Immigration Canada

Alberta at forefront of seeking Americans to work on resource projects

English: Saint Joseph's College on the north campus of the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald

CALGARY — Labour-starved employers should take a short look south to American workers, according to a new study by The Conference Board of Canada released on Friday.
The report said Alberta, which faces the most severe skills shortage in Canada, launched a pilot project last year that brought nearly 1,000 highly-skilled U.S. workers into the province.
“Alberta has been at the forefront of a strategy to recruit U.S. workers, particularly for resource projects, but Saskatchewan and Manitoba are also increasingly facing labour shortages,” said the conference board’s Global Commerce Centre.
The study said: there is no simple mechanism to bring in U.S. workers; resource projects require different approaches to workforce planning because they involve short, intense bursts of activity in geographically dispersed regions; and the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is a band-aid for skills shortages, but it is not a panacea or a long-term solution.
“With 50,000 unfilled vacancies and more than double that number expected within a decade, the labour and skills shortage has a direct impact on Alberta’s ability to develop its resource and energy sector. That is not just a regional problem, it affects our national economic prospects as well,” said Laura Dawson, author of Skills in Motion: U.S. Workers May Hold the Key to Canada’s Skills Shortage.
“Alberta has been a real role model in finding innovative ways to solve or to mitigate the short-term labour crunch. I think that there is no doubt that in certain regions and certain sectors of Canada there is a skills shortage.”
Education and training programs to grow those skills is a good idea but that takes time, she added.
“In the meantime, Alberta has this short-term demand and workers from the United States are particularly well-suited for filling demand in certain sectors,” said Dawson. “I’m impressed with the fact that both the government of Alberta as well as the employers and the unions have actually pulled together to find some innovative solutions. I think Alberta’s much further ahead than other provinces in tackling this issue.”
The report said many Alberta employers consider U.S. workers to be ideal to fill Canadian vacancies because they have comparable training and experience. They also understand the language and work culture, can enter Canada without a visa, and live nearby.
But the report said there is no simple mechanism for Canada to bring in U.S. workers in skilled trades. For example, the North American Free Trade Agreement does not allow mutual recognition between Canada and U.S. for regulated trades and professions.
The Alberta Occupation-Specific Pilot was launched in 2012, and has already allowed nearly 1,000 highly-skilled U.S. workers to enter the province, said the conference board report. It allows employers to hire foreign workers certified in certain occupations without needing a Labour Market Opinion from the federal government.
“Alberta’s Department of Apprenticeship and Industry Training has stepped in to provide its own evaluation of workers’ foreign credentials and experience. The province has launched a recruitment campaign in the United States. Alberta employers are also targeting Canadian and American veterans of the armed forces,” it said.

“Alberta’s experience with U.S. worker recruitment provides a number of lessons for employers and policy-makers elsewhere in Canada.”
Geraldine Anderson, spokesperson for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said the industry is generally supportive of this initiative.
She said the industry believes in hiring Canadians first and building that workforce.
“However, there is a shortage of skilled labour in the industry and this is an important tool to sort of fill a gap in the labour market.”
Alberta deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk said the Alberta response to the skilled labour shortage is a practical one for the situation.
“We know in Alberta right now that our government and our employers are doing what they possibly can to hire local, Canadian workers because it simply makes sense. It’s cheaper to do so and it’s more practical to do so and frankly most importantly it’s the right thing to do,” he said.
“But the fact is that at a time right now where we have about 4.6 per cent unemployment rate and we have 70,000 temporary foreign workers, that speaks to the fact that there’s simply a shortage of labour and it will continue to grow. We expect that we will have a shortage of somewhere around 120,000 workers within the next 10 years.”
He said that for the last 10 years or so the province has on an ongoing basis about 70,000 to 75,000 temporary workers.
Lukaszuk said the Alberta response makes sense and it allows employers to get workers here faster “because they need these workers now. Not in six months or nine months.”
According to the Alberta government, total work permits issued under the Occupation-Specific Pilot program between July 2012 and August 2013 were: Steamfitter-pipefitter, 721 (320 from U.S.); Welder, 967 (U.S. 177); Ironworker, 453 (U.S. 355); Carpenter, 154 (U.S. 12); Estimator, 81 (U.S. 22); and Heavy-duty equipment mechanic, 92 (U.S. 8).

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For Canada, immigration is a key to prosperity

Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Canada. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

CLÉMENT GIGNAC

Special to The Globe and Mail

Canada has become an attractive pole for immigrants from around the world who are looking for a host country that will give them good opportunities. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, Canada’s annual immigration flow is now proportionately one of the highest among OECD members, at 0.7 per cent of its population.

