Immigration Canada

Canadian strip clubs set to recruit from high schools due to visa ban

Toronto Skyline (Photo credit: Bobolink)

TORONTO - Recruiters of teenage strippers may soon be scouring Toronto high schools in search of female students who can be groomed into disrobing part-time as exotic dancers to earn college tuition.

A flyer praising the benefits of the burlesque trade has been produced to target students in high schools, colleges and universities in the Toronto area, says a group representing dancers and club owners.

The brochure claims working as a dancer pays well, offers flexible hours and makes a "great part-time job to raise college tuition."

A scramble is underway by the Adult Entertainment Association of Canada to fill a demand for dancers after the federal government this month stopped issuing visas or extensions for foreign strippers to work here. There are up to 800 foreign strippers in Canada and most vow to go underground and work in the sex trade if they can't dance legally.

The foreign dancers, many of whom are from Eastern Europe and South America, represent about 5% of the 38,000 strippers working in clubs across Canada. Most of them dance in Toronto, Windsor, Ont., London, Ont., Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Calgary.

Caroline, 28, and Nicola, 25, have been dancing in a downtown Toronto club for more than a year and have tasted the good life, and now don't want to return to their native Hungary.

"We are not happy that visas are no longer being issued to us," Caroline said. "I am very disappointed and afraid of what may happen to me in the future."

The women say they work long hours and send most of their earnings back home to their families.

"We did not do anything wrong in Canada," she said. "They should not be sending us back home."

Nicola said she's stressed out and hasn't been able to eat since hearing news of the visa revocation.

"My visa is almost expired and I am very scared," she said. "I am very shattered that I may no longer be able to work and help my family back home."

Dancers Caroline (left) and Nicola. Dave Thomas/QMI AGENCY

The association said the visa ban that began July 14 means more Canadian women have to be hired to meet the demand. The new rules will prevent strip clubs, escort services and massage parlours from having access to foreign women.

"They're destroying the industry by creating a labour shortage," association director Tim Lambrinos said. "The word 'exotic' means foreign and that's what people want to see."

The association has created a "six-point action plan" to help keep the dancers in Canada. That includes more recruitment of women in high schools and colleges, lobbying the government for changes and if all else fails, the strippers plan to file refugee claims or marry Canadian citizens to sponsor them.

Lambrinos said girls 18 and older can work as dancers in Ontario, according to advice from their lawyers.

He said recruiters from strip clubs will try to attract students by attending job fairs at high schools, colleges and universities in Toronto and surrounding areas.

"We are already doing some outreach work in some areas," Lambrinos said. "We will be taking a strippers' dance pole with us to the schools."

He said overcrowded Toronto high schools can become a prime recruiting ground for potential dancers.

QMI Agency has obtained a draft copy of the flyer to be circulated to high school students. It advises them that they can earn tuition fees while working as an "exotic dance entertainer" and that no sex with customers is permitted.

"If you are visually appealing and comfortable with your naked body and are comfortable about taking all your clothes off," the flyer states. "You can be working right now as an exotic dancer and earn your tuition fees for university or college."

Students are told they must be "comfortable ... onstage at a club and disrobing," and are guaranteed that "no actual sex or sex acts (will) occur."

It warns them that they will have to provide private dances, or table dances, in dark lounge areas and part-time, full-time or seasonal jobs are available.

Officials of the Toronto District School Board did not return phone calls or e-mails about the proposal despite repeated attempts by QMI Agency. Several high school students said they did not like the idea of strippers being recruited from among their peers.

Foreign dancers said they're willing to get married to a Canadian citizen or file refugee claims to stay here.

Plans are in place to seek Canadian men to marry some of the strippers whose visas are about to expiry, which could force them to go underground and into the hands of organized crime to work in the sex trade.

Lambrinos said photographs and descriptions of some the dancers will be posted on the Internet and newspaper ads with text seeking Canadian husbands. Potential hubbies will have to be citizens and not have a criminal record.

