ECONOMISTS PIERRE FORTIN AND PIERRE EMMANUEL PARADIS URGE QUÉBEC TO INCREASE THE NUMBER OF IMMIGRANT INVESTORS

QUÉBEC CITY, May 31, 2011 /CNW Telbec/ - The many economic and human benefits resulting from the arrival of thousands of financially independent immigrant families in Québec and elsewhere in Canadafully justify a sizable increase in the number of immigrant investors.

This is among the recommendations in the brief submitted today by economists Pierre Fortin and Pierre Emmanuel Paradis to members of the National Assembly Committee on Citizen Relations looking into Québec immigration planning for the 2012-2015 period.

"Immigrant investors still account for only 3.5% of new immigrants, and their number could be increased substantially without hindering the arrival of immigrants with other characteristics," they write in their brief.

Messrs. Fortin and Paradis also urge the Québec government to take the necessary means to clear the backlog of outstanding files, which they see as the key weakness in current management of the Québec Immigrant Investor Program. Waiting times under this program are having a negative effect on the number and quality of applications. "In 2009," they say, "the average wait was two-and-a-half years, compared with 14 weeks in the United Kingdom and one year in Australia. (…) As of December 31, 2010, a total of 11,843 files were still being processed - in Québec alone!"

The two economists also want the government to continue its efforts to encourage immigrant investor families to settle in Québec through integration and mentoring programs, following the example of a program recently launched by Investissement Québec, and to continue canvassing abroad. Many of these families are settling in British Columbia (49% compared with 22% in Québec), because that province is closest to Asia, the primary source of immigrant investors. But a majority of immigrant investors in Canada first arrive in Québec (about 60% since 2005). The financial assistance brought by the 60% of immigrant investors in Québec thus ends up entirely in Québec SMEs.

Referring to Investissement Québec data, the economists also remind the committee of the "substantial contribution to the economy" by immigrant investors. From 2001 to 2011, the total value of financial contributions under the program reached $500 million, benefiting 3,126 companies all across Québec. In 2009-2010 alone, projects implemented led to the creation of 2,600 jobs and the maintenance of 1,355 others.

Messrs. Fortin and Paradis say that having immigrant investor families settle here is the main source of the program's immediate economic impact. "Most immigrant investors are well educated and head active companies," they explain. "Many of them move and establish their families in Canada while pursuing their business activities at the international level. (…) The usual pattern is for their children to enter the Canadian school system, probably achieving high levels of education."

Québec's Immigrant Investor Program

The program was created in 1985 following successive efforts by then-ministers Gérald Godin and Louise Robic. It seeks to attract experienced businesspeople and their capital as a way of promoting economic growth. Immigrant investors provide Québec with funds for a five-year period. They do not decide where or how their money will be used. The three main conditions for benefiting from the program are:

• having a net worth of at least $1.6 million;
• agreeing to invest $800,000 at 0% interest for five years;
• having adequate management experience.

In writing their brief, Messrs. Fortin and Paradis relied on their own studies in this area and on studies by Marc Van Audenrode, Managing Principal of Analysis Group and an adjunct professor at Université de Sherbrooke; Roger Ware, professor of economics at Queen's University; and Natalia Mishagina and Anne-Catherine Faye, economists at Analysis Group.

Pierre Fortin is professor emeritus of economics at Université du Québec à Montréal and an affiliated expert at the Montréal office of Analysis Group (www.analysisgroup.com), an international firm that has been providing economic, financial and business strategy consulting services to law offices, private businesses and government organizations since 1981. Pierre Emmanuel Paradis is senior economist at Analysis Group.

Construction Sector Council launches tool for hiring immigrant workers

VINCE VERSACE

staff writer

Canadian construction employers have a new resource from the Construction Sector Council to assist in hiring immigrant workers to meet growing labour needs.

“We know from our labour market information work that looking into future immigration will play a big role in employment growth in Canada and construction will not be immune to that,” said George Gritziotis, executive director of CSC.

“We will be relying on all sorts of labour. Also, in some parts of the country, the industry looks at dealing with short-term peak demand by using temporary foreign workers.”

The Construction Employer’s Roadmap, is designed to help employers and others involved in human resources (HR) management navigate government programs, assess foreign credentials and help immigrant workers “put their best foot forward” when seeking opportunities Canadian construction.

“Foreign workers are playing a role not just in a temporary but also a permanent basis,” said Gritziotis. “What kind of capacity do our contractors have to hire and retain foreign trained workers? This road map will help industry where a majority of employers are small to medium businesses with less than 15 employees and do not have HR departments who take care of this.”

It provides information on the role of employment agencies and immigration consultants and an overview of Canada’s immigration programs. The guide also explains options for permanent residents, temporary residents and workers outside of Canada.

Simplicity, accuracy and efficiency about information and processes available were deemed most important by small to medium contractors consulted during the roadmap’s development. The roadmap also offers advice on how to assess experience obtained in other countries, make job offers, develop orientation programs and retain workers.

“It’s a ready-made approach and process contractors can use when they are looking to hire foreign workers,” added Gritziotis.

Development of the roadmap was funded by the Foreign Credential Referral Office of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The guide is available in hard copy and electronically with hyperlinks to other useful resources and websites.

“Attracting and retaining the best international talent to address existing and future labour market challenges is critical to our economic success...we know that within the next few years, most of Canada’s labour force growth will come from immigration,” said Jason Kenney, Minister of Immigration, Citizenship and Multiculturalism.

Gritziotis said immigrant workers bring “many benefits to the industry” such as the ability to speak different languages, cultural knowledge and a network of connections which all can strengthen employer’s competitiveness.

“When construction was headed towards the 2008 boom, we were getting a lot of contractors asking for help with recruiting foreign workers,” added Gritziotis. “Now that activity is heating up, people are looking for this information.”

Visit www.csc-ca.org for more.