterized by imperfect information, and has considerable consumer and investor uncertainty. They also understand that the scale and scope of global markets make it very difficult for all but a few individual firms or institutions to create global brands. Therefore, they understand that "country" or "national brands" can act as a public good, helping to market the goods and services of their businesses, to attract foreign investment, to interest immigrants, to entice tourism and to encourage educational placements.
The countries that project national brands globally do so in different ways, but all involve strong partnerships between government and business and often universities. All are strategic in the type of brands they want to develop. All view these "national brands" as strategic and long term, not tactical and short term. And all are aware of the importance of projecting a unified brand image in targeted markets.
A national brand should encapsulate the strengths, characteristics, and values that the country has and wants to project. The brand has to be sufficiently broad to capture the essence of a diverse country and sufficiently focussed to make a clear, uncluttered impression and instill brand awareness. The country brand should be a combination of characteristic brands (e. g. high tech, cultural icons, values, sports, etc.), endowment brands (natural resources, unique institutions, history, skilled people) and public policy brands (fiscal policies, tax policies, immigration policies, foreign policies, etc.).
With the upcoming G8 and G20 meetings being held in Canada later this month, the world's spotlight will be on Canada. Now is the time to develop a strong Canada brand, organized around the rubric of public policy, endowments and characteristics.
First, Canada has strong public-policy brand potential, and this has increased in relative value as the world emerges from the financial crisis and recession. Canada's financial sector has been rated the world's soundest by the World Economic Forum. Canada's fiscal position is by far the best among the G7 countries. Canada has established a substantial corporate tax advantage over the U.S. to attract and retain business investment. Immigration policies provide a growing labour force to counter demographic aging. And Canada has unique access to the North American marketplace through NAFTA. A strong public policy brand helps reduce investor uncertainty and influences corporate investment decisions.
Second, Canada has a unique endowment brand potential. Canada is among the top countries for many natural resources, and is the largest provider of secure energy supplies to the U.S. market. We have a well-educated, multicultural workforce, and Canadian cities are consistently top-rated globally as places to live and work. Canada has a strong education system, good universities and excellent research capacity.
Third, Canada also has brand potential based on our values, our multiculturalism in a globalizing world, and our approach to relationships, networks and flexibility. To a large extent, these characteristics are a large measure of today's foreign impressions of Canada.
Taking these three elements together, the Canada brand should project our good governance in a world where trust and security have been shaken, our natural resources in a world clamouring for them, our skilled and multicultural workforce in a world scrambling for talent, and our values which make us a good and reliable partner in an uncertain world.
It is true that we can build an attractive and welcoming business environment, but we then have to market it globally in selective regions to selective target groups of companies in selective sectors. It is the national/ provincial equivalent of a sophisticated corporate "road show," and needs to be approached accordingly.
A clear and compelling "Canada brand" can be a key part of the investment promotion toolkit; indeed, a Canada brand can be the differentiator among similar investment possibilities. Given the global shifting of economic activity now underway, engaging in a concerted way on investment promotion would appear timely and potentially productive.
---------
-The Honourable Kevin G. Lynch is vice-chair of BMO Financial Group.

Read more: http://www.financialpost.com/executive/Canada+brand+advantage/3155189/story.html#ixzz0qyCNDdhS
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What Obama And The U.S. Need To Learn From Canada

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Guest Article by:
Shaun Rein, 06.14.10, 12:45 PM EDT
Source: Forbes.com 

To start with, it has a healthy financial system and affordable higher education.

Many Americans think mainly of Eskimos and hockey when they think of Canada. Some also think of Michael J. Fox and James Cameron. They should be thinking of a functioning financial system and the most robust economy in the developed world. Unlike the U.S. and Europe, Canada has emerged relatively unscathed from the financial crisis. Its unemployment rate has been improving for the past year and stands at 8.1%. Canada's minister of finance, Jim Flaherty, is already calling for an end to government stimulus, even though the government debt stands at less than 35% of gross domestic product, less than half the level in the U.S.
Why is Canada doing so well while America's doing so poorly? For one thing, its financial regulations have emphasized dullness rather than encouraged exotic financial instruments. The big five banks have never been allowed to merge, and they've only dabbled in investment banking and subprime mortgages. Also, the banks' chiefs have never received huge bonuses like Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman Sachs ( GS - news - people ). In other words, the banking system has been forced to be conservative--as a banking system should be.