"This is very urgent for some of the dancers whose visas are nearing expiry," Lambrinos said. "Every potential sponsor will be looked at and the girls will make a decision on who they want to marry."

There will be a phone number and e-mails for the potential husbands to contact their potential brides.

Officials of the Canada Border Services Agency said the scheme can be considered a marriage of convenience, since there is no history of courtship between the couple. If approved, the sponsor will be responsible for his wife for about 10 years in Canada.

"We're trying to do all we can to keep the dancers here," Lambrinos said. "The girls themselves have said they are not going back home."

He said another plan will have the strippers file claims for refugee status and there is no guarantee that they will be accepted.

Immigration officials said filing a claim will allow the women to remain here for more than a year as they challenge the case, but eventuality they will have to leave.

The controversial "stripper visa" dates back to 1998 and allowed hundreds of foreign dancers into the country each year. In 2001, for example, 660 foreign dancers, mostly from eastern Europe, were admitted.

All they had to do was provide a Canadian job offer from a strip club and prove they were qualified to "dance."

Roughly 100 of the visas have been renewed each year since 2006.

Support for the program has plummeted ever since MP Judy Sgro, a former Liberal immigration minister, resigned in 2000 after facing accusations that she fast-tracked a stripper who worked on her campaign -- a scandal dubbed "Strippergate."

Students already stripping to pay tuition: Club owner

One popular Toronto strip club owner says his stable of exotic dancers include more than a dozen college or university students.

The well-known Toronto businessman, who did not want to be publicly identified, said two of his dancers are studying to become doctors; four are attending law school and six are taking classes to become chartered accountants.

"They just do their job and go home," the owner said. "They are very intelligent and always show up on time and don't perform extras."

Club owners have created a six-point plan of action to recruit strippers as foreign dancers are becoming scarce as their visas can't be renewed under a new federal law.

They plan on organizing the dancers; stepping up recruitment in high schools, colleges and universities; seeking Canadian husbands to marry those whose visas are expiring; filing refugee claims, lobbying the federal government and working with civil servants.

Lycamobile wants to shake up Canada's mobile market

lycamobile (Photo credit: osde8info)

By Rita Trichur, The Globe and Mail
Monday 23 July 2012
U.K.-based low-cost international calls specialist in talks with a number of potential Canadian network operator partners.
European telecommunications provider Lycamobile is planning to shake up Canada's C$18-billion wireless market with a new service aimed at immigrants and other ethnic consumers who regularly talk and text with family and friends living overseas.

Headquartered in London, Lycamobile sells low-cost international mobile calls. It has roughly 20 million customers in 16 countries, including Britain, France, Germany and Australia. The company was established in 2006 with an eye to serving expatriate communities--a multilingual niche market that numbers at least 250 million people around the world.

Lycamobile's goal is to be in 25 countries by the end of 2013, and Canada is a market in which so-called ethnic consumers wield increasing spending power.

Immigrants are expected to comprise more than 22% of Canada's population by 2017, with visible minorities, such as Chinese and South Asians, making up more than 50% of the population in cities like Vancouver and Toronto by that year. As a result, companies ranging from banks to retailers are tailoring products and services to court ethnic consumers.

Lycamobile Group CEO Milind Kangle said there is pent-up demand for more affordable services that allow consumers to make high-quality and frequent international calls and texts from their mobile phones. Immigrants often keep in daily contact with loved ones around the world, he said, but resent the inconvenience of being tethered to their land lines and webcams, or having to fumble for international calling cards that sometimes provide spotty connections.

"This is a lifeline service. We believe that our customers should get the same quality connection as any other customer would get in any other part of the world," Mr. Kangle said. "And we believe that the communication should be affordable--as in they should be able to make daily calls without having to feel the pinch in their wallet."

