Immigration Reforms in Canada’s Economic Action Plan 2013

Immigration
Immigration (Photo credit: lcars)

Economic Action Plan 2013 confirms the Government’s intention to:
  • Improve the foreign credential recognition process for additional target occupations under the Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications.
  • Create a new “Expression of Interest” immigration management system which will allow for Canadian employers, provinces and territories to select skilled immigrants from a pool of applicants who best meet Canada’s economic needs.
  • Reopen the Federal Skilled Worker Program with an updated points system that gives more weight to factors that are directly related to economic success, such as language proficiency and youth.
  • Reform the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to ensure Canadians are given the first chance at available jobs:
  1. Work with employers to ensure that temporary foreign workers are relied upon only when Canadians genuinely cannot fill those jobs.
  2. Increase the recruitment efforts that employers must make to hire Canadians before they will be eligible to apply for temporary foreign workers, including increasing the length and reach of advertising.
  3. Assist employers who legitimately rely on temporary foreign workers, due to a lack of qualified Canadian applicants, find ways to ensure that they have a plan to transition to a Canadian workforce over time.
  4. Amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations to restrict the identification of non-official languages as job requirements when hiring through the Temporary Foreign Worker process.
  5. Propose to introduce user fees for employers applying for temporary foreign workers through the labour market opinion process so that these costs are no longer absorbed by taxpayers.
  • Test new approaches to attracting immigrant investors through the new Start-Up Visa for immigrant entrepreneurs.
  • $42 million over two years to meet growing demand under the Temporary Resident Program.
  • $44 million over two years to support improved capacity and client service in the Citizenship Program.
  • $ 23 million over two years for Canada’s International Education Strategy to strengthen Canada’s position as a country of choice to study and conduct research.
Source: Government of Canada

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Best employers for new Canadians for 2013