Canada also has good immigration and education policies that have set it up for continued strength. There are lessons President Obama can learn from Canada as worries of a double-dip recession in the U.S. linger.
For the past week I've been in Montreal speaking at the International Economic Forum of the Americas. The other speakers have included former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, Former British Prime Minister John Major, French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner and several central bank heads from Europe. Perhaps the best speech, though, came from Jean Charest, the premier of the province of Quebec. Where most of the speakers focused on trade and economics, Charest said that Quebec needs to continue to attract the best people from around the world to come to work there. This is something that is going all wrong in the U.S., as America erects yet more obstacles to immigration in the name of preserving American jobs. Those anti-immigration policies are foolish and will hurt America in the long term.

Let me tell you a story to illustrate just how absurd America's immigration policy has become. I recently interviewed a young Harvard graduate who also was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University. He was one of the most impressive young people I've ever met. He had an offer in hand from one of the big private equity firms in New York--but despite his credentials, he couldn't get a working visa. Yes, a Harvard graduate and Rhodes scholar with a job offer in hand was unable to get a visa from the U.S. government. As a result, I was sitting with him in Shanghai interviewing him to join my firm, as he desperately sought another job.
This young man is exactly the kind of person America, or for that matter any nation, needs. Why couldn't he get a working visa? Because immigration is an issue that has become so freighted with fear that people can't think about it rationally. This has been especially true recently, as scared people like the Tea Partiers have looked for scapegoats for America's economic mess--though in reality the pendulum has been swinging this way since Sept. 11, 2001. Immigrants are easy targets, but rarely are they the problem.

 

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Crackdown on crooked consultants needs sharp teeth

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Guest Article by:

Immigration by Guidy Mamann

METRO CANADA

June 14, 2010 11:05 a.m.

It was supposed to herald the end of the wild west days of immigration consulting.

In June 2002, the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) became law, and for the first time in Canadian history, allowed our federal cabinet to regulate immigration consultants.

At that time anybody, and I mean anybody, could describe themselves as an immigration consultant. And many did.

Many, if not most, had no formal training whatsoever. Some had criminal records. Some barely spoke English or French. Some were neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents of Canada. Others didn’t even have legal status in this country.

Yet they were all legally allowed to print up a business card describing themselves as experienced immigration consultants, counsel, advisors, or whatever. They were permitted to hang up a shingle in a glass tower, over a convenience store, or at their place of residence.

They all had a hook. With little in the way of real credentials or experience to trade on, many endeared themselves to potential clients through their common cultural backgrounds, language, and familial ties. It seemed that some familiar sounding banter from back home was all that would-be immigrants needed to choose someone to represent them in what could be the most important move of their lives.
In April 2004, IRPA was amended so that those who, for a fee, advise and represent potential immigrants before Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) had to be either a member of a provincial bar or licensed by the newly-formed Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants (CSIC).
CSIC evaluated consultant’s technical and language skills, screened their criminal backgrounds and licensed them when appropriate.
Now that consultants had to be licensed, immigration officials didn’t have to deal with any representatives who were not licensed by CSIC.