As a "mobile virtual network operator," or MVNO, Lycamobile does not own spectrum or cellphone towers. Instead, its business model is based on agreements that allow it to lease space on an existing carrier's network. Retailers such as Loblaw Cos Ltd. and Petro-Canada offer wireless services under MVNO deals.

Lycamobile is currently in talks with a number of Canadian carriers. Mr. Kangle declined to provide specifics due to confidentiality agreements, but the company is looking for a Canadian partner that uses GSM network technology.

Rogers Communications Inc. is Canada's biggest GSM-based carrier and is also considered an industry leader with respect to MVNO partnerships. The Toronto-based carrier has signed just less than 20 of those MVNO deals and operates a national wireless network.

BCE Inc. and Telus Corp. also support MVNO partnerships. Both could potentially partner with Lycamobile, but their newer shared network may have trouble supporting older GSM-based handsets.

Lycamobile, which recently opened an office in Toronto, is aiming for a Canadian launch this year. Although it plans to provide a national service, it will initially focus on major urban centres like Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal, offering unlimited and pay-as-you-go plans.

"We will target, of course, the bigger communities--the Asian communities, the Chinese communities, the Indian communities and what have you. But typically Lyca's approach is not to exclude any particular community," Mr. Kangle said.

To use Lycamobile's service, a consumer needs an unlocked GSM handset. She would then insert a Lycamobile SIM card and power up her device. Although the company does not sell handsets, Mr. Kangle says most consumers have at least one old handset lying around at home, adding availability of devices has never been an issue.

Zunaira Anderson, a 28-year-old resident of Woodbridge, Ont., knows firsthand the high cost of using mobile phones to keep in touch with her family and friends in Pakistan. She calls her mother every day. Although she uses free Web-based services like Skype, she also spends hundreds of dollars each month to call overseas on her Internet-based land line and her cellphone.

"I make the calls and he gets the shock," she says of her husband, Chris Rayan Anderson, who manages the bills.

"You feel empty if you don't talk to your parents. It's like our ties are so strong. We're so strongly in touch with each other," she said."I have to be in touch with them all the time. You know, when your parents are older, you are kind of more scared and you want to stay in touch more."

Winnipeg resident Hemant Shah is also hunting for cheaper alternatives for international calls. As an international marketing consultant, he frequently calls India, Saudi Arabia, Russia and a variety of West Asian countries from his mobile phone.

"It is not only keeping in touch with the family, but it is a business purpose also," he said of his smartphone. Although he often hunts for Wi-Fi hot spots when travelling, that approach is not always convenient.

"We are hooked up with the cellular phone today. Part of life has become a BlackBerry or iPhone. It has become a necessity of life."

Newcomers need to learn intricacies of Canadian life: Research

Citizenship Ceremony @ MaRS 2011 (Photo credit: mars_discovery_district)

Immigrants need help learning not just Canada's two official languages, but also the "secret rules" of Canadian life in order to fit into their new home, according to the authors of a report released Thursday.

The ability to speak and read English or French is viewed as key to the economic success of newcomers, and the federal government is implementing mandatory language testing for immigrants in their country of origin and increasing the level of proficiency required. But in their report for the Institute for Research on Public Policy, Tracey Derwing and Erin Waugh looked at the role of language and cultural practices in how immigrants develop friendships, join social organizations and build networks within the mainstream.

The study, Language Skills and the Social Integration of Canada's Adult Immigrants, reviewed the federal Language Instruction for Newcomers (LINC) program, which is available to all permanent immigration classes until they become Canadian citizens. It also reviewed existing literature, including a Citizenship and Immigration study of language proficiency levels and a longitudinal study Derwin co-authored that has followed Mandarin and Slavic-language speakers since their arrival in Canada, assessing their accents and fluency as part of overall comprehensibility.

Courtesy: CanadianImmigrant.ca

Employment, language barrier, key concerns of immigrants

Province of Ontario in Canada (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Employment, followed by language skills is the biggest concern for immigrants and refugees in their settlement process, according to a new study.

