India Infoline News Service / 09:49 , Oct 17, 2010 | |
The seminar series is being organized to showcase Ontario as part of the MEDT’s strategy to encourage greater participation by Indian businesses and to encourage Indian companies and entrepreneurs to set up global offices in the state. | |
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Government of Ontario to organize Business Immigration Seminar
Immigration aids innovation: report
Immigrants punch above their weight when it comes to increasing the rate of innovation in Canada, the Conference Board of Canada said in a report released Friday.
The ambition that leads them to move to a new country tends to predispose immigrants to the kind of risk-taking that leads to innovation, Michelle Downie, the report's author, told CBC News.
A study suggests better integrating immigrants will help Canada overcome its poor record on innovation. (CBC) "They tend to be very driven and they want to exceed their own expectations, so they're always pursuing more and trying to work harder."
An earlier report by the Conference Board, an Ottawa-based non-profit research organization, suggested Canada lags behind other advanced economies in innovation, ranking it 14th out of 17 in its capacity to develop new approaches in research and development.
The study, which reviewed existing research from various sources but also included interviews with executives, found that immigrants were associated with increased innovation in Canada.
The board said the interview sample was not large enough to be representative of all Canadian business, but found a number of measures that suggest employers benefit from hiring and integrating immigrants.
"That diversity of perspective is very important to innovation," said Downie.
"If you have people with the same experiences looking at the same problem, they may not see it in a different way. Sometimes bringing somebody in with a new perspective, who's had a different life experience, has had different training, they can see a problem a little differently and they might come up with a new solution."
The study also found immigrants pull above their weight in contributing to advanced research.
Although immigrants represent 20 per cent of the population, at least 35 per cent of university research chairs are foreign born.
It also suggested immigration resulted in increased trade with immigrants' countries of origin.
The Conference Board's model suggested a one-percentage-point increase in the number of immigrants could increase imports by 0.21 per cent and raise exports to countries of origin by 0.11 per cent.
Downie's research also suggested foreign direct investment into Canada was greater from countries that are well represented in Canada through immigration.
Ottawa introduced measures in 2009 to speed up the recognition of foreign credentials and has expanded the role of overseas offices to better prepare immigrants before they enter the labour force here.
"It is hopefully going to make a difference for the regulated professions [such as accounting or engineering]," said Downie.
Downie found about half the executives interviewed were taking steps to better use their immigrant employees.
"There are a number of employers who are taking steps to ask their employees, particularly their immigrant employees, about the knowledge they have of diverse markets or how they can use their language abilities to help them in a new markets," she said.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/10/15/immigration-innovation-report.html#ixzz12U24nJvf
The ambition that leads them to move to a new country tends to predispose immigrants to the kind of risk-taking that leads to innovation, Michelle Downie, the report's author, told CBC News.
A study suggests better integrating immigrants will help Canada overcome its poor record on innovation. (CBC) "They tend to be very driven and they want to exceed their own expectations, so they're always pursuing more and trying to work harder."
An earlier report by the Conference Board, an Ottawa-based non-profit research organization, suggested Canada lags behind other advanced economies in innovation, ranking it 14th out of 17 in its capacity to develop new approaches in research and development.
The study, which reviewed existing research from various sources but also included interviews with executives, found that immigrants were associated with increased innovation in Canada.
The board said the interview sample was not large enough to be representative of all Canadian business, but found a number of measures that suggest employers benefit from hiring and integrating immigrants.
'Diversity of perspective is very important to innovation.'—Michelle Downie, report authorSometimes, the fact that their views diverge from mainstream corporate culture is what makes their advice more valuable.
"That diversity of perspective is very important to innovation," said Downie.
"If you have people with the same experiences looking at the same problem, they may not see it in a different way. Sometimes bringing somebody in with a new perspective, who's had a different life experience, has had different training, they can see a problem a little differently and they might come up with a new solution."