Unfortunately, that did not stem the tide of the shyster consultant industry. It just pushed it underground. Those who couldn’t get licensed or who weren’t willing to pay annual dues to CSIC simply bypassed it altogether.
These “ghost consultants” didn’t surrender their business cards, close up shop, or cease operations. In fact, as you read this, perhaps thousands of unlicensed immigration consulting offices continue to freely advertise and ply their trade. Interestingly, they can’t be prosecuted for doing so. While it is true that they must be licensed in order to correspond with immigration officials, it is not an offence to advise immigration clients or to prepare their applications without a license.
Since immigration officials wouldn’t deal with them directly, they simply prepared applications in their clients’ names only, without ever identifying themselves as the applicant’s representative or the person who prepared the application. Often they would give their own address as the applicant’s mailing address so they could maintain control over all important correspondence received from immigration officials.
These days may now be over.
On June 8, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney tabled the Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act which would finally make it an offence “To advise a person for consideration – or offer to do so – in connection with a proceeding or application” under IRPA. Proposed penalties are two years in jail and/or $50,000 in fines.
Will this work?
It will certainly give some of these ghost consultants some food for thought. However, the only way to shut them down permanently is to target these criminal enterprises where they feel it most -- in their bank accounts, here and overseas. Kenney should make sure that federal prosecutors have the legal authority to immediately freeze any bank accounts of these organizations, their officers, and employees as soon as charges are laid and make sure that this is done routinely rather than in limited circumstances.
Otherwise the business of swindling and messing up the lives of potential newcomers to Canada will continue to flourish.

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Canada draws a growing number of Filipinos

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By Joanne Lee-Young, Vancouver Sun

Alma Davac tried stalling, but her grandfather wouldn't let it go. He kept nagging. " 'What's your plan? What's your plan?' I said, 'We're happy here. We're okay.' He said, 'So, you're just going to be happy? What about helping your family? Look at your cousins. They have made a good life abroad.' "
And so, Davac, who managed to stay in her native Manila, the Philippines, for a few years after graduating, caved.
"It's like a herd. Everyone was leaving. An opportunity came up and I said, 'Okay, Granddad, I applied.' He said, 'I am going to die happy.' "
Davac moved to Burnaby 11 months ago on a temporary visa to work as a nurse at Surrey Memorial Hospital. By then, she had logged eight years in Portsmouth near London in the U.K. Her sister, Joan Magtanong, took a more direct route to Canada. In May 2008, she moved from Manila to Fort McMurray, Alta., also on a temporary visa, for a crew member's job at McDonald's.
Quietly and without fanfare, the Philippines has become Canada's largest source country for immigrants and temporary foreign workers, combined.
The two sisters are part of a bulge of skilled and non-skilled temporary foreign workers that is key to the Philippines outpacing China and India as our largest source of newcomers.
These Filipino workers have been coming to Canada via an array of new federal and provincial programs. When Ottawa rolled the first of them out in 2001, the focus was on filling labour shortages in the technology sector. They were expanded to other fields, including nursing, construction trades, truck transportation, fast food services, hotel management, retail and more.
Along with provincial governments, Ottawa then extended a huge carrot -- the ability to apply for citizenship and stay for good.
Filipinos rushed at the opportunity through programs like the B.C. Provincial Nominee Program, which offers an accelerated path to immigration for skilled workers, and the Canadian Experience Class, which started in 2008 and allows some temporary foreign workers to apply for permanent residence after working for two years.
No other popular destinations for Filipinos -- not Hong Kong, Dubai, Australia, nor the U.S., -- offer the same opportunity.
And this has made Canada the dream destination for Filipino workers, according to Prod Laquian, a Vancouver-based academic who studies Filipino-Canadian history.
A desire to stay
Temporary workers are coming in droves, and many hope to stay.
While temporary foreign workers from the U.S., Australia and Mexico tend to come, work and go as the label "temporary" implies, most Filipinos aspire to immigrate.
They come believing there is nothing temporary about their venture, no matter what any first contract might say, says Winston Chan, a Filipino expatriate who has lived in Vancouver since 1973 and has helped to place temporary foreign workers from the Philippines.
The labour exodus from the Philippines is a well-known story. It's one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia and some eight million Filipinos work abroad, sending home $17 billion US in remittances that prop up the country's economy. As well, power is entrenched in the hands of a few, leaving ordinary folks with little reason to even dream of change if they stay.