The study, "Making Ontario Home," by Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) is based on research carried out over a period of two years, on newcomers' experience with use of immigrant services in the province.

"This study shows that investment in settlement and integration services is making a real difference in the lives of immigrants," said Debbie Douglas, executive director of OCASI, launching the report on July 18. "Investing in services at the front-end as soon as immigrants arrive, will have significant long-term benefits for immigrants and their families as well as Canadian society and the economy."

Nearly two-thirds of the 2,530 respondents identified employment as their highest concern, and immigrant and refugee-serving agencies were the main access point for employment service. Skills upgrading programs and the provincially funded bridge training for non-regulated professions, created to remove barriers faced by foreign trained professionals, were among the highest rated employment services, according to the report.

"Putting the skills of newcomers to work and improving their social and economic integration is key to Ontario's economic prosperity," said Charles Sousa, Ontario's minister of Citizenship and Immigration. "Ontario is committed to supporting these important immigrant services, which this study confirms remain a priority for newcomers." Sousa told Canadian Immigrant that he would be asking the federal government to reverse the cuts made in funding to the province's settlement services. "I'm going to reiterate and reinforce that we need to have consultations — federal-provincial meetings."

Sousa also noted that such a meeting has been postponed several times and that he would call for at least a meeting with his counterparts in other provinces and territories.

The study, funded by the provincial government, is said to be one of the largest surveys of immigrants and refugees ever undertaken in Canada outside of government.

Courtesy: CanadianImmigrant.ca

Commentary: Why Canada is working and the U.S. isn’t

By Stephen Marche

On July 1, Canada Day, Canadians awoke to a startling, if pleasant, piece of news: For the first time in recent history, according to Environics Analytics WealthScapes, the average Canadian is richer than the average American.

A few days later, Canada and the United States released the latest job figures. Canada’s unemployment rate fell, again, to 7.2 percent, and America’s was a stagnant 8.2 percent. The difference grows starker by the month: The Canadian system is working; the American system is not. And it’s not just Canadians who are noticing. As Iceland considers switching its currency, its leaders’ primary focus of interest is the loonie — the Canadian dollar.

As a study in the New York University Law Review pointed out, national constitutions based on the American model are disappearing. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in an interview on Egyptian television, admitted, “I would not look to the United States Constitution if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012.” The natural replacement? The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, just turning 30.

Good politics do not account entirely for recent economic triumphs. Luck has played a major part. The Alberta tar sands — an environmental catastrophe in waiting — are the third-largest oil reserves in the world, and if America is too squeamish to buy Canada’s filthy energy, there’s always China. Policy, though, has played a significant part.

Liberals and conservatives in the U.S. have tried to use the Canadian example to promote their arguments. The left says Canada shows the rewards of financial regulation and socialism, while the right touts the brutal cuts made to Canadian social programs in the 1990s, which set the stage for economic recovery. Both sides are right.

Since the 1990s, Canada has pursued a hardheaded, even ruthless fiscally conservative form of socialism. Its originator was Paul Martin, who was finance minister for most of the ‘90s and prime minister from 2003 to 2006. Alone among finance ministers in the Group of Eight nations, he “resisted the siren call of deregulation,” in his words, and insisted that banks tighten their loan-loss and reserve requirements. He also made a courageous decision not to allow Canadian banks to merge, even though their CEOs claimed they would never be globally competitive unless they did. The stability of Canadian banks and the concomitant stability in the housing market provide the clearest explanation for why Canadians are richer than Americans.

Martin also slashed funding to social programs. He foresaw that crippling deficits imperiled Canada’s education and health- care systems, which even his Conservative predecessor, Brian Mulroney, described as a “sacred trust.” He cut corporate taxes, too. Social programs and robust capitalism are not inherently opposed propositions. Both are required for meaningful national prosperity.