DSC_0120
DSC_0120 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

AltaGas Ltd., Calgary. Natural gas distribution. 530 employees. Participates in Immigrant Services Calgary’s Integrated Women’s Mentorship Program and pairs work placement students with employees who offer support and guidance.
Assiniboine Credit Union Ltd., Winnipeg. Credit unions. 457 employees. Participates in the Immigration Integration program. Created in 2004, the program includes four weeks of paid pre-training on credit union practices, work culture and communication, followed by a 12-week paid work experience at one of the credit unions. Participants who successfully complete the program are offered permanent employment.
BC Hydro, Vancouver. Hydroelectric power generation. 5,735 employees. Maintains an in-house multicultural society. Encourages managers to hire skilled newcomers at junior-level positions and provide them with a defined career advancement plan.
Bell Aliant Inc., Halifax. Wired telecommunication carriers. 7,000 employees. Partners with Immigrant Settlement and Integration Services to help newcomers expand their knowledge of Canadian hiring practices, provides training on résumé writing and interview skills.
Business Development Bank of Canada,Montreal. Banking. 1,958 employees. Offices work with local community agencies across Canada, such as ACCES Employment in Toronto and the Edmonton Region Immigrant Employment Council, connecting new Canadians to vacancies in their communities.
Christie Digital Systems Canada Inc.,Kitchener, Ont. Audio and video equipment manufacturing. 688 employees. Recognizes foreign credentials and hires newcomers based on relevant industry experiences. Also covers the costs of having credentials formally recognized in Canada.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce,Toronto. Commercial banking. 33,965 employees. Participated in a pilot program organized by Algonquin College to help internationally trained professionals bridge their finance credentials. The bank played host to students for the internship portion of the program.
COM DEV Ltd., Cambridge, Ont. Search, detection, navigation, guidance, aeronautical and nautical system and instrument manufacturing. 960 employees. Participates in mentoring programs offered by the Local Immigration Partnership Council and YMCA to help newcomers understand Canadian culture.
Dalhousie University, Halifax. Colleges, universities and professional schools. 3,328 employees. Provides training to managers on hiring new Canadians. Offers practice interviews for new Canadian job seekers on campus and also conducts informational interviews to match applicants with prospective employment opportunities.
Deloitte & Touche LLP, Toronto. Certified public accountants. 8,992 employees. Has participated in the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council’s Mentoring Partnership program since 2005 with hundreds of employees serving as mentors to new Canadian job seekers. Employees act as mentors for a four-month period.
Ernst & Young LLP, Toronto. Certified public accountants. 4,427 employees. Supports York University’s Internationally Educated Professional bridging program. Offers an in-house Chartered Accountant Reciprocity Exam program to assist employees with foreign credential recognition.
Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, Toronto. Lawyers. 1,437 employees. Sponsors the University of Toronto Faculty of Law’s Internationally-Trained Lawyers program, which supports foreign-trained lawyers during the Canadian certification process and provides them with resources such as placement opportunities, employment counselling and language referrals.
Health Canada, Ottawa. Administration of public health programs. 10,615 employees. Participates in the federal Internship for Newcomers program, organized by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. CIC works with a variety of local community organizations such as ACCES and MicroSkills to screen new Canadian job seekers for employment, after which eligible candidates apply for positions based on the needs of participating departments. In 2011, Health Canada hired eight interns as a result of the program and matched each with a mentor.
Home Depot Canada, Toronto. Hardware stores. 13,580 employees. Stores partner with local community organization such as COSTI, the New Canadians Centre, Employment Projects of Winnipeg, Employment Solutions of Immigrant Youth, Saskatchewan Open Door Society and Immigration Works to support the employment efforts of new Canadians.
Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning,Toronto. Colleges, universities and professional schools. 1,355 employees. Is a member of the Consortium of Agencies Serving Internationally-Trained Persons, a group of community-based agencies and colleges that provide employment and training services to internationally trained job seekers.
KPMG LLP, Toronto. Certified public accountants. 5,778 employees. Is working to further partner with the Consortium of Agencies Serving Internationally-Trained Professionals to match new Canadians with opportunities within the firm’s client administration group. Has also built additional partnerships with Skills for Change, ACCES, MicroSkills & Social Capital Partners.
Loblaw Cos. Ltd., Brampton, Ont. Supermarkets. 29,725 employees. In partnership with the University of Toronto, offers international pharmacy students internships for a period of four months while they complete their course. Once students are fully licensed, they are offered permanent positions.
Manitoba Hydro, Winnipeg. Hydroelectric power generation. 5,980 employees. Participates in the University of Manitoba’s Internationally Educated Engineers Qualifications Program, which helps internally educated engineers become accredited in Manitoba. Manitoba Hydro provides funding for the program, bursaries for students and has hired students from the program.
Medtronic of Canada Ltd., Brampton, Ont. Electromedical and electrotherapeutic apparatus manufacturing. 437 employees. Works with community organizations including ACCES Employment, the Newcomer Centre of Peel and the Dufferin-Peel Adult Learning Centre to connect with new Canadians.
