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Enhancing Immigration to Support Canada's Economic Needs

This presentation discusses how Canada is attracting skilled immigrants to address regional labor shortages, with a focus on employer involvement and government initiatives. It outlines strategies to align immigration programs with economic demands and engage stakeholders for effective integration of newcomers.

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Enhancing Immigration to Support Canada's Economic Needs

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  1. Immigration to support Canada’s economic needs Presentation to the Leaders Summit on Immigrant Employment, Vancouver September 18, 2012

  2. Context • Canada is competing globally for skilled immigrants, with an uneven distribution of anticipated shortages across regions, sectors, occupations • Provinces and territories are engaged in selection to meet regional needs and distribute economic immigration benefits across Canada • High employer interest and influence in immigration to meet labour market needs, both permanent and temporary. • Economic Action Plan 2012 announces the Government’s intention to “build afast and flexible economic immigration system whose primary focus is on meeting Canada’s labour market needs”. • Immigration modernization an opportunity to enhance employers’ role in attracting global talent and in integrating newcomers.

  3. What we’ve heard from you…. • Concrete solutions needed to address workforce challenges, and better alignment of policies, programs and processes with labour market demand • Appetite for information, resources to link to immigrants – “one-stop shop” – but employers are diverse in needs and capacities • Desire to capitalize on stakeholder networks such as IEC-B.C. for support and solutions, and to share promising practices • Governments, employers, business groups and service providers are all facilitators – and employers have a leadership role to play , such as in improving immigrant employment.

  4. Improving selection to respond to labour market needs • Federal Skilled Worker Program –favouring skilled workers able to integrate more rapidly and successfully into the Canadian labour market • Younger immigrants, better language skills, Canadian experience • Educational credential assessment from a designated organization • New Federal Skilled Trades Program • Canadian Experience Class – incentives to retain talent such as reducing work experience requirement from 24 to 12 months for eligible temporary workers with in-demand skills.

  5. Improving selection to respond to labour market needs • Working with provinces/territories to renew focus of Provincial Nominee Program on economic immigration and to respond quickly to regional labour market needs • Aligning Temporary Foreign Worker Program with labour market needs • Ensuring that employers look first to domestic labour force • Reducing paper burden and accelerating processes for eligible employers • Increasing worker protections – employer compliance reviews.

  6. Improving speed, flexibility and efficiency Amendments to the Immigrant and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) will enable CIC to: • Reduce the Federal Skilled Worker backlog and focus resources on applications that meet today’s labour needs • by returning fees and close applications for certain federal skilled worker applicants who applied under previous criteria. • Create targeted economic programs through Ministerial Instructions (outside regulatory scheme) on a timely basis to address new or emerging economic needs.

  7. EOI: major step in immigration system modernization • Canada is developing an Expression of Interest (EOI) approach to skilled immigrant application management – working with provinces, territories and employers • EOI is an automated two-stage application process that pre- screens and ranks candidates: • Results in a pool of candidates interested in skilled immigration to Canada • Allows for active selection of the most qualified candidates whose experience best aligns with economic needs and immigration priorities • Makes it possible to avoid application backlogs and reduce processing times.

  8. Role of employers Immigration • Opportunity for enhanced role in selecting immigrants • CIC will be looking to hear employers’ interests and perspectives on the design and application of an EOI system to Canada. Integration • BC employers have long had an active role in labour market integration, e.g. • Hiring immigrants already in Canada • Providing opportunities through work experience, mentorship, networking opportunities – promising practices. • CIC is interested in hearing about ways we can collaborate to facilitate the integration of newcomers.

  9. Conclusion/Discussion • As employers, you can help ensure Canada is a first-choice destination for immigrants. • Modernization is an opportunity for an enhanced role for employers, to facilitate better match between immigrant supply and labour market demand. • What are the roles that employers are ready to play? • Who else should CIC be talking to, and where?

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