In 2011, there were 249,000 new permanent residents, after a record year of 281,000 in 2010. (The official planned admission range is between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents a year.) That is not counting the 190,800 temporary foreign workers that were admitted in 2011 as well as the 98,400 foreign students who came to benefit from our universities and may decide to stay and put their skills to use in Canada’s industries.

There are many myths floating around about immigrants, ranging from them being low-skilled workers to them having difficulty integrating into the labour force. A quick read through the OECD’s 2013 International Migration Outlook debunks all of those myths – and makes the reader realize just how well Canada is faring on the immigration front.

Time to address unfounded myths about immigrants

The OECD finds that employment for foreign-born Canadian citizens has gone up since 2008, while it has stalled for native-born citizens (see p.71 here). The employment rate for Canadian immigrants in 2012 was the third highest in the OECD. This shows that immigrants are quickly integrating into the labour force and putting their skills to work.

For that matter, it is worth noting that more than 50 per cent of Canadian immigrants are highly educated, putting Canada at the top among the OECD countries. As well, a significant number of the almost 100,000 foreign students visiting Canada each year decide to stay after getting a degree from one of our world-class universities (McGill, University of Toronto, UBC, etc.). Many other immigrants are also looking in Canada’s direction, attracted by job prospects and the open-arm culture for which Canadians are known.

One reason why foreign immigrants favour Canada as a destination is the labour mobility it offers. According to its latest Global Competitiveness Report published last month, the World Economic Forum ranks Canada as the world’s seventh most efficient labour market.

High labour-market efficiency means that workers are more likely to be allocated to their most effective use and provided with an environment where they are encouraged to give their best effort. On a macroeconomic level, this also means that the country’s work force is flexible enough to shift workers from one economic activity to another – for example, from factories in Quebec and Ontario to oil sands in Alberta – rapidly and at low cost. It also means that there are strong incentives in place for employees, promoting meritocracy and providing equity in the business environment.

Canada has gone to great lengths to liberalize its labour market, and it is paying off. Canada’s labour market now offers a great deal of mobility to its workers; it is quite easy for anyone to move from Montreal to Toronto, Calgary or Vancouver (and vice versa). As a former Quebec minister responsible for economic development and trade, let me tell you that I am proud to have had the opportunity to work with my provincial counterparts on internal trade agreements, fostering Canada’s economic ties, and ultimately strengthening the federation.

Positive implication on Canadian economic growth – and real estate

Canada’s strong economic performance since 2008 is explained by many factors, including well-capitalized banks, massive public infrastructure spending – and a strong influx of immigrants. Immigration last year explained two-thirds of Canada’s population growth of 1.2 per cent, well ahead of the 0.7 per cent and 0.3 per cent seen in the United States and the euro zone, respectively.

Why is this so important? Because without this immigration flow, Canada’s population aged between 20 and 44 years old would be declining. That cohort, which constitutes most of the labour force, is the one that creates new households, buys new houses, has children and pays the greater part of taxation revenue. Without immigration, Canada’s natural population growth would not be enough to sustain economic growth and welfare. Quebec, given its demographic structure, especially needs immigration to increase its labour force in the short term so as to sustain the costs of its social programs.

We also note that a large percentage of every province’s immigrants are in the 20-to-44 age group, meaning that the benefits of household formation are spread all across Canada. This helps explain why the housing market in Canada has been so resilient during the past five years.

I am happy to see that one of Canada’s strengths is clearly working in its favour. As Canadians, we need foreign talent to sustain the country’s demographic and economic growth, and we have just the labour market to attract it. Canadians need immigration just as much as immigrants need a destination such as Canada. Immigration, as it turns out, is most likely the key to Canada’s prosperity.

Clément Gignac is senior vice-president and chief economist at Industrial Alliance Inc., vice-chairman of the World Economic Forum Council on Competitiveness and a former cabinet minister in the Quebec government.

Canada immigration alert: Alberta offers immigration on federal level to its employees

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

Majorie van Leijen

Published Saturday, October 05, 2013

When looking for opportunities to immigrate to Canada, the federal immigration policy might not always look as welcoming as one had hoped. On the provincial level, chances may increase from time to time. At the moment, this is the case in Alberta.

On September 13, the Province of Alberta announced a number of changes to its Provincial Nominee Program. The changes offer some temporary workers nomination for immigration on the federal level.

Alberta is a province located in the south-west of Canada, bordering the US state Montana in the South, while bordering Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories and British Colombia in Canada.

It is the fourth-largest populated province of Canada, and has one of the strongest economies in Canada thriving on the flourishing petroleum industry and to a lesser extent, agriculture and technology.