Mississauga, City of, Mississauga, Ont. Legislative bodies. 3,983 employees. In association with the Dufferin Peel Adult Learning Centre, hires new Canadians for an unpaid eight-week term and has offered some participants permanent positions within the city.
Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. General medical and surgical hospitals. 2,302 employees. Supports the Centre for Internationally Educated Nurses (CARE4Nurses) project, a program to help nurses bridge international education and experience and prepare them for practise within Ontario.
National Bank Financial Group, Montreal. Commercial banking. 15,009 employees. In partnership with ALLIES Montreal, participated in a pilot mentoring program with employees acting as mentors to help the integration of new Canadian employees.
New Flyer Industries Ltd., Winnipeg. Heavy duty truck manufacturing. 1,238 employees. Provides work placement opportunities for students enrolled in the Employment Solutions for Immigrant Youth program. The government agency has placed 140 students within the company and 90 of them have been hired into term and permanent positions.
Nordion Inc., Kanata, Ont. 485 employees. Electromedical and electrotherapeutic apparatus manufacturing. 485 employees. Is part of the Ottawa and Vancouver Multicultural Achievement Program for Learning Employers, an organization dedicated to creating employment opportunities for newcomers. Nordion participates in their 12-week internship program that includes cross-cultural training, mentorship and on-the-job training.
NTT Data Canada Inc., Halifax. Computer systems design services. 620 employees. Forwards vacancies to Immigrant Settlement and Integration Services and utilizes resources offered by the organization such as free English-as-a-second-language training.
Ontario Public Service, Toronto. General government support. 62,441 employees. Launched the Ontario Public Service Program for Internationally-Trained Engineers, which provides work placements of 12 to 15 months to help internationally trained engineers meet Canadian licensing requirements.
Provincial Health Services Authority, Vancouver. Medical and surgical hospitals. 7,320 employees. Partners with Skills Connect to help new Canadian job seekers access employment opportunities.
Pythian Group Inc., Ottawa. Computer systems design services. 136 employees. Is a member of Hire Immigrant Ottawa’s working group and has organized and played host to coaching and networking events for internationally trained professionals in the IT industry.
Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto. Commercial banking. 52,815 employees. In partnership with Career Bridge, offers newcomers paid internship opportunities to help them gain work experience. Maintains an employee resource group for visible minorities and new Canadian employees called MOSAIC.
Saskatoon Regional Health Authority, Saskatoon. Medical and surgical hospitals. 6,379 employees. In collaboration with the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health and Health Canada, developed a five-year strategy to promote the retention of current and future Internationally Educated Health Care Professionals.
SaskPower, Regina. Hydroelectric power generation. 2,769 employees. Works with the Saskatchewan and Regina Open Door Society to provide work placement opportunities to help newcomers gain Canadian experience.
Shaw Communications Inc., Calgary. Cable and other program distribution. 12,666 employees. Works with community organizations to support the employment efforts of new Canadian job seekers including YWCA, Women in Film and Television and Calgary Immigrant Services.
St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto. Medical and surgical hospitals. 3,469 employees. Manages a dedicated website for the recruitment of Internationally Educated Professionals and forwards vacancies to a variety of multicultural media outlets.
Toronto-Dominion Bank, Toronto. Commercial banking. 43,850 employees. Recently participated in a conference for internationally educated professionals and also forwards vacancies to Equitek, which connects the bank to a variety of diversity agencies and schools including Career Bridge, Microskills, Costi and Skills for Change.
TELUS Corp., Vancouver. Wired telecommunications carriers. 24,443 employees. Has worked with community organizations such as Skills for Change, the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, ISS BC, ACCES Employment and Prospect Calgary, which has resulted in participation at a number of events including speed networking sessions, career fairs, webinars and lunch-and-learn sessions to support the employment efforts of new Canadian job seekers.
TransCanada Corp., Calgary. Natural gas distribution. 2,605 employees. Participated in the Calgary Region Immigrant Council’s mentoring collaborative program, with employees acting as mentors for newcomers.
University of Ottawa, Ottawa. Colleges, universities and professional schools. 3,008 employees. In 2008 launched “Access UOttawa” in partnership with Hire Immigrants Ottawa. The initiative provides new Canadian job seekers and other equity group applicants with temporary administrative roles until suitable full-time positions become available.
Vancouver, City of, Vancouver. Legislative bodies. 6,898 employees. In 2010, embarked on the creation of a pilot mentorship project with the Immigrant Employment Council of British Columbia, SUCCESS, MOSAIC and ISSofBC.
Xerox Canada Ltd., Toronto. Computer peripheral equipment manufacturing. 3,588 employees. Participates in Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council’s mentoring partnership program and provides job seekers who are new to Canada with one-on-one time with a Xerox employee.
York, Regional Municipality of, Newmarket, Ont. Legislative bodies. 2,759 employees. Created York Region Immigration Portal, a website to provide resources, such as settlement and employment information, to newcomers.


