Canada
February 11 2010
By introducing its new "Québec Experience Class" Program ("Programme de l'expérience québécoise", or "PEQ") based on experience gained in Québec, the province will meet an objective it had set for itself in a document released in March 2008 entitled "To enrich Québec - Better Integration". Basically, the PEQ aims to promote the transition from a Temporary Resident status to that of Permanent Resident for Foreign Students and Temporary Workers. The program is expected to enter in force on February 14, 2010, the date on which the amendments to Québec's Regulation Respecting the Selection of Foreign Nationals become effective.
PEQ's intent is to facilitate the application process for a Québec Selection Certificate for Foreign Students having graduated in Québec and Temporary Workers having worked in Québec as a first step prior to obtaining Permanent Resident status from the federal government. By introducing the program, Québec follows the federal example and makes experience gained in Québec and knowledge of the French language key selection factors when applying for immigration in Québec. For such applicants under PEQ, the traditional selection grid will not apply and there will be fewer documents to include with an application. In addition, applications may be sent electronically and will be processed on a documents-only basis.
Specific requirements applicable to Foreign Students are the following: (1) the applicant must have stayed in Québec for at least half of the duration of the educational program's duration and have conformed to the student visa conditions; (2) the applicant must have obtained from an education institution in Québec subsequent to February 13, 2008, either of: i) a diploma of professional education or a certificate of professional education, which alone or combined with an attestation of professional specialization (obtained consecutively) attests to over 1,800 hours of continuous education; ii) a diploma of technical college education; iii) a University degree, whether a bachelor's, masters or doctoral. However, the following international students are excluded from the program: i) students having received a scholarship requiring return to the student's country of origin; and b) students having applied for a new acceptance certificate for studies.
The specific requirements applicable to Temporary Workers are the following: (1) the foreign worker (including the holder of a work permit under a youth exchange program pursuant to an international agreement signed between a foreign country and either of Québec or Canada) must have conformed with the conditions of his/her work permit and be legally in Québec at the time of the application; (2) the foreign worker must have employment in Québec at the time of submission of the application which is classified at level A or B pursuant to the National Occupational Classification and must have been so employed for at least 12 months during the 24 months preceding the application.
Application requirements common to both Foreign Students and Temporary Workers are that applicants must: (1) undertake to financially support themselves and their family members for a period of 3 months; and (2) demonstrate their verbal French language skills at an intermediary level.
By introducing PEQ, the province intends to promote and facilitate the immigration process for individuals who are likely to remain and contribute to the economy as a result of already living and working in Québec.
Source: Lexology
Author:Davis LLP
Canada’s top problem is filling labour shortage
OTTAWA — When Prime Minister Stephen Harper gathered the country’s premiers at 24 Sussex Drive last fall, he wanted them to focus on what he saw as the country’s No. 1 economic problem: within a decade or two, there simply will not be enough workers in the country.
Although recent headlines about thousands of layoffs in Canada’s struggling manufacturing sector may suggest otherwise, Harper and his cabinet are struggling to find ways to boost training programs and increase immigration to find more workers to avoid what some Conservative strategists say is an “economic time bomb.”
That Canada is heading for a problem seems unavoidable. In the last 50 years, Canada’s workforce grew by 200 per cent. That growth was responsible for raising standards of living and creating the public and private wealth the country now enjoys. But government forecasters say that, without some radical changes, the workforce will only grow by 11 per cent in the next 50 years — and that figure includes the effects of current levels of immigration.
“Our demographics are working against us,” Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg said in a speech Monday to the Canadian Building and Construction Trades’ Legislative Conference. “Baby boomers are set to retire and our low birth rate means demand for workers will soon outstrip supply.”
Already, more than 80 per cent of working-age Canadians have a job — an all-time high.
Solberg marshalled the following data to back up his claim:
• British Columbia will be short 350,000 workers over the next 12 years.
• Alberta will require 100,000 workers over the next 10 years.
• Ontario will need 560,000 more workers by 2030.
• Quebec will have 1.3 million job openings by 2016.
“We have a significant shortfall of workers in every region across Canada,” said Solberg. “Even in areas of high unemployment, we have too few skilled workers.”
Canada’s labour market has consistently defied market forecasters for the last three years. Despite a high dollar, which makes Canadian workers relatively more expensive than workers in other countries, there were 325,000 new jobs created in Canada in the last 12 months. That job gain comes despite the loss of more than 113,000 jobs in manufacturing. In other words, the economy not only replaced those 113,000 lost manufacturing jobs, it also created an additional 325,000 jobs. The construction sector alone has grown by more than 103,000 workers.