Recruitment to the province is possible though four programs, being the Employer-Driven Stream, the Strategic Recruitment Stream, the Family Stream and the Self-Employment Farmer Stream.

For some of these categories, Alberta is offering the opportunity to obtain a Canadian residency.

As part of the Employer-Driven Stream, workers in the food services industry are offered the opportunity to be nominated for immigration on the federal level.

Until November 28, 2013, Alberta employers with eligible workers may nominate up to 20 per cent of their total workforce per restaurant location, for Canadian Permanent Residency.

In the same stream, graduates from a Canadian educational institution currently working in Alberta may be nominated for immigration on the federal level without an employer-supported application.

Required is that the employee has a valid post-graduation work permit, the occupation is considered either skilled or semi-skilled, and the certificate, diploma, degree or graduate-level degree is obtained from a publically funded community college, trade/technical school, or university in Alberta or another province of Canada, or from a private institution in Alberta authorized by the province to confer degrees.

Apart from post-graduate employees, some work permit holders under the Strategic Recruitment Stream are now eligible for federal immigration.

This applies to individuals who are working in most skilled and semi-skilled occupations.

For some low-skilled workers a limited number of applications will be accepted until November 28, 2013. These include workers in the following fields: Construction Trades Helpers and Labourers, Other Trades Helpers and Labourers, Light Duty Cleaners, Specialized Cleaners, and Janitors, Caretakers and Building Superintendents.

In order to work in Alberta and be eligible to one of the nomination programs, applicants can apply for the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) giving preference to the province of Alberta.

In order to qualify for the 2013 FSWP applicants without a Canadian job offer or PHD must have one year of work experience in one of 24 eligible occupations in the last 10 years, demonstrate acceptable language proficiency through a language test, and obtain 67 points on the FSWP selection grid. Occupations on the FSWP have a cap and might be closed at this point.

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/canada-immigration-alert-alberta-offers-immigration-on-federal-level-to-its-employees-2013-10-05-1.523422

Canada immigration alert: Alberta offers immigration on federal level to its employees

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

Majorie van Leijen

Published Saturday, October 05, 2013

Alberta: Where good help is hard to keep

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

By: Kamila Hinkson News reporter, Published on Fri Sep 13 2013

It was about a year ago that Jessie Richardson made some life-changing decisions.

She wanted to leave Hamilton, she wanted to discover a new part of Canada and she wanted to make money. So Richardson, 22, left her Ontario hometown and booked a flight to Edmonton.

Adjusting took a bit of time, but she eventually found a good job in the health-care industry, made friends and found her place.

But in May, she came home and decided to go back to school. Her decision to move to Alberta, make some money and then run highlights a pattern Alberta is increasingly seeing — most Canadians who head west don’t stay.

A recent Statistics Canada study shows that despite the booming energy sector and the lure of good-paying jobs, Alberta is having trouble retaining out-of-province workers — despite the fact that half of those workers are under 35 and most of them are single.

The report looks at interprovincial migration from 2004 to 2009 and found that in 2004, there were approximately 62,000 to 67,500 interprovincial employees in Alberta. By 2008, the number of interprovincial employees had increased to up to 133,000, almost double the 2004 numbers. The majority worked in oil and gas extraction or construction.

But many migrants can’t quite commit. The overwhelming majority — from 74 to 87 per cent of people, depending on the year — never planted permanent roots in Alberta.

The question is why, and what kind of impact will it have in the long term.

The StatsCan report identifies several factors that keep people from settling down, including “family ties, social networks, organizational arrangements (e.g. daycare, school enrolment), home ownership, and quality of life.”

Kevin McQuillan, sociology professor at the University of Calgary, says people working in the resource areas in the northern part of the province don’t see the area as a place to settle down — they see it as a place to make money.

In many cases, he said, workers aren’t getting much exposure to Calgary, Edmonton and other cities, where they’d be more likely to move permanently.

McQuillan added that the rapid population growth — via immigration and a high birth rate — is probably enough to dull the sting of losing workers who return to their home provinces.

“I think there’s a comfort with the level of growth in the province right now,” he said.

“But I do think it does raise some questions about the ability of the province, longer term, to retain skilled workers. I think that’s going to be an important issue,” he said, noting out-of-province workers don’t pay provincial income taxes to Alberta.

Aaron Toth, a sheet metal worker from Chateauguay, Que., has been commuting to northern Alberta for six years. He works 21 days in a row and 12 hours a day before taking a week off. That gruelling lifestyle earns him $180,000 a year.

But life up in the work camps can be rough — many colleagues have a hard time being away from their families and cope by using drugs and alcohol, he said.