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Policy change affects immigration numbers


English: Flag of Manitoba Français : Drapeau d...
English: Flag of Manitoba Français : Drapeau du Manitoba Русский: Флаг Манитоба (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 In recent years, Canada's immigration system has undergone radical change. Have these changes resulted in the 16 per cent drop in new arrivals, or are there specific Manitoba problems that have caused this decrease?
Until recently, the majority of immigrants to Canada could qualify to immigrate without having a job offer from a Canadian employer. Today, priority is given to foreign nationals already working in Canada, who have been recruited to fill vacant jobs, or who have studied in Canada. In essence, Canada's immigration system has gone to one where employers choose immigrants from one where immigrants choose Canada.
From 2007 to 2011, less than one-third of Manitoba's immigrant nominees came in categories for which a job and job offer were required. During this period, almost 70 per cent of nominees did not require jobs or job offers. To this extent, Manitoba is out of step with the rest of Canada.
The move to an employer-driven immigration system has many positives. It ensures foreign nationals coming to Canada not only have jobs waiting for them, but they fill positions for which Canadian employers face shortages. While some have criticized employer-driven immigration, charging that this causes Canada to focus on fixing short-term work shortages as opposed to bringing in future Canadians who can generate a long-term economic benefits, the fact is the old system often brought in individuals who arrived unemployed and struggled to make ends meet.
An employer-driven system allows businesses to fill jobs to better meet the demands of their customers. With the increase in globalization, it is important that Canadian companies are able to compete on the world stage. The ability to access talent from anywhere is key to allowing Canadian companies to compete globally.
While there are advantages to employer-driven immigration, what is being sacrificed is family reunification -- a key to Manitoba's immigration program. While Canadians and permanent residents can still sponsor spouses and children, it is getting tougher to assist one's siblings, cousins, parents and other relatives unless they have jobs or job offers. For those who do qualify without job offers, the number of available spots has been reduced.
On a provincial level, family reunification used to be a large component of provincial nominee programs. As late as last year, four provinces had immigration streams that allowed for overseas relatives to come to Canada without job offers. Since May 2012, three of those provinces, Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, changed or eliminated their family programs. While family members can still immigrate to those Canadian provinces, a job connection or business investment is necessary.
Manitoba is the only province with a viable program that still allows family members and friends to immigrate to Canada without a job offer, previous work in Canada, or previous study here. This allows Manitoba to strike a balance between employer-driven immigration and family reunification.
Manitoba, however, is redesigning its program to make it more restrictive. When the final details are announced in April, Manitoba may be criticized by those wanting to see more family reunification. When compared with what is happening in the federal system and in other provinces, however, Manitoba should be congratulated for keeping the immigration program open to a form of family reunification.
With Manitoba offering a form of family reunification, there is a potential that other Canadians will move here for the purpose of assisting their relatives to immigrate. Before changes were made to family immigration in Saskatchewan, it was reported some Canadians moved there to take advantage of its program. After their relatives arrived in Canada, they returned to their original province. Manitoba must guard against this to maintain program credibility.
While the current federal system does not provide for a great deal of family reunification, there is still some hope. Ottawa is scheduled to roll out its new skilled-worker stream in May and is also scheduled to lift the freeze on the ability of Canadians and permanent residents to sponsor parents and grandparents in the fall.
The final rollout will go a long way to determine the openness of the federal government to family reunification.
R. Reis Pagtakhan is a
Winnipeg immigration lawyer.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 21, 2013 A15

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Manitoba's immigration dips in 2012: report

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

The number of immigrants coming to Manitoba has fallen for the first time in 10 years, according to a government report.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada released its preliminary report for 2012 at the end of February.
The report revealed Manitoba had 2,572 fewer people immigrate to the province in 2012 than in 2011.
In 2012, 13,391 people immigrated to Manitoba, while in 2011, 15,963 immigrated to the province.
Rabeya Sultan immigrated to Manitoba from Bangladesh to complete her degree.
'It is going to be drastic in terms of economic growth and impact.'—Fatima Soares, executive director of Manitoba Start
In 2010, she graduated, and two years later she became a permanent resident.
“I’m grateful I am here, that I had the education, that I was able to become independent,” said Sultan.
“I am very grateful to Canada.”
Sultan, like many other immigrants, used the Provincial Nominee Program to get into the province.