The study also found immigrants pull above their weight in contributing to advanced research.
Although immigrants represent 20 per cent of the population, at least 35 per cent of university research chairs are foreign born.
It also suggested immigration resulted in increased trade with immigrants' countries of origin.
The Conference Board's model suggested a one-percentage-point increase in the number of immigrants could increase imports by 0.21 per cent and raise exports to countries of origin by 0.11 per cent.
Downie's research also suggested foreign direct investment into Canada was greater from countries that are well represented in Canada through immigration.
Obstacles limit contribution
But it also determined that immigrants face obstacles that limit their ability to contribute as innovators, including inadequate recognition of their experience and qualifications, and the failure of employers to use their knowledge of foreign languages in tapping into international markets.Ottawa introduced measures in 2009 to speed up the recognition of foreign credentials and has expanded the role of overseas offices to better prepare immigrants before they enter the labour force here.
"It is hopefully going to make a difference for the regulated professions [such as accounting or engineering]," said Downie.
Downie found about half the executives interviewed were taking steps to better use their immigrant employees.
"There are a number of employers who are taking steps to ask their employees, particularly their immigrant employees, about the knowledge they have of diverse markets or how they can use their language abilities to help them in a new markets," she said.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2010/10/15/immigration-innovation-report.html#ixzz12U24nJvf
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- Immigrants can make Canada more innovative: Report (canada.com)
- New rules to double entry fees for investor immigrants (canada.com)
- Employers say hiring foreign-trained workers has challenges (canada.com)
- Letters: Nobel immigrants (guardian.co.uk)
- Fewer jobs for well-educated new immigrants: study (cbc.ca)
Immigrants help boost Canada’s innovation
Image via Wikipedia
Guang Jun Liu arrived in Toronto in 1990 with a master’s degree in robotic control from China.Today, the Ryerson University professor is the Canada Research Chair in control systems and robotics, specializing in control systems in aircraft and mobile robots, and working with groups such as the Canadian Space Agency.
According to a new Conference Board of Canada study, Liu is living proof of how immigrants can help boost Canada’s stature in innovation, which ranks 14th out of 17 industrialized countries.
“Productivity and innovation are critical for economic development,” said the report, titled Immigrants as Innovators: Boosting Canada’s Global Competitiveness. “At every level of analysis, immigrants are shown to have an impact on innovation performance that is benefiting Canada.”
Examining the relationship between immigrants and innovation in areas such as research, culture, business and global commerce, the report found that:
• At least 35 per cent of an estimated 1,800 Canada Research Chairs are foreign-born, even though immigrants are just one-fifth of the Canadian population.
• Immigrants to Canada win proportionally more prestigious literary and performing arts awards, comprising 23 per cent of Giller Prize finalists and 29 per cent of winners; 23 per cent of Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards winners are immigrants;
• Immigration increases innovation by expanding Canada’s trade relations. A 1 per cent increase in the number of immigrants to Canada corresponds to an increase in imports of 0.21 per cent and exports by 0.11 per cent.
Yet, despite the enormous benefits that newcomers can bring to Canada, the report notes they still face “onerous and often unnecessary obstacles” that limit their potential.
These include inadequate recognition of international experience and qualifications, failure of employers to tap foreign language skills which could be employed in international markets, and lack of opportunities for newcomers to fully use their skills
Liu said he, too, had a tough time when he first came to Canada as a visiting scholar and later enrolled in the University of Toronto’s robot control PhD program.
“Language is a big obstacle. Technically, my English was good, but you need to be able to speak good English and communicate well to get published,” he said. “I was lucky to get my credentials recognized and have had some good employers.”
The report recommends employers hire immigrants at all levels of their organization, including in leadership roles; match the staff’s diversity to that of their markets; and encourage immigrant employees to share their diverse points of view, a key for innovation.
Innovative Immigrants in Canada
• K.Y. Ho came from China in 1984 and started the graphics company ATI with two other immigrants from Hong Kong. The company pulled in $10 million in revenue in its first year and was acquired for $5.4 billion by AMD in 2007.
• Mike Lazaridis came from Turkey in 1966 and founded Research in Motion (RIM), which created and manufactures the BlackBerry.
• Peter Munk came from Hungary in the 1940s and founded Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold-mining corporation.
• Stella Melo came from Brazil in 1996. An atmospheric physicist, she has developed equipment and models to study the conditions of the atmosphere. The data she collects are used for weather forecasting and to examine people’s long-term impacts on the planet.
Source: Immigrants as Innovators: Boosting Canada’s Global Competitiveness
Nicholas Keung Immigration Reporter
According to a new Conference Board of Canada study, Liu is living proof of how immigrants can help boost Canada’s stature in innovation, which ranks 14th out of 17 industrialized countries.
“Productivity and innovation are critical for economic development,” said the report, titled Immigrants as Innovators: Boosting Canada’s Global Competitiveness. “At every level of analysis, immigrants are shown to have an impact on innovation performance that is benefiting Canada.”
Examining the relationship between immigrants and innovation in areas such as research, culture, business and global commerce, the report found that:
• At least 35 per cent of an estimated 1,800 Canada Research Chairs are foreign-born, even though immigrants are just one-fifth of the Canadian population.
• Immigrants to Canada win proportionally more prestigious literary and performing arts awards, comprising 23 per cent of Giller Prize finalists and 29 per cent of winners; 23 per cent of Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards winners are immigrants;
• Immigration increases innovation by expanding Canada’s trade relations. A 1 per cent increase in the number of immigrants to Canada corresponds to an increase in imports of 0.21 per cent and exports by 0.11 per cent.
Yet, despite the enormous benefits that newcomers can bring to Canada, the report notes they still face “onerous and often unnecessary obstacles” that limit their potential.
These include inadequate recognition of international experience and qualifications, failure of employers to tap foreign language skills which could be employed in international markets, and lack of opportunities for newcomers to fully use their skills
Liu said he, too, had a tough time when he first came to Canada as a visiting scholar and later enrolled in the University of Toronto’s robot control PhD program.
“Language is a big obstacle. Technically, my English was good, but you need to be able to speak good English and communicate well to get published,” he said. “I was lucky to get my credentials recognized and have had some good employers.”
The report recommends employers hire immigrants at all levels of their organization, including in leadership roles; match the staff’s diversity to that of their markets; and encourage immigrant employees to share their diverse points of view, a key for innovation.
Innovative Immigrants in Canada
• K.Y. Ho came from China in 1984 and started the graphics company ATI with two other immigrants from Hong Kong. The company pulled in $10 million in revenue in its first year and was acquired for $5.4 billion by AMD in 2007.
• Mike Lazaridis came from Turkey in 1966 and founded Research in Motion (RIM), which created and manufactures the BlackBerry.
• Peter Munk came from Hungary in the 1940s and founded Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold-mining corporation.
• Stella Melo came from Brazil in 1996. An atmospheric physicist, she has developed equipment and models to study the conditions of the atmosphere. The data she collects are used for weather forecasting and to examine people’s long-term impacts on the planet.
Source: Immigrants as Innovators: Boosting Canada’s Global Competitiveness
Related articles
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- Conservative immigrants boost Tory fortunes (theglobeandmail.com)
- Conservative new arrivals boost Tory fortunes (theglobeandmail.com)
- Innovation key to small business success (theglobeandmail.com)
- Fewer jobs for well-educated new immigrants: study (cbc.ca)
Project helps immigrants connect with workforce
Image via Wikipedia
There's an old saying in business that often it's not what you know but who you know when it comes to landing a job.
Era Wegad can attest to that.
Wegad, who came to Canada from India a couple of years ago, was able to secure a position in early September as a group sales representative for Equitable Life Insurance thanks to networking and connections her mentor, Mandy Lelke of TD Insurance, had in the community.
