Canada and Yukon Sign Agreement on Temporary Foreign Workers

Image via WikipediaWHITEHORSE, YUKON--(Marketwire - Feb. 23, 2011) - The Governments of Canada and Yukon have signed an agreement that gives Yukon a role in managing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program within the Territory.
Senator Daniel Lang made the announcement today with Patrick Rouble, Yukon Minister of Education and Minister of Energy, Mines and Resources. Senator Lang spoke on behalf of Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism and Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.
"The Government of Yukon has a role to play in protecting temporary foreign workers from exploitation and in identifying how immigration can help address gaps in its labour market," said Senator Lang. "This agreement formally recognizes these roles."
The agreement will improve the responsiveness of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program by providing Yukon with a greater role in helping these workers come to Canada. The Government of Yukon will be able to recommend the entry of some temporary foreign workers without requiring a Service Canada assessment of whether there are Canadians or permanent residents available to fill the vacant positions. Such exemptions will be determined according to criteria to be set by the territorial government, in line with its economic plans and priorities.
"This agreement provides one more tool for Yukon's labour market stakeholders to address Yukon's labour market opportunities, both now and into the future," said Minister Rouble. "Our first priority is to work with underrepresented groups in Yukon to meet labour force demands and turn to temporary foreign workers when the need arises."
"Today marks an important step in making the Temporary Foreign Worker Program more responsive to Yukon's particular labour needs. Meeting those needs translates into more opportunities for all Yukon residents," the Senator added.
The agreement provides a framework for closer cooperation between the two levels of government to better educate employers and potential workers about their rights and responsibilities.
A number of innovative pilot initiatives are also planned as part of the agreement. These initiatives are designed to respond to region-specific issues concerning temporary foreign workers, and are aligned with the economic and social development priorities of Yukon.
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program is driven by employer demand and aimed at filling identified labour shortages where no suitable Canadian workers or permanent residents are available.

Related articles

• Yukon can fast-track some foreign workers (cbc.ca)

Youth, tradespeople take focus in new immigration proposal

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JOE FRIESEN — DEMOGRAPHICS REPORTER

Canada’s immigration system will be overhauled to place more emphasis on youth, language ability and skilled trades under a new proposal from the Conservative government.

But experts warn the government should be careful not to diminish Canada’s record of attracting highly educated, adaptable newcomers.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney will immediately begin one month of public consultations on changes to the points system, which is used to assess skilled worker applications from overseas.

“There’s no shortage of people who want to come to Canada, and we should frankly do all we can to attract the best and brightest,” Mr. Kenney said. “There are certain traits which seem to be more heavily correlated with higher income and better employment, such as younger immigrants and higher levels of language proficiency.”

At the moment, the system is based on a 100-point scale, and 67 points are required to be accepted. About a quarter of the assessment is based on English and French proficiency, a quarter on education, 20 per cent on years of work experience and 10 per cent each on age, adaptability and having arranged employment in Canada.

The current setup tends to favour applicants with advanced degrees. Tradespeople do less well because their qualifications aren’t highly rewarded and they’re judged on language skills that may not be required in their field. Mr. Kenney hopes to address those issues.

And although language is likely to be important in the new system, Mr. Kenney said he wants some leeway built in.

“A welder from Poland doesn’t need to have university-level French, but somebody expecting to work as a medical doctor does. Perhaps the points system should be more intelligent and flexible to correspond,” Mr. Kenney said.

Naomi Alboim, an immigration expert at Queen’s University, said the Canadian labour market discounts foreign work experience, so re-jigging the system to reflect that reality is useful. It’s also wise, in her view, to place a premium on youth, which is a good predictor of successful integration.

But while she recognizes a need to tweak the system to attract tradespeople, Prof. Alboim is strongly opposed to anything that would water down educational requirements.

“I think that high levels of education are really important given the types of new jobs that are being created as we move toward a knowledge economy,” she said.

“All the research shows the more education you have, the better you do, the more adaptable you are for changing labour markets and the more effective it is [as policy].”