Nominee program changed

Manitoba has previously had a strong track record of attracting large numbers of immigrants, but provincial officials warned those numbers could wane with recent changes made by the federal government.
'We would really like to see Ottawa give us more ability to bring people in regardless of family size'—Manitoba immigration minister Christine Melnick
The Conservative government announced changes to immigration services in their 2012 budget, cancelling its shared settlement services agreement with the province. Those changes take effect April 1.
Manitoba's immigration minister Christine Melnick said Wednesday the drop is the result of the federal government putting a cap on the number of new applications at 5,000 annually for the provincial nominee program.
“Ottawa has imposed a cap of 5,000 applicants per year. We have no problem reaching that 5,000 applicant number,” said Melnick. "We would really like to see Ottawa lift that cap."
Successful nominees are able to bring immediate family members with them. Melnick said recently successful nominess have smaller families than in the past, which is leading to the lower numbers.
Where Manitoba used to bring large families from Germany to settle in southern Manitoba, the federal government is now accepting more single people and international students.
“We would really like to see Ottawa give us more ability to bring more people in regardless of family size and that would be the best way to increase numbers here in Manitoba," said Melnick.
'We’re seeing a broad variety of professionals, a broader variety of skill sets coming in.'—Manitoba immigration minister Christine Melnick
Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative party said the blame for the low numbers didn’t have to do with the federal government but sat on the back of the provincial NDP party.
Tory officials released a statement Wednesday hinting high taxes could be keeping immigrants away.
Provincial officials said since the nominee program began in 1999, more than 100,000 people have immigrated to Manitoba.

Economic impact

Fatima Soares is executive director of Manitoba Start, an organization that helps immigrants in Winnipeg become permanent residents.
She said the impact from fewer immigrants will be felt province-wide.
“It is going to be drastic in terms of economic growth and impact,” said Soares.
Soares said the province needs immigrants to support its workforce.
“This is the first year where there is a higher number of retirees than new entrants [into the worforce]. So that in itself is going to impact economic growth,” said Soares.
Melnick said immigrants represent a key component of Manitoba’s workforce.
“We’re seeing a broad variety of professionals, a broader variety of skill sets coming in and smaller family sizes,” she said.
Melnick said the province is hoping to attract at least 75,000 skilled workers to Manitoba in the next seven years.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/story/2013/03/20/mb-immigration-numbers-down-manitoba.html

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Immigration Canada launches ad campaign against marriage fraud


Citizenship and Immigration Canada is launching an ad campaign Wednesday warning Canadians to protect themselves against marriage fraud.
seven-minute video will be posted on the department website, featuring the real-life stories of three Canadians, in silhouettes, whose foreign spouses left them hung out to dry after coming to Canada.
They include an anglophone woman, who met a Cuban man in 2002 while vacationing on the island. The couple married in 2005 and the husband left her on March 24, 2007, shortly after he arrived in Canada with his permanent resident card.
“There are so many people across Canada that are suffering nowadays for the exact same thing that happened to me,” she said.
“After marriage, everything changed. After she arrived in Canada, I was nothing to her,” chimed in another victim, a man wearing a turban.
A francophone woman met a guy online and received a marriage proposal after three weeks. He came to Canada and vanished.
“My self-esteem took a big blow. I became severely depressed and had suicidal thoughts,” said the woman, who also ended up owing the government $30,000 that her sponsored spouse received in welfare.
The video, along with three “Marriage Fraud: Don’t be a victim” television commercials, is the focus of the department’s fraud prevention month. Last year, the theme was about the risks of hiring fly-by-night unlicensed immigration consultants.
“I have heard stories from victims across the country that have been left emotionally and financially devastated because of immigration fraud,” Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said. “The best way to protect oneself is to become informed.”
Under a new law passed last year, sponsored spouses must remain in a marriage for two years before they can acquire permanent resident status or face deportation. They are also banned from sponsoring a new spouse for five years.

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