Canada announces new funding to deliver settlement- and employment-related assistance to newcomers

To help newcomers settle, adapt and integrate into Canadian society, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), in partnership with provinces, territories and settlement providers, has been delivering programs and services to migrants of more than 40 nationalities for over 16 years, and providing stakeholders necessary funding to support these initiatives.

For this purpose, a new settlement funding of over $1.7 million has been announced to help 5 partner agencies delivering settlement and integration services to new immigrants in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador. The services will include helping migrants find jobs and assisting them in getting general orientation, translation and interpretation services. The funding will also help migrants with referrals to community resources and counseling services.

In the North Bay and District area of Ontario, the Multicultural Centre and the Big Sisters organizations will receive $194,000 and $86,043 respectively. The funding to North Bay and District Multicultural Center will be used to deliver settlement assistance to newcomers, including help in finding a job and in accessing health and community services. The Centre will also bring newcomers and Canadian citizens together through networking events and a mentorship program during their first few months in Canada. The funding to Big Sisters of North Bay and District will be used to deliver a mentoring program that matches volunteers with newcomer youths.

Another funding of more than $597,000 has been announced for the YMCA of Brantford, Ontario to assist in delivering a variety of settlement services, including orientation, interpretation, referrals to community resources, general information and employment-related assistance. The funding is expected to serve more than 260 people.

Learning Enrichment Foundation of Toronto, Ontario will also receive a funding of more than $750,000, which will go towards delivering a variety of settlement assistance, including orientation, interpretation, citizenship preparation, job search referrals and help in accessing social services, housing, immigration and citizenship information and support.

This settlement funding to four Ontario-based organizations is being provided under the $920 million Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), which was committed by the Canadian federal government in budget 2006.

As part of $1.4 billion ‘additional settlement funding package’ to provinces and territories other than Quebec, the Association for New Canadians in St. John’s will receive a total of $111,775 to support job-specific language training and job search support for immigrants, as well as training for settlement workers to help them serve newcomers. The funding will help the Association for New Canadians to deliver a project called Taking Action: Connecting Immigrants with Opportunities in Newfoundland and Labrador. The project will involve a pilot internship program for Newfoundland and Labrador employers and newcomers to help with the recognition of skills, competencies, and work experience gained abroad. The program will educate employers about the benefits of hiring immigrants and it will provide programs and services to help them hire new Canadians. An online immigrant and employer skills matching database will help Newfoundland and Labrador employers find foreign-trained workers with the experience and credentials that they need.

Funding of $19,800 has also been announced for Sharing Our Cultures project in Newfoundland and Labrador. The funding will go toward planning and staging a three-day event aimed at increasing cross-cultural awareness. The event, to take place March 16–18, 2008, is in recognition of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Canada’s Racism. Stop It! campaign.

Federal and provincial cooperation on skills agenda will help to tackle the challenge of labor shortage

The federal and provincial governments of Canada are coming together to tackle the challenge of labor shortage in provinces through a series of new labor market agreements.

Currently, these new labor market agreements have been signed between the federal government of Canada and the provincial governments of Ontario, British Columbia (B.C.) and Saskatchewan. Under these agreements, federal government will infuse a heavy funding in provincial labor markets to help individuals and workers improve their skills in order to deal with the immediate, as well as future, needs of provincial employers for skilled workers.

These funds will primarily use to provide access to training for individuals who are working and need to improve their skills, as well as for all unemployed individuals, including those who are not eligible for Employment Insurance (EI) training programs. The funding will also help individuals too often excluded from the labor force, including Aboriginal people, immigrants, persons with disabilities, as well as those workers who lack literacy and essential skills, get the training they need to obtain meaningful and sustainable employment.

Under new Canada-British Columbia Labor Market Agreement, federal government will invest $396 million over six years into the province’s labor market, which will take effect April 1, 2008. This agreement will also support WorkBC, which is a provincial strategy for addressing B.C.'s short- and longer-term needs for more skilled and unskilled workers. Through another Canada-British Columbia new Labor Market Development Agreement (LMDA), B.C. assumes the responsibility for the design and delivery of EI funded employment benefits and support measures, along with nearly $300 million per year going forward. This will provide the province with the flexibility to focus job training programs and employment supports on the local and regional needs of both employers and clients. The Province will assume this responsibility as of February 2, 2009.