NDP Immigration critic Olivia Chow said the review should also reward applicants with strong family ties to Canada, such as brothers and sisters in the country.

A little more than 85,000 people arrived under the federal skilled worker program in 2010, not including their spouses and children. The target range for 2011 is much lower, at about 47,000, according to figures supplied by the ministry. Mr. Kenney said in an ideal world the numbers wouldn’t be reduced, but the government is simultaneously expanding the provincial nominee program, which has grown to about 37,000 admissions from 8,000 in five years.

Provincial nominees tend to have lower levels of education but almost always have a pre-arranged job. The growth of the nominee program has also contributed to a greater dispersal of immigrants, as the share going to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver has dropped to 75 per cent from about 90 per cent, according to Mr. Kenney, with the balance going to the Prairies and Atlantic Canada.

“In the short term, we see provincial nominees actually doing better than foreign skilled workers,” Mr. Kenney said. “They typically don’t go through the survival job struggle of skilled workers with university degrees as they wait for credential recognition.”

Related articles

• Youth, tradespeople take focus in new immigration proposal (theglobeandmail.com)
• Immigration levels holding steady: Kenney (cbc.ca)
• Visas for skilled workers set to drop (cbc.ca)
• Tories propose new immigration point system (ctv.ca)

Government of Canada Consults on Immigrant Skilled Worker Program

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OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Feb. 17, 2011) - Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is proposing changes to the Federal Skilled Worker Program to help Canada select immigrants who have the best chance of integrating and making a better contribution to the Canadian economy. CIC will be consulting with stakeholders and the public on the proposed changes beginning today.

The consultations follow the release of an evaluation of the program, which found that skilled workers are faring far better in Canada than their predecessors, thanks to their stronger language skills and arranged employment. The evaluation does show, however, that there is room for improvement.

"To stay competitive globally, we have to make sure the skilled immigrants we choose are the ones that we need, and the most likely to succeed when they get here," said Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. "Research points to some key changes that will help us meet those goals."

The input received through the consultations process will be taken into account in the development of new regulations. The proposed changes could place more emphasis on youth and language ability, and are expected to increase the number of skilled tradespeople.

CIC will consult on:

• requiring federal skilled workers to have a minimum level of language proficiency;
• making the program more accessible to skilled tradespeople, technicians and apprentices;
• placing greater emphasis on younger immigrants who will adapt more easily and be active members of the work force for a longer time frame;
• redirecting points from work experience to other factors that better contribute to success in the Canadian work force; and
• reducing the potential for fraudulent job offers.

The current Federal Skilled Worker Program was introduced in June 2002 with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. The program is based on an objective and transparent points system, which considers factors such as language skills, age and education in the selection of immigrants. The system aims to be more effective at selecting those who will succeed economically.

In-person consultation sessions will take place with key stakeholders in five cities across the country beginning February 17. These sessions are not open to the general public or the media. Other organizations or interested individuals who wish to provide input can submit their feedback online at www.cic.gc.ca until March 17.

A summary of the results of this process will be published on our website in spring/summer 2011.

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/CitImmCanada.

Related articles

• Tories propose new immigration point system (thestar.com)
• Tories propose new immigration point system (ctv.ca)
• Youth, tradespeople take focus in new immigration proposal (theglobeandmail.com)
• Visas for skilled workers set to drop (cbc.ca)
• Record number of immigrants welcomed to Canada in 2010 (canada.com)

A Six Figure Family Day

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As Canadian families prepare to celebrate Family Day next week, they find themselves in six figure territory. Unfortunately it is on the wrong side of the ledger. In its 12th annual assessment of the state of Canadian family finances, the Vanier Institute of the Family reports that average family debt has now hit $100,000. Not only that, the debt-to-income ratio, which measures household debt against income, stands at a record 150%, meaning that for every thousand dollars in after-tax income, Canadian families owe one thousand five hundred dollars.

The Institute, Canada’s foremost authority on family issues, has been sounding the alarm for many years over the issue of debt stress facing Canadian households. The debt-to-income ratio has been steadily climbing for the past 20 years.  In 1990, average family debt stood at $56,800, with a debt-to-income ratio of 93%. The $100,000 figure represents a real increase of 78% over the past two decades.