Wegad was one of 34 skilled immigrants who have completed a pilot project in the city through the Calgary Region Immigration Employment Council, which connected them with mentors in their fields to improve their chances for employment.
"It did help me in getting my self-confidence and self-esteem better because I saw people in the program believing in me. I thought, 'They believe in me, so I should believe in myself,' " said Wegad, who worked in the life insurance industry in India. "They helped me boost my confidence for sure and (gave) me direction.
"Mandy helped me as to the insurance licence I could get if I needed it. Also, networking and connecting me with the right people."
Job hunting can be hard enough when you know people, but when you're lacking local connections of any kind, it can be far more difficult.
Of 34 successful mentormentee relationships in the council's pilot project, seven mentees have so far secured local employment in their respective fields, with a number of others currently undergoing job interviews.
The employment council's 16-week Mentoring Collaborative is designed to provide skilled immigrants with the tools to secure meaningful employment in their fields, from engineering, engineering services, human resources, IT and project management to sales, accounting and auditing.
Community partner organizations included Bow Valley College, Immigrant Services Calgary, the Calgary Immigrant Women's Association and the Centre for Newcomers -- all of which recruit job-ready skilled immigrants as mentees. Local employers such as Flint Energy, TransCanada Corp., Canadian Pacific Railway, Calgary Airport Authority, TD Canada Trust, Royal Bank of Canada and SMART Technologies recruited appropriate employees as mentors.
"Our purpose is to help local leaders with immigrant employment strategies. The mentoring program is just one of our initiatives," said Marie-France Varin, the council's project leader.
"The reason we went with piloting that first was because there was such a success in Toronto with that similar program."
She said the pilot program will continue.
"We connect skilled immigrants with their Canadian counterpart in an occupation-specific mentoring relationship," she said.
"The main purpose of that relationship is to help these individuals understand their profession within a Canadian context.
"It's also for them to acquire effective job search strategies that are aligned with Canadian standards, and for them to get a better understanding of how to showcase their skills and their talents in their resume and (make sure) the resume does follow Canadian standards."
Also, with many professionals, it's helping them get their professional accreditation in their chosen fields.
"Often it's not what you know, but who you know. And what this program does is it truly connects them with their colleagues in their profession."
Lelke, who mentored Wegad for the 16 weeks beginning in June, said the pilot project connects people from professions in other countries to professionals here.
"It's a good strong match so that they're not just applying for something that is just kind of coming their way and then they're just really not satisfied," said Lelke.
"It's nice to be able to integrate people into the society into what their profession is without them having to go through again the challenges of finding employment just to find employment without something that directly relates to what they've done in the past."
A celebration of the program is being held on Thursday with mentors, mentees and partner organizations coming together.
mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com
Era Wegad can attest to that.
Wegad, who came to Canada from India a couple of years ago, was able to secure a position in early September as a group sales representative for Equitable Life Insurance thanks to networking and connections her mentor, Mandy Lelke of TD Insurance, had in the community.
Wegad was one of 34 skilled immigrants who have completed a pilot project in the city through the Calgary Region Immigration Employment Council, which connected them with mentors in their fields to improve their chances for employment.
"It did help me in getting my self-confidence and self-esteem better because I saw people in the program believing in me. I thought, 'They believe in me, so I should believe in myself,' " said Wegad, who worked in the life insurance industry in India. "They helped me boost my confidence for sure and (gave) me direction.
"Mandy helped me as to the insurance licence I could get if I needed it. Also, networking and connecting me with the right people."
Job hunting can be hard enough when you know people, but when you're lacking local connections of any kind, it can be far more difficult.
Of 34 successful mentormentee relationships in the council's pilot project, seven mentees have so far secured local employment in their respective fields, with a number of others currently undergoing job interviews.
The employment council's 16-week Mentoring Collaborative is designed to provide skilled immigrants with the tools to secure meaningful employment in their fields, from engineering, engineering services, human resources, IT and project management to sales, accounting and auditing.
Community partner organizations included Bow Valley College, Immigrant Services Calgary, the Calgary Immigrant Women's Association and the Centre for Newcomers -- all of which recruit job-ready skilled immigrants as mentees. Local employers such as Flint Energy, TransCanada Corp., Canadian Pacific Railway, Calgary Airport Authority, TD Canada Trust, Royal Bank of Canada and SMART Technologies recruited appropriate employees as mentors.
"Our purpose is to help local leaders with immigrant employment strategies. The mentoring program is just one of our initiatives," said Marie-France Varin, the council's project leader.
"The reason we went with piloting that first was because there was such a success in Toronto with that similar program."
She said the pilot program will continue.
"We connect skilled immigrants with their Canadian counterpart in an occupation-specific mentoring relationship," she said.
"The main purpose of that relationship is to help these individuals understand their profession within a Canadian context.
"It's also for them to acquire effective job search strategies that are aligned with Canadian standards, and for them to get a better understanding of how to showcase their skills and their talents in their resume and (make sure) the resume does follow Canadian standards."
Also, with many professionals, it's helping them get their professional accreditation in their chosen fields.
"Often it's not what you know, but who you know. And what this program does is it truly connects them with their colleagues in their profession."
Lelke, who mentored Wegad for the 16 weeks beginning in June, said the pilot project connects people from professions in other countries to professionals here.
"It's a good strong match so that they're not just applying for something that is just kind of coming their way and then they're just really not satisfied," said Lelke.
"It's nice to be able to integrate people into the society into what their profession is without them having to go through again the challenges of finding employment just to find employment without something that directly relates to what they've done in the past."
A celebration of the program is being held on Thursday with mentors, mentees and partner organizations coming together.
mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
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- Guest Post: Michelle Klinger "Interview with a Mentor...Mentor R" (infosecmentors.blogspot.com)
Changes to assessing the genuineness of spousal, common-law or conjugal relationships
Image by swisscan via Flickr
By Bomza Law Group
A significant amendment to section 4 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations was brought into force on September 30, 2010.
The former regulation 4 provision required two mandatory elements for determining “bad faith” relationships:
The amended regulation 4 provision now provides for each of the two “bad faith” tests to stand on its own. The amended regulation reads as follows:
4. (1) For the purposes of these Regulations, a foreign national shall not be considered a spouse, a common-law partner or a conjugal partner of a person if the marriage, common-law partnership or conjugal partnership
(a) was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act; or
(b) is not genuine.
The requirement that only one of the two criteria will need to be present to determine that a relationship is not bona fide lowers the threshold required to be met in order to refuse an application under this category. Moreover, since a hearing before the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) is considered to be a fresh hearing of the case, the IAD will base its decisions on the law that is presently in force as opposed to the law that was in force at the time of the original decision made by the officer.
The former regulation 4 provision required two mandatory elements for determining “bad faith” relationships:
- relationship is not genuine; and
- it was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
The amended regulation 4 provision now provides for each of the two “bad faith” tests to stand on its own. The amended regulation reads as follows:
4. (1) For the purposes of these Regulations, a foreign national shall not be considered a spouse, a common-law partner or a conjugal partner of a person if the marriage, common-law partnership or conjugal partnership
(a) was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act; or
(b) is not genuine.
The requirement that only one of the two criteria will need to be present to determine that a relationship is not bona fide lowers the threshold required to be met in order to refuse an application under this category. Moreover, since a hearing before the Immigration Appeal Division (IAD) is considered to be a fresh hearing of the case, the IAD will base its decisions on the law that is presently in force as opposed to the law that was in force at the time of the original decision made by the officer.
Related articles
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- Married with kids? You're now in the minority: report (parentcentral.ca)
- Heterosexuals are the greatest threat to marriage (fullcomment.nationalpost.com)
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