Under new Canada-Saskatchewan Labor Market Agreement, federal government will invest $90 million over six years into the province’s labor market. This agreement will take effect April 1, 2008 and complement an existing Canada-Saskatchewan LMDA, signed in 1998, under which the Province assumed responsibility for designing and delivering employment programs and services for unemployed people eligible under the EI program.

Under new Canada-Ontario Labor Market Agreement, federal government will invest nearly $1.2 billion over six years into the province’s labor market. This agreement will take effect April 1, 2008 and complement an existing Canada-Ontario LMDA, signed in 2005, under which the Province assumed responsibility as of January 2007 for designing and delivering employment programs and services for unemployed people eligible under the EI program. The new Canada-Ontario labor market agreement will also extend the Employment Ontario network, which supports foundation skills, apprenticeship and other technical skills training, and employment services.

It has been estimated that nearly 70 per cent of the jobs demand some form of post secondary education, and this new partnership between federal government and the provinces in form of new Labor Market Agreements will provide access to the education and training for individuals that will lead them to a successful career.

On the other end, the Province will gain significant economic benefits from such programs, including improvements in labor productivity, an increase in the domestic product, and better wages for lower income individuals and workers.

These and other labor market agreements are also critical for the federal government to achieve commitments made in Canada's economic plan, Advantage Canada, and the 2007 federal budget to create the best educated, most skilled, and most flexible work force in the world. Similar Labor Market Agreements are being negotiated with other provinces and territories and will be signed in the coming weeks and months. As far as the Labor Market Development Agreements are concerned, federal government has similar arrangements in six other jurisdictions including New Brunswick, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Ontario opens its nominee program for international students across Canada with easy transition to permanent residency

Ontario ministry of Citizenship and Immigration has announced an expansion in its Pilot Provincial Nominee Program (Pilot PNP) and opened it for international students across the country backed by easy transition to their permanent residency.

To be eligible, students may have graduated within the past two years or be enrolled in their last semester in a publicly funded Canadian college or university (must have completed at least half of their studies in Canada) and have a job offer in Ontario relating to their area of study.

International students who are offered jobs relevant to their area of study will have their application for permanent residency “fast-tracked” by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). However, international students will no longer be restricted to the Pilot PNP Occupation List, although their job offer has to be in a managerial, professional or skilled trades occupations, as defined in Canada’s National Occupation Classification’s Type 0 or Skill Level A and B.

Previously, only graduates of Ontario colleges and universities were eligible and only those with job offers in one of 20 occupations listed on the Pilot PNP Occupation List such as specialist and family physicians, pharmacists, audiologists and speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, registered nurses, medical laboratory technologists, medical radiation technologists, university professors, high-end researchers, machinists and machining and tooling inspectors, tool and die makers, industrial electricians, construction millwrights and industrial mechanics, heavy-duty equipment mechanics, carpenters, bricklayers, cement finishers, tile-setters and drywall installers and finishers.

Ontario’s Pilot PNP does not require previous experience by international students and new entrants are offered entry-level wage rather than the prevailing wage for that occupation. Pilot PNP application fee for international students has not been changed and that is $200 per application.

The strategy behind this initiative is two-fold: (a) it will help Ontario attract and retain qualified international students across the country by providing a quick avenue to permanent status for gainfully employed graduates; and (b) it will assist employers across the province to capitalize on the skills and experience of international students, who have Canadian credentials and are familiar with Canadian society.

With more than 35,000 international students in Ontario alone, this initiative aims to tap into the skills and experiences international students present. An estimated 65 per cent of total international students, who are admitted to Canada annually to study, are intending to remain in Canada and this change will offer them an option to permanently reside in Canada.

In addition, Ontario government has made it easier for employers outside the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) to take part in the program. Such employers will now require minimum gross revenues of $500,000 in the previous fiscal year and a staff of at least 3 permanent full-time employees to qualify for the program. Employers outside of the GTA can now request one position for every three full-time employees. The change is designed to better reflect the needs of regional employers and the scale of many regional economies outside the GTA.