Mr. Martin’s balanced policies emerged out of Canadian culture, which is fair-minded and rule-following to a fault. The Canadian obsession with order can make for strange politics. Of all the world’s societies, Canada’s is one of the most open to immigrants. Yet Canada also imposes a mandatory one-year prison sentence on illegal immigrants, and the majority of Canadians favor deportation. Canadians insist that their compassion be orderly, too.

This immigration policy is neither “liberal” nor “conservative” in the American political sense. It just works. You could say the same thing about Canada’s economic policies.

Two hundred years ago last month, the War of 1812 began. Thomas Jefferson declared, “The acquisition of Canada, this year, as far as the neighborhood of Quebec, will be a mere matter of marching.” The U.S. had almost 8 million people, compared with Canada’s 300,000. The Canadians nonetheless turned back the assault.

Through good luck, excellent policy and even some heroism, Canada survived the war. But it has taken 200 years for Canada to become winners.

Stephen Marche is a columnist for Esquire magazine. He wrote this for Bloomberg News.

Foreign worker hiring fast-tracked

English: The National Institute for Nanotechnology on the north campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BY SHEILA PRATT, EDMONTON JOURNAL JULY 17, 2012

The door is open much wider for temporary foreign workers in six construction jobs, and tradesmen from the U.S. can now pick up work permits at the airport, the federal immigration minister announced Monday.

But organized labour is worried Canadians may be left out if companies are no longer required to consider them first in six job categories.

At Alberta's request, the federal government has agreed to eliminate the requirement that an employer must prove that Canadians were not available (called a labour market opinion) in six job categories - welder, ironworker, carpenter, estimator, millwright and heavy duty equipment mechanic. Pipefitters have been coming for a year without a requirement for the LMO.

These are high-demand occupations and employers need to be able to recruit workers much faster to meet growing demand in the oilsands and in Edmonton, where the unemployment rate is 4.4 per cent, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said.

Once inside the province, temporary workers will now be able to take jobs with other employers when their first contracts are over, Kenney said. Previously, foreign workers could not change employers.

Kenney said he had no concerns about eliminating the requirement for the LMO, a document outlining evidence of a shortage in a particular category of worker and proof the employer had advertised in Canada for workers but got no response.

Kenney stressed he would rely on the provincial government to keep an eye on trends in construction employment to determine if the shortage turns into an oversupply of labour in those categories.

Kenney said he doesn't think the federal government will be "so keen" to open the doors that wide in other areas, including for unskilled temporary foreign workers.

Temporary foreign workers must have job offers and documents to prove they are qualified in a trade before getting work permits.

The new rules will help companies recruit in the U.S., where many construction workers remain unemployed, Kenney said. U.S. workers can work for three weeks and spend a week back home - a pattern common for many Canadians working in the oilsands.

But Gil McGowan, head of the Alberta Federation of Labour, said it's a mistake to eliminate the LMO, the one check in the system that protected Canadian access to such jobs.

Alberta's non-union contractors gain a big advantage under the new system, he said. Along with elimination of the LMO, Prime Minister Stephen Harper three months ago announced foreign workers can be paid up to 15 per cent less than the going Canadian wage.

But union employers must abide by the collective agreement, said McGowan.

"This will help make foreign workers the first choice, not the last resort," said McGowan.

"This is not about a labour shortage, it's a low-wage strategy. This is mostly designed to give companies access to a big pool of construction labour in the U.S. that is desperate for jobs."

McGowan noted that half the companies looking for construction workers do not have apprenticeship training programs, and said those companies should not be allowed to bring in temporary workers.

"They don't want long-term solutions, they want quick fixes, and that's what Harper will give them."

Stephen Khan, Alberta's minister for enterprise and advanced education, said he's pleased with the new rules, which will create a fast track for six occupations by eliminating paperwork and weeks of waiting involved to obtain the LMO.

"We are engaging industry" to take a bigger role in recruiting labour, he said.