In Canada, astute mainstream businesses have spotted the migration trend and are mining the potential of these not-so-temporary foreign workers.
At Scotiabank, vice-president of multicultural banking Rania Llewellyn says Filipino customers in Canada are a key target for the company's newly tweaked StartRight program, which offers credit cards, savings accounts and mortgages for newcomers. At first, the bank marketed StartRight to landed immigrants, international students and immigrant investors, "but we found if we included temporary foreign workers, the market was much bigger," said Llewellyn.
She emphasized the bank isn't interested in customers who are mere seasonal workers, but "if a temporary foreign worker has a one-year contract to be in Canada, he or she qualifies for StartRight. It means they are being recruited for a specific skill set. As an institution, we can't look at this group as temporary because they come and want to stay."
In fact, Llewellyn has edited the misnomer right out of her marketing materials. "We have moved away from the term 'temporary foreign worker' and we just say 'foreign worker.' We do this intentionally because we know things have changed."
To understand this desire to stay, meet Michael Cruz, a power line technician hired by BC Hydro to climb poles and restore power.
Cruz arrived here in January 2008 on a three-year temporary work permit, but he has applied for permanent residency via B.C.'s provincial nominee program.
He and his wife, Erin Gray de la Cruz, who has a job at a sushi restaurant in Lynn Valley, are renting a house in North Vancouver.
"It's a big difference. In the Philippines, we work hard, but earn less money. Here, we work hard and make lots of money," said Cruz.
Over at Bean Bros., a longtime Kerrisdale establishment that bakes from scratch and serves homemade breakfast, lunch and dinner, 23-year-old Jessica Kalao is trying to establish herself in Canada.
Kalao grew up in the Philippines' Samar province and arrived in Vancouver nine months ago, along with two other workers from the Philippines. She had already worked abroad at a Starbucks in Kuwait for four years, and with that experience, she returned to the Philippines in order to relaunch herself in Canada.
"Because in Arab countries, the salary is also good, but it's only for Kuwaiti people, only for Arab workers. We don't have permanent residence and don't have a chance for that. You can just stay there and renew your contract, renew and renew."
Lots of Filipino food
Here, she's hoping she might get lucky and become a permanent resident.
For the two sisters -- the nurse and the McDonald's worker -- moving to Canada has also given them a way to be closer to each other again.
"There's not a single day that we don't talk to each other now," said Magtanong. "Sometimes, I have to make something up like 'I have to go to the washroom now,' because she just doesn't stop talking. Or we joke, 'Hey, that's the same thing we talked about yesterday.'"

This growing critical mass of compatriots makes Canada an especially attractive place for new migrants.
"My kids have been saying to me, 'Y'know Mom, there are many Filipino kids at school here and they speak our native language and English with an accent.'
They think it's so weird because when we were in the U.K., there weren't many Filipinos," said Davac. "There is lots of Filipino food and shops here. We have actually put on weight. I told my friends, 'Food-wise, you're going to love it.'"
Davac and her husband, a cashier at a 7-Eleven convenience store who is also on a temporary work visa, plan to apply for permanent residency.
In Fort McMurray, sister Magtanong has just hit her two-year mark in Canada. Her contract with McDonald's has already been renewed and she will be promoted to a shift manager, moving her from the non-skilled to the skilled realm, and broadening the ways she might qualify for permanent residency.
For now, however, she is excitedly awaiting the birth of her baby. Her common-law husband also works at McDonald's in Fort McMurray. He came first and bounced around at McDonald's in Red Deer and Calgary before getting reassigned to Fort McMurray when Magtanong arrived there some months later.
She has a young son from a previous marriage back in Manila, isn't too sure yet about the harsh winters of Fort McMurray, and her renewed contract is just for a year. But there is a deep sense of permanence in their plans.
"My common-law husband wants to stay here for a long time. His mind is all settled down here. Maybe when we are retired, we will go back home, I guess. We're kind of thinking if ever given a chance, we would like to buy a house here," said Magtanong. "He's got the same thing going as me; he is helping out with his mom and dad at home. It's a lot of help to them."
jlee-young@vancouversun.com

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Canada+draws+growing+number+Filipinos/3145089/story.html#ixzz0qgp2fUZK

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Manitoba immigration program a huge success

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More Than 13,500 People Chose to Settle in Manitoba in 2009 Under Province's Immigration Initiative: Selinger

 

The province's successful immigration program has attracted the highest number of new Manitobans since the start of modern record keeping in 1946, Premier Greg Selinger announced today.