Toth, 29, said it wasn’t easy keeping up a long-distance relationship while working out of the province. He and his girlfriend recently broke up, but he’s still not looking to leave Quebec.

He said Alberta’s big cities don’t compare to Montreal, the nearest big city to his hometown.

His boss, Matthew Verhoek, has a decidedly different opinion of the province — he loves it.

Verhoek’s father moved his family from northern Manitoba to Red Deer, Alta. for a job making module pipe racks destined for Fort McMurray when Verhoek was 16. Now 31, he said he’s never thought about leaving Alberta.

But when asked if he wants to stay up north for the foreseeable future, his answer is less emphatic.

“There’s always that hope that you’ll get a good paying job at home, but you look around and see all the 40-, 50-, 60-year-old guys that have been hoping now for 30 years, and you don’t get your hopes up.”

The province of Alberta says it is focusing on those who are staying, and points out that its population has grown by 500,000 over the last five years.

Alberta expects to have a population of 4 million by the end of the year, said Darrell Winwood, spokesman for Alberta’s ministry of enterprise and advanced education.

“We feel quite confident that we’re attracting people, we’re looking to add to our labour force, our workforce, and that people are coming here for the opportunities,” Winwood said.

Lars Osberg, the McCulloch professor of economics at Dalhousie University, said there are a lot of benefits to having temporary workers because they aren’t a drain on the system.

The two government services that people tend to use most are the health-care system and school system — services that people use in their home provinces, Osberg said.

If they’re travelling back and forth, it likely means their kids are in schools in their home provinces, and they’re keeping their out of province health cards, he said. So even if they require treatment in Alberta, it will likely be billed back to the government of wherever they’re from.

Richardson, the Hamilton woman, considered going to Fort McMurray, the epicentre of the energy boom. But she eventually decided the city wasn’t for her before settling down in Edmonton.

Richardson said she also found many of her peers in Alberta were blinded by the promise of higher wages and didn’t realize they would, in some cases, work longer and more hours than they used to. She worked in a retail store before landing her health-care job, where she made $20 an hour.

Despite the fact that Alberta didn’t initially live up to her expectations, said she enjoyed herself there and hasn’t ruled out a return to Edmonton someday.

Her experience, she added, taught her that working long hours made no sense if she wasn’t invested her job, and “that no matter how much money I was earning, I had to do what I love. You have to follow your passion.”

By the numbers

133,000: Approx number of interprovincial employees in Alberta in 2008

$186,782: The median family income in Fort McMurray, the highest income in Canada

22,777: Number of Ontarians who worked in Alberta in 2008, 2.5 times more than in 2004

32,166: Number of Atlantic Canadians who worked in Alberta in 2008, four times more than in 2004

Source: Statistics Canada

Canada makes visa application process easier for some Caribbean nationals.

English: View of the International Financial Centre near the Port of Port-of-Spain in the Gulf of Paria (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By CMC - Thursday, September 12th, 2013.

OTTAWA, Canada– The Government of Canada has announced the opening of a new visa application centre (VAC) in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, making the process of applying for a visa to enter Canada “easier and more convenient.”

The Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has announced plans to expand its VAC network around the world to provide administrative support to applicants before, during and after their temporary resident application is assessed by a CIC immigration officer.

According to a release ,VAC service agents are available by phone, email or in person to answer questions in local languages and to make sure that applications are complete.

“It is important to note that VACs are not involved in the decision-making process and are not authorized to provide applicants with advice about their visas,” the statement said.

“Applications received through the VAC or online are processed on a priority basis and are typically finalized in half the amount of time of other applications,” it added.

The Government of Canada said it plans to create new jobs and stimulate economic growth by attracting an increasing number of visitors and international students, as well as skilled temporary foreign workers and immigrants that “best respond to current and future labor market needs.

“For this reason, CIC strives to issue visas and permits as quickly as possible to facilitate travel to Canada,” the statement said.

The latest announcement comes as Canada has imposed new travel requirements for nationals from two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.

In Jamaica, the Canadian High Commission said new regulations, enforced by CIC which took effect last week,would affect nationals from Jamaica and Haiti wanting to visit, work or study in the North American country.

The High Commission said that nationals from these two CARICOM countries will be required to give fingerprints and photographic data when they apply for visas and permits.

Last year, Canada imposed new travel requirements on nationals from St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines on the grounds of unreliable travel documents.

CIS said the changes would allow it and its partners “to ensure that those seeking to visit Canada intend to return to their country of origin, rather than overstaying or committing other immigration violations.”

The new measures were criticized by the governments of the two CARICOM countries, with St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves dispatching a four-page letter to his Canadian counterpart, Stephen Harper.