And, as the Bank of Canada noted in its monetary policy report last week, year-over-year wage growth has been strong as well, suggesting that good-paying manufacturing jobs are being replaced with equally well-paying jobs elsewhere.
Statistics Canada will release the latest monthly job data Friday.
Finding more skilled workers is one of the goals behind Ottawa’s controversial proposal to change immigration rules to fast-track certain groups of immigrants although political opponents say that rationale has not been appropriately clarified.
“What we think is that the immigration policies of this country should be designed to help workers come here with their families, use their training and skills and help build the country,” said NDP Leader Jack Layton.
Layton also said that tax rules ought to be changed to help workers who have to travel to other provinces or regions.
“Right now it’s very expensive to travel to use your skills. It really should be considered part of your expenses under the tax law and the NDP has proposed measures to change the taxes to make it easier for workers to travel, particularly construction workers,” Layton said.
In his speech, Solberg said his government is spending more money on training programs than any federal government in history.
But political opponents say the Conservatives could be doing more.
“The government is not doing enough at all about that” said Liberal Leader Stephane Dion. “We need to increase our productivity. We need to adapt to an aging population. We need to do more to help the people that are over 65, if they want to, to stay in the workforce.”
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
Although recent headlines about thousands of layoffs in Canada’s struggling manufacturing sector may suggest otherwise, Harper and his cabinet are struggling to find ways to boost training programs and increase immigration to find more workers to avoid what some Conservative strategists say is an “economic time bomb.”
That Canada is heading for a problem seems unavoidable. In the last 50 years, Canada’s workforce grew by 200 per cent. That growth was responsible for raising standards of living and creating the public and private wealth the country now enjoys. But government forecasters say that, without some radical changes, the workforce will only grow by 11 per cent in the next 50 years — and that figure includes the effects of current levels of immigration.
“Our demographics are working against us,” Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg said in a speech Monday to the Canadian Building and Construction Trades’ Legislative Conference. “Baby boomers are set to retire and our low birth rate means demand for workers will soon outstrip supply.”
Already, more than 80 per cent of working-age Canadians have a job — an all-time high.
Solberg marshalled the following data to back up his claim:
• British Columbia will be short 350,000 workers over the next 12 years.
• Alberta will require 100,000 workers over the next 10 years.
• Ontario will need 560,000 more workers by 2030.
• Quebec will have 1.3 million job openings by 2016.
“We have a significant shortfall of workers in every region across Canada,” said Solberg. “Even in areas of high unemployment, we have too few skilled workers.”
Canada’s labour market has consistently defied market forecasters for the last three years. Despite a high dollar, which makes Canadian workers relatively more expensive than workers in other countries, there were 325,000 new jobs created in Canada in the last 12 months. That job gain comes despite the loss of more than 113,000 jobs in manufacturing. In other words, the economy not only replaced those 113,000 lost manufacturing jobs, it also created an additional 325,000 jobs. The construction sector alone has grown by more than 103,000 workers.
And, as the Bank of Canada noted in its monetary policy report last week, year-over-year wage growth has been strong as well, suggesting that good-paying manufacturing jobs are being replaced with equally well-paying jobs elsewhere.
Statistics Canada will release the latest monthly job data Friday.
Finding more skilled workers is one of the goals behind Ottawa’s controversial proposal to change immigration rules to fast-track certain groups of immigrants although political opponents say that rationale has not been appropriately clarified.
“What we think is that the immigration policies of this country should be designed to help workers come here with their families, use their training and skills and help build the country,” said NDP Leader Jack Layton.
Layton also said that tax rules ought to be changed to help workers who have to travel to other provinces or regions.
“Right now it’s very expensive to travel to use your skills. It really should be considered part of your expenses under the tax law and the NDP has proposed measures to change the taxes to make it easier for workers to travel, particularly construction workers,” Layton said.
In his speech, Solberg said his government is spending more money on training programs than any federal government in history.
But political opponents say the Conservatives could be doing more.
“The government is not doing enough at all about that” said Liberal Leader Stephane Dion. “We need to increase our productivity. We need to adapt to an aging population. We need to do more to help the people that are over 65, if they want to, to stay in the workforce.”
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
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