 

"Manitoba's immigration initiative has been very successful, not only because more and more newcomers are coming to Manitoba, but because the settlement and language-training assistance being offered are helping them succeed," said Selinger. "Evidence consistently demonstrates that Manitoba's immigrants experience one of the highest employment rates and lowest unemployment rates in Canada."

 

Manitoba welcomed 13,520 immigrants in 2009, an increase of more than 20 per cent from 2008 when 11,218 people settled in the province, surpassing the previous record of 11,614 in 1957. Prior to 1946, Canada's immigration records were not broken down by individual provinces. 

 

Preliminary figures also show that Winnipeg received nearly 10,000 immigrants in 2009, more than Edmonton, Ottawa and Hamilton and more than Quebec City, Regina, Saskatoon, Victoria, Fredericton and Red Deer combined. Manitoba regional communities also welcomed more immigrants in 2009.

 

Compared with 2008, Manitoba provincial nominees increased by 27 per cent, with more than 75 per cent of permanent residents coming through the Provincial Nominee Program.  In 2009, the majority of immigrants came from the Philippines, Germany, China, India and Israel.

 

Preliminary figures also show that Manitoba received 3,214 immigrants in the first three months of 2010, an increase of 11.9 per cent over the same period last year.

 

Today's announcement was made at the offices of the ENTRY program, an orientation and language program for newcomers. The program was launched by the province in 2004 and is the first place for new immigrants to learn about living in Manitoba, said the premier.  

  

Selinger also announced $415,546 in additional funding for ENTRY to support increased participation in the program.  Participation increased to 4,131 students in 2009 from 1,390 in 2005.  The new funding will bring total support to ENTRY to nearly $1.4 million in 2010-11, a 42 per cent increase over the previous year.

 

"Manitoba is making tremendous strides in increasing its population through immigration," said Selinger. "Looking past the numbers, you also see the real success of our immigration initiatives and the positive effects newcomers are having on our economy and communities."

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New rules aim to strengthen the value of Canadian Citizenship

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Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney introduced legislation that would streamline the citizenship revocation process, crack down on crooked citizenship consultants and better protect the value of Canadian citizenship.

“Canadian citizenship is highly valued around the world and today we are taking steps to ensure it stays that way,” said Minister Kenney. “These changes will help prevent citizenship fraud. As promised in the Speech from the Throne, these amendments will streamline the process to take citizenship away from those who have acquired it by fraud, including by concealment of their war crimes. And it would take decision-making away from politicians and give it to the courts.”

The full package of amendments would strengthen the process of applying for citizenship and crack down on citizenship fraud. Bill C-37: Strengthening the Value of Canadian Citizenship Act proposes to:

* Add legal authority to regulate citizenship consultants and to crack down where they help people gain citizenship fraudulently, in line with the recently proposed amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act – The Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act – aimed at immigration consultants.
* Increase the penalties for citizenship fraud to a maximum of $100,000 or up to five years in prison or both.
* Strengthen citizenship residence requirements to specify in the law that people applying for citizenship would have to be physically present in Canada for three of the previous four years.
* Improve the government’s ability to bar criminals, including violent foreign criminals, from becoming Canadian citizens.
* Streamline the revocation and removal process and make revocation more transparent by shifting the decision making on revocations from the Governor in Council to the Federal Court.
* Ensure that the law supports the implementation of the first generation limit to passing on citizenship, ensure that the law does not unintentionally bar applicants who are eligible for citizenship, and ensure that the children of people serving Canada aboard – children of Crown servants – are not disadvantaged by their parent’s service to Canada and are able to pass on citizenship to their children.

“Canadian citizenship is more than a legal status, more than a passport,” said Minister Kenney. “We expect citizens to have an ongoing commitment, connection and loyalty to Canada.”