In a meeting Monday with the Journal editorial board, Kenney noted there is high unemployment among aboriginal youth and up to 14 per cent of immigrants are jobless or chronically underemployed. "I think employers have to do a lot more about skill training."

spratt@edmontonjournal.com

Immigrants Say Settlement and Integration Services Are Working-New Report

Top 25 Canadian Immigrants Award (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 16, 2012) - OCASI - Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants is launching 'Making Ontario Home', a new report based on extensive research carried out over a period of two years, on newcomers' experience with use of services in Ontario.

"Putting the skills of newcomers to work and improving their social and economic integration is key to Ontario's economic prosperity," said Charles Sousa, Ontario's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. "Ontario is committed to supporting these important immigrant services, which this study confirms remain a priority for newcomers."

The majority of survey respondents reported a high degree of satisfaction with services, including employment, language training and general settlement services. Services provided by immigrant and refugee-serving organizations were rated highly, particularly on elements such as the welcoming environment and quality and speed of service.

"This study shows that investment in settlement and integration services is making a real difference in the lives of immigrants," said Debbie Douglas, Executive Director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. "The work done by OCASI member agencies, the organizations in the immigrant and refugee-serving sector, is solid. It is a wise investment of our resources. Investing in services at the front-end as soon as immigrants arrive, will have significant long-term benefits for immigrants and their families as well as Canadian society and the economy," she added.

Nearly two-thirds of the respondents identified employment as their highest concern. Immigrant and refugee-serving agencies were the main access point for employment service. Skills upgrading programs and Bridge Training for unregulated professions, which are designed to remove barriers to high-skills employment, were among the highest rated employment services.

Banking Professional Aaftab Lakdawala participated in Bridge Training for those with a financial sector background. He said, "The help I received from ACCES Employment is why I am now employed in my field in the financial sector. I am very happy with the quality of service I received and would strongly recommend the program to other immigrants."

This Ontario-wide study is one of the largest surveys of immigrants and refugees ever undertaken in Canada outside of government, and includes a depth of detail ordinarily collected only through the now-cancelled long-form census. It will serve to some extent to address the information gap thus created.

Mehrunnisa Ali, Co-Director of CERIS - The Ontario Metropolis Centre and Ryerson Professor noted that the study is based on a province-wide survey of over 2,500 immigrants, supplemented by qualitative data from selected groups of immigrants. As one of the academic leads from the research consortium that carried out the study, she said, "The type of detailed information thus collected is exactly what we need to better understand immigrants' settlement trajectories. It should inform public policies and institutional practices across Ontario."

Alberta opening door to foreign workers

English: Alberta Province within Canada. Español: Provincia de Alberta en Canadá. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

BY KELLY CRYDERMAN, CALGARY HERALD JULY 17, 2012

An Alberta-based pilot program that allows skilled tradespeople to move from employer to employer while on a temporary Canadian work permit is expanding - a change that could bring hundreds or even thousands of new workers to the province, says Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

The program also makes it easier for certain foreign workers to get a job in Alberta's oilsands or on construction sites, especially from countries with no Canadian visa restrictions, such as the U.S.

Kenney said it will help address what he calls a nearcrisis in a number of fields where there aren't enough Canadian tradespeople available.

"This collapses what used to be a six-month, complicated, bureaucratic process into a one-step process where they can get a work permit in 30 minutes at the airport," Kenney said in an interview on Monday.

"This will make it massively faster for employers to proactively recruit skilled tradespeople - for example, from the United States."

For the past year, foreign steamfitters and pipefitters in the pilot project have been able to move freely between Alberta employers instead of being tied to one boss for the duration of the work permit - the usual rule in Canada's temporary foreign worker program.

Now, other in-demand tradespeople, including welders, heavy duty equipment mechanics, ironworkers, millwrights and industrial mechanics, carpenters and estimators will also be able to join the program.

The pilot program also allows these types of workers to be issued a work permit without a special authorization from Ottawa, called a Labour Market Opinion.

The Alberta government estimates the province could be short almost 1,500 welders, 1,376 carpenters, 775 heavy duty mechanics and 77 ironworkers in less than a decade.

"The good news coming out of this is Alberta is still the economic engine of Canada," Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education Minister Stephen Kahn said Monday.

"We need these workers." A number of Alberta groups have made recent trips south to recruit U.S. workers, who don't need to learn a new language and often have similar training and qualifications.

But Kenney said the U.S. has been unwilling to expand a North American Free Trade Agreement visa program. The move to allow tradespeople into Alberta more easily through the TFW program, Kenney said, is "a bit of a work around."

"There are thousands of unfilled positions. And major construction projects are being held back because of this," the minister said, adding he estimates the program could bring thousands of workers in "once it picks up steam."

The news was welcomed in many quarters as a benefit to both the temporary workers, who will have more job options, and employers without enough employees.

However, a group representing small and medium-sized businesses said the expanded mobility of the workers means staff at small firms might be subject to "poaching" by larger companies.

"The small employer goes through all the cost and hassle of hiring a temporary worker, only to have them lured away by a big company with the promise of higher wages," said Richard Truscott of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Martyn Piper, executive secretary Treasurer of the Alberta Regional Council of Carpenters and Allied Workers, acknowledged there's a shortage of carpenters and other trades. However, he's worried the new additions to the TFW program will lessen the impetus to train young workers, women and First Nations people, so they can become full participants in the labour market.

Piper also said the government needs to make sure only those foreign workers with the proper training and qualifications are allowed into the province.

"I would urge caution," Piper said.

This is just one in a long list of continual adjustments being made to Canada's TFW program. In April, Ottawa announced that foreign workers can be paid wages up to 15 per cent below the average pay rate, so long as it can be clearly demonstrated the same wages are being paid to Canadian workers.

At the same time, the government announced companies with an unblemished two-year history of hiring temporary workers from abroad will be allowed to apply for fast-tracked hiring permission.

Some unions have said the new provisions make it more difficult for Canadians to find meaningful work.

KCRYDERMAN@GALGARYHERALD.COM

Canada-Alberta pilot project expanded to include more occupations

Alberta mtn.'s1 (Photo credit: bbob)

Ottawa, July 16, 2012 — Alberta employers looking to hire highly skilled foreign workers in certain in-demand occupations will benefit thanks to the expansion of a Temporary Foreign Worker pilot project, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney and Alberta Minister of Enterprise and Advanced Education Stephen Khan announced today.

“Alberta is facing some of the most acute labour shortages in the country,” said Minister Kenney. “The expansion of this pilot project will enable more employers in Alberta to hire foreign workers on a temporary basis to fill short-term skills and labour needs when Canadians or permanent residents are unavailable.”

Originally launched June 1, 2011, under the Temporary Foreign Worker Annex to the Agreement for Canada-Alberta Cooperation on Immigration, this pilot project allows eligible foreign nationals to come to Alberta to work temporarily in a specific occupation. This program enables them to be issued a work permit that allows them to move freely between Alberta employers, without requiring authorization from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada/Service Canada in the form of a Labour Market Opinion, or LMO.

Effective today, the Alberta pilot is expanding beyond the steamfitter/pipefitter occupation to include the following additional occupations:

Welder
Heavy duty equipment mechanic
Ironworker
Millwright and industrial mechanic
Carpenter
Estimator
“Our consultations with Alberta employers and our own labour forecasts show there is a need to expand the pilot to include these high-demand occupations,” said Minister Khan. “We appreciate the cooperation and support of our federal colleagues in working with us to help employers get the workers they need sooner.”

Canada Still Open For Immigration

English: A Canadian Customs and Immigration service sign (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Many Canadian immigration programs remain open, despite the Canadian government’s announcement that it will be taking a ‘temporary pause’ in accepting Federal Skilled Workerapplications. In this article, CIC News will briefly explore current open programs, as well as the future of the Federal Skilled Worker Program.

