With jobs but no workers, Manitoba community recruits through provincial immigration program

One of Canada's 1st experiments to match foreign workers with specific jobs began 20 years ago.

Karen Pauls, Brett Purdy · CBC News · Posted: Sep 02, 2018 3:00 AM CT

S.athiyaseela (Sheela) Ramesh and her family looked for years for a way to leave India and immigrate to Canada — and they finally found it through a strategic recruitment program run by a small community in south-central Manitoba.

"It's not so easy to come to Canada without a connection like a friend or relative or a job offer," Ramesh said during a break from inspecting jackets at Deasil Custom Sewing in Morden.

"Once we came here on an exploratory visit, I got a job offer ... and then Manitoba nominated me to get permanent residence status in Canada."

At a time when Canada's refugee and immigration policy is being hotly debated, the small community of Morden has seen its population nearly double in the last decade. Much of that can be attributed to foreign workers recruited to Manitoba under the provincial nominee program. 

"I believe that it's changed the community for the better," said Shelly Voth, immigration coordinator for the City of Morden.

"You look in the school system, and my friends and my sons have friends from different cultures. It's a great way to integrate those families. I think our community is friendly and open and has been enjoying the diversity."

In 2015, Morden had a population of 8,668, an increase of 11 percent from the 2011 census. The most recent estimates put the population of the city southwest of Winnipeg at about 9,000 people.

"Probably in the last 10 years, it's close to having doubled," Voth said. "A lot of that would be attributed to immigration."

That diversity is obvious at Deasil Custom Sewing, where workers are making coats and vests for a well-known international clothing brand.

More than 90 percent of Ron Funk's employees are newcomers, and most of them came through Manitoba's provincial nominee program.

"We don't have any trouble finding work, we have trouble finding enough people," said Funk.

"Having the immigrants coming to our facility and taking the training and having them help us is essentially determining our growth."

Sewing machine operator Gurpreet Munday, her husband, and two children came from their home in India to visit Morden two years ago. They fell in love with the city. 

"It's good for kids to grow here. Zero crime. They love the school," she said during a break from her hemming. 

"We like having good jobs, so we have a good place to live here. We love the place," she said. "Everybody dreams of coming here to Canada, so we had a good fortune that we are here."

For more information, please the article at: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/manitoba-provincial-nominee-program-immigration-1.4802186

Skills Immigration & Express Entry BC Invitations Issued

The BC PNP has issued invitations to apply to qualified registrants in Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC categories. 

INVITATIONS TO APPLY

Periodically, we invite the highest scoring registrants in each category to apply to the BC Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP). We then nominate successful applicants to apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for permanent residency.

This page shows the number of invitations issued.

Which categories require invitations?

We invite registrants in the following categories:

• Skills Immigration — Skilled Worker
• Skills Immigration — International Graduate
• Skills Immigration — Entry Level and Semi-Skilled
• Express Entry BC — Skilled Worker
• Express Entry BC — International Graduate
• Entrepreneur Immigration

HealthCare Professional and International Post-Graduate applicants under the Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC streams do not need an invitation to apply. Please apply directly via BCPNP Online.

For more information on the invitation and application process, please refer to the Skills Immigration and Express Entry BC Program Guide.

Canada and Australia Announce Amendment to Youth Mobility Arrangement

News release

Expanded age range will give young Canadians the opportunity to travel and work in Australia through the International Experience Canada program

August 28, 2018—Ottawa, ON

The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and the Honourable Peter Dutton, Australia’s Minister for Home Affairs, today announced an agreement to expand the age range in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Canada and Australia concerning Youth Mobility. Through the amended MoU, Canadian and Australian young adults aged 18 to 35 will now be able to work and travel through the International Experience Canada (IEC) program.

Reflective of our strong people-to-people ties, Australia is a major source of foreign participants in IEC and Australia is consistently the top destination for Canadian youth through the program. Increasing the eligible age from 30 to 35 will provide for more opportunities for experienced professionals from both countries to gain valuable skills in a global work environment.

The IEC program facilitates the process for young people to gain valuable international work experience and travel abroad. There are 34 destinations available to young Canadians looking for international work experience with IEC’s partner countries and territories.