Just as the debt ratio has climbed, the savings rate has slid downward. In 1990, Canadian families managed to put away $8,000, a savings rate of 13.0%. In 2010, that savings rate was down to 4.2%, averaging $2,500 per household.

Katherine Scott, the Institute’s Director of Programs, says, “Even though standard economic indicators tell us the recession is technically over, the confidence Canadian families have in their economic and financial situation is shaky. As governments at all levels craft their budgets for the coming year and look at cutting programs to reduce their deficits, they need to be mindful that the state of Canadian family finances continues to be fragile in many households.” 

The stress of debt can be seen in many areas of family finances. The number of households which have fallen behind in their mortgage payments by three or more months climbed to 17,400 in the fall of 2010, up nearly 50% since the recession began. Credit card delinquency and bankruptcy rates also remained higher than pre-recessionary levels. If the government implements recommendations from the federal Task Force on Financial Literacy, families will have access to new resources to help better manage their financial situation.  

The Vanier report notes that despite recent job gains, governments at all levels need to be concerned about the prospect of rising unemployment as workers who dropped out of the labour market attempt to jump back in – and as those who are working part-time hours (over 900,000 workers) continue to seek full-time hours.

In particular, families with younger members preparing to enter the workforce face tremendous pressure. Only 5% of the new jobs created since mid 2009 went to the 15-24 age group. The report also points out that the types of jobs being created are in the service sector, with very few returning in the manufacturing sector.

Author Roger Sauvė says this is one of the key findings of this report. “While in aggregate numbers, almost all of the jobs lost during the recession have returned. But the hidden reality is that those who lost their jobs are often not the ones who are landing the new ones. And many are finding work that doesn’t pay what their old jobs did.”

Among young people trying to better their job prospects with post-secondary education, about 57% of them are now financing part of their schooling with student loans, which may amount to an average student debt of $18,000 when they graduate.

This year’s report from the Vanier Institute also has a special section that looks at the experiences of middle-income households. It can be downloaded from the Vanier Institute website at: www.vifamily.ca.

For interviews and more informationon this report, please contact: 

Katherine Scott
Director of Programs,
Vanier Institute of the Family
(613) 228-8500 x219
kscott@vifamily.ca

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• Household debt surpasses six-figure mark (theglobeandmail.com)
• Average family debt hits $100,000: report (theglobeandmail.com)
• Family debt-to-income ratio hits record (cbc.ca)
• Average Canadian family debt hits $100,000: report (ctv.ca)

Average Canadian family debt hits $100,000

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A new report suggests the average family debt in Canada has now hit the $100,000 mark.

In addition, says the Vanier Institute of the Family, the debt-to-income ratio measuring household debt against income, is a record 150 per cent.

This means that for every $1,000 in after-tax income, Canadian families owe $1,500.

The Institute says in 1990, average family debt stood at $56,800, with a debt-to-income ratio of 93 per cent.

Just as the debt ratio has climbed, the savings rate has slid downward.

In 1990, says the Institute, Canadian families managed to put away $8,000 for a savings rate of 13 per cent. Last year, the savings rate had fallen to 4.2 per cent, averaging just $2,500 per household.

Other data compiled by the Institute shows the number of households behind in mortgage payments by three or more months climbed to 17,400 in the fall of 2010, up nearly 50 per cent since the recession began.

Related articles

• Average Canadian family debt hits $100,000: report (ctv.ca)
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• Average family debt hits $100,000 (theglobeandmail.com)
• Family debt-to-income ratio hits record (cbc.ca)
• Household debt surpasses six-figure mark (theglobeandmail.com)
• Average Canadian family's debt hits $100,000 (theprovince.com)
• Average Canadian family's debt hits $100,000 (canada.com)
• Average family debt in Canada hits six figures (financialpost.com)
• B.C. most vulnerable to economic downturn (globaltvbc.com)
• Putting household debt in context (theglobeandmail.com)