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The HR Space: Obtaining a Work Permit in Canada: The Simplified Process

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The HR Space is edited by: Dominique Launay, Karen M. Sargeant, and Brian P. Smeenk. In our January 5, 2010 article, we discussed the usual process for getting a work permit for a foreign employee entering Canada: obtaining a Labour Market Opinion (or LMO). The LMO process can be complex, lengthy, and very demanding for employers. Fortunately, several exemptions exist that can provide you with a much faster, simpler process. Let's have a look at the most common of these LMO exemptions. Intra-company transfers This exemption is for workers who are being transferred to a Canadian parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate of their American or other foreign employer.  Two types of workers are covered by this exemption: executives/senior managers, and employees who possess specialized knowledge. Immigration Canada's guidelines define an executive or senior manager as someone who manages the company or an important part of it, usually through middle managers. When there are no employees under their direct supervision, it must be proved that they manage an important function of the company, at a senior level. Middle managers or first-line supervisors do not qualify for this exemption. In order to determine how senior a position is, Immigration Canada will not rely only on the position title.  They will rely mostly on the description of the role in the company's organization chart as well as the detailed job description. An employee-applicant who possesses specialized knowledge must be very familiar with the company's products, services, processes or procedures. The knowledge must be unusual and different from what is usually found in the industry. It can be proprietary or unique to the company, but it is enough for it to be rare. Specialized knowledge does not include knowledge that could be gained by another employee in the short term.  An advanced level of knowledge of a particular industry that is not easily gained without extensive experience also qualifies under this category. In addition, the employee must: have worked for the foreign company in a similar position for at least one year in the three-year period right before his or her application, and be transferred for a temporary period only. Permits for executives and senior managers allow a maximum period of stay in Canada of 7 years. The maximum stay is limited to 5 years for specialized knowledge employees. The initial work permit may not exceed 3 years. Young Worker Programs Canada has signed bilateral agreements with a number of countries, including the U.S.A., in order to facilitate the work permit process for young workers between the ages of 18 and 35. Each agreement has its own specific requirements, but in general, it includes one or more categories that are LMO exempt: Working Holiday: for young workers who want to work part-time while travelling to another country as a tourist; International Co-op: for students who would like to gain international work experience in their current field of study; and Young Professionals: for young workers who want to gain international work experience related to their career. Each category comes with a yearly quota, so it is best to apply early in the calendar year. Work permit periods vary between 6 and 18 months, and are generally non-renewable. However, a worker may apply in another category (including an LMO-based permit) once he  or she has completed the authorized period. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) The NAFTA offers simplified work permit criteria and processing for American and Mexican citizens. The most commonly used NAFTA LMO exemptions are for professionals and intra-company transferees. Professionals This exemption covers approximately 60 specified occupations, such as management consultants, engineers, architects, teachers, nurses or computer analysts. In addition to being a citizen of Mexico or the U.S., candidates must meet the educational and experience requirements for one of these occupations. They must enter Canada to provide pre-arranged professional services, either as an employee of the Canadian company, or as an independent contractor. Intra-company transferees The requirements under this category are similar to the general requirements mentioned above for regular intra-company transferees. The key difference is that managerial positions are not restricted to executive or senior managers.  The NAFTA exemption also applies to middle management roles. Processing times and locations: The Canadian Government office that will process a work permit application based on a LMO exemption will vary,  depending on the worker's nationality and whether they need an entry visa. For American citizens or others who do not require a visa, the application can be presented to immigration officers at any Canadian port of entry.  A pre-approval process is also available.  That process will speed up the issuance of the work permit upon arrival in Canada. A written response is usually received within 10 working days from the date an application is submitted. When a visa is required, on the other hand, the application must be presented to a Canadian Consulate or Embassy in the worker's country of residence. Processing times can vary from 2 weeks to 3 months (or more when an immigration medical examination is required). Summary One of these or several other LMO exemptions may apply to a specific case. A careful analysis of the context and circumstances of the employee being relocated is recommended. The review should be done at an early stage of preparation. It will help determine if an LMO exemption may apply and is usually very worthwhile.  Remember that LMO exemptions can save you, as a work permit applicant or employer, lots of time, effort and money.  Make sure to take advantage of these rules.

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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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