Individuals were disheartened to hear that the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) program has temporarily suspended the intake of applications. This led some potential applicants to mistakenly believe that Canadian immigration is ‘closed’. On the contrary, immigration to Canada not only continues, it continues to thrive.

Overall, Canada will continue to accept permanent and temporary residents at a similar level as recent years. Last year, the country welcomed 250,000 new permanent residents and almost 200,000 temporary foreign workers. There are no plans to decrease these numbers, and this is proof that the door to Canada remains very much open. There are a number of popular Canadian immigration programs that are continuing to accept applications from eligible individuals, which will ensure that immigration continues on all levels.

Current Status of the Federal Skilled Worker Program

The current halt on accepting new applications to the FSW program is temporary, and does not affect all FSW streams. Two FSW streams are still open: Arranged Employment and PhD. Individuals with an offer of Arranged Employment, as well as those who are completing or have just completed a PhD program in Canada, may still be eligible to apply.

As for the FSW stream that has been temporarily closed, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has stated that the program will re-open in January 2013.When the program does reopen, it has been hinted that it will include an increased emphasis on language skills and younger immigrants. Minister Kenney has also announced the government’s intention to create a new stream that targets skilled tradespersons.

Regardless of when and how the FSW reopens, potential immigrants should keep in mind that it is just one of over 60 Canadian immigration programs, and that the door to Canada remains open. Below is a brief overview of programs that are open at the time of publication.

Canadian Immigration Program Without a Required Job Offer

Quebec Skilled Worker Program: Many immigrants have turned to Quebec’s popular immigration program as a way of coming to Canada and obtaining permanent residency. Last year, 51,736 new permanent residents arrived in Quebec – the highest level of immigration to any province exceptOntario. They were selected through one of a handful of programs specific to the province.

The Quebec Skilled Worker program is continuing to accept applications. It is a separate program from the FSW, and has not been affected by the FSW’s temporary pause. It uses its own unique points-based system to assess applicants, and is open to individuals from more than 100 fields of study.

Other Open Canadian Immigration Programs

Provincial Nominee Programs: Almost every province/territory in Canada has its own Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). These allow the provinces to target immigrants with skills and/or connections that they place high value on, and to streamline the process for those targeted immigrants. Every PNP has slightly different immigration streams and requirements. For instance, did you know that:

Most PNPs have their very own Skilled Worker streams. Generally, they require that the applicant already be working in the province.
Alberta’s PNP has special streams for tradespersons, engineers, and semi-skilled workers
Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba all have streams for individuals with family connections in the province
British Columbia’s PNP has a stream for designated health professionals and semi-skilled workers in the province

Canadian and Quebec Experience Class: These popular streams are designed for temporary workers and international students. The Canadian Experience Class is intended for individuals planning to settle outside of Quebec, while the Quebec Experience class is meant for those who will settle in the Province of Quebec.

Temporary Foreign Workers: Tens of thousands of individuals come to Canada from around the world each year to perform temporary work. This work can last anywhere from a few days to multiple years. In fact, Canada is currently experiencing a labour shortage, which means that more than ever, foreign workers will be called upon to fill job openings throughout the country.

Temporary work requires a job offer from a Canadian employer. For some, this is a first step to achieving permanent residency status.

Family Sponsorship: Canada remains committed to keeping families together. Federal sponsorship programs are continuing as usual. As mentioned above, some PNPs also include family connection streams.

Though their paths to Canada may be different, every year thousands of new residents come to Canada to start a new chapter in their lives. Though the Federal Skilled Worker program is one of Canada’s more well-known programs, it is far from the only path to Canadian Permanent Residency. Potential immigrants are encouraged to explore their options and determine which is right for them.

To find out if you are eligible for one of over 60 Canadian immigration programs, fill out an online assessment today.Click here: https://ecan-canada.com/Assessment.aspx?cid=NEXUS

Source: http://www.cicnews.com