Quotes

“I am pleased that we have agreed to amend this MoU with Australia and further strengthen the great relationship between our two countries. International travel and work allows our youth to immerse themselves in a different culture and develop life skills, all while improving their employability back home. This expanded age range will give more young adults from Canada and Australia the opportunity to broaden their perspective of the world and gain professional work experience while traveling.”

– The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Quick facts

• IEC originated in 1965 as a cultural exchange between Canada and Germany. In 1967, following the success of the initiative, Canada proceeded to create an international travel and exchange program. More than 50 years later, Canada continues its commitment to fostering cultural exchanges between young people.
• More than 200,000 Canadians have taken advantage of the work and travel experiences offered through the International Experience Canada program, and many return to Canada with life-changing experiences valuable to both their personal and professional lives.
• There are three categories of participation under the program:
1. Working Holiday participants receive open work permits that allow them to work anywhere in the host country, to support their travels.
2. International Co-op participants receive employer-specific work permits that allow students to gain targeted experience in their field of study.
3. Young Professionals participants receive an employer-specific work permit to gain targeted, professional work experience that is within their field of study or career path.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2018/08/canada-and-australia-announce-amendment-to-youth-mobility-arrangement.html

How to immigrate to Canada Promo video

Virtual career fair connects international job seekers with Canadian employers

Fifteen hundred jobs, many of them in IT, will be up for grabs this month at the largest Virtual Career Expo to be held in Canada.

Over 50 employers from cities across Canada will be participating in the online job fair, which runs April 19 and 20. Companies like IBM, Pythian, Microsoft and the Bank of Montreal will be looking for highly-skilled technology workers from Canada and abroad.

The event is hosted by the International Talent Acquisition Centre (In-TAC) in partnership with Immigrant Services of Calgary and Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia. It’s also supported by the federal government.

“The IT sector is badly in need of top-notch talent that is not available here in Canada,” said Ying Xie, In-TAC’s Senior Manager. “We’re finding that this new way of recruiting people is very effective.”

Fixing the IT skills gap

More than 53% of organizations in Canada say that attracting and retaining skilled employees is one of their top challenges, according to a survey by the Information  and Communications Technology Council (ICTC)  The ICTC’s Labour Market Outlookindicates that Canada will need to fill 216,000 technology jobs by 2021. “This growing demand for ICT professionals is being created by transformative and rapid advancements of technology,” the ICTC says in the report.

To fix the IT skills gap, the ICTC recommends increased training for young people. However, due to Canada’s declining population, it says that immigrants will “play an increasingly pivotal role in addressing the digital talent shortage.” Currently, immigrants represent more than one-third of ICT workers in Canada. The ICTC proposes that Canada should develop policies and programs to make it easier for business to quickly hire international talent.

In November 2017, the federal government announced plans to help address the skills shortage by bringing 310,000 newcomers to Canada in 2018, growing to a total of 340,000 in 2020. “This historic multi-year immigration levels plan will benefit all Canadians because immigrants will contribute their talents to support our economic growth and innovation, helping to keep our country at the forefront of the global economy,” said  the Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

Get a job from home

The Virtual Career Expo website will give employers access to job applications from registered candidates from around the world. If they think there might be a match, the two can chat privately in a realistic 3-D environment that resembles an exhibition hall.  They can even conduct video interviews on the platform.

It’s a win for both sides, says Xie. For employers, it saves the costs of transportation and displays at on-site events. Job seekers can participate from the convenience of their device, without having to travel to crowded halls or wait in long lines to meet recruiters.

“We strongly encourage both parties to take advantage of this free opportunity to expand their staffing and job seeking strategies,” said Ying Xie, In-TAC’s Senior Manager. “Our hope is that employers will find the talent they are looking for with no additional costs, and that international talent will find jobs from the comfort of their homes overseas.”

Since it started in 2016, over 4000 international professionals from more than 80 countries have participated in the In-TAC Virtual Career Expo.

To register for the Virtual Career Expo, click here.

Source: https://newcanadians.tv/virtual-career-fair-connects-international-job-seekers-canadian-employers/

Newcomer ICT Tool