GTA employers still require $1 million in gross revenues in the previous fiscal year and five permanent full-time employees to qualify for the program. All employers still need to be in continuous corporate existence and active operation for a minimum of three years and have a business premises in Ontario, with few exceptions, where the prospective nominee will work.

Canada announces expansion in Temporary Foreign Worker Units for Ontario and Atlantic Canada

In an effort to improve the temporary foreign workers’ hiring process and make it easier, faster and less costly for Canadian employers, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has announced expansion in the Temporary Foreign Worker Units program for Ontario and Atlantic Canada regions.

These service units were first established in August 2006 for Alberta and British Columbia, and then Quebec, to compliment the long-term labor supply strategy of these provinces. After a few modifications in November 2006, these service units are fully operational now and providing advise to employers in Alberta, B.C., and Quebec having difficulty finding Canadian workers to fill their human resource needs, while continuing to protect the access of Canadian workers to the labor market. These service units introduced the Regional List of Occupations under pressure that significantly cut the recruitment wait time by reducing or removing job advertisement requirements, and developed step-by-step guides for employers while created federal-provincial working groups to identify existing and emerging skill shortages and to find solutions to tackle these shortages.

Currently, two new service units are being established in Ontario (Toronto) and Atlantic Canada (Moncton) to provide facilitation services to employers to hire temporary foreign workers. Like the units in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, the units in Toronto and Moncton will, among other things, (a) provide advice to employers who plan to hire temporary foreign workers; (b) facilitate the entry of workers in certain professions who do not require a visa and verification that there are no Canadians available, such as NAFTA workers and workers with specialized knowledge; (c) make the entry process smoother and more efficient by providing employers with accurate and up-to-date information; (d) pre-screen supporting documents from employers to streamline the application process for such workers; and (e) work with provinces to better meet regional needs.

However, the requests for temporary foreign workers for whom visas are required or who are in other professions would still be directed to Service Canada who render verification or Labor Market Opinion (LMO) against such requests and ensure that job offer is consistent with Canadian wages and working conditions. Subsequent steps may include the issuance of visas and work permits by CIC overseas posts and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).

Finally, it should be noted that some jobs do not require a work permit. The units provide advice on those that might qualify for an exemption.

These units are one aspect of the government of Canada’s growing Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which attracted around 125,000 temporary foreign workers in 2007. Recently, government has taken a number of steps to improve this program. The 2007 budget provided $50.5 million, over the next two years, toward measures to further reduce processing delays and to establish mechanisms to monitor employer compliance with the terms and conditions of the program and address non-compliance.

Record number of foreign students helps drive enrolments in Canadian universities to all-time high

Enrolment in Canadian universities again surpassed the 1-million mark for the second consecutive year during the academic year 2005-06.

A recent Statistics Canada study, based on the data obtained by Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS), shows that an estimated 1,047,700 students were registered in classes for the academic year 2005-06 that is 3 per cent higher than 2004-05.

This upward trend in university enrolment, as examined, is primarily driven by growth in the number of foreign students and young Canadian adults following urbanization, immigration, labor market demand, demand for graduate education, financial returns, socio-economic status and parental influence.

It has been determined that a record 80,200 students from other countries (foreign or international students) enrolled in programs at Canadian universities in 2005-06, up 6.0 per cent from the previous year. These foreign students represented 7.7 per cent of the total registrations, nearly double the proportion a decade earlier. Half of them were from Asia, where only China accounted for 46 per cent of these Asian students.

A number of factors account for the continued strength of foreign registrations. These include strong economic growth in leading Asian countries, such as China; new university marketing strategies to counter competition from institutions in other countries; changes in immigration policies; and provincial agreements with other countries to attract foreign students.

Provincially, Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec attracted almost 78% of international students. Numerically, the largest increases of international students occurred at universities in Ontario, where the gain was 1,400 and those in British Columbia, where the increase was 2,500.

Asian students accounted for the majority of the total increase in foreign students. Registrants from China rose 7% to a record high 19,200; the growth in students from China accounted for 28% of the gain in enrolment among international students. Canadian universities also continued to register significant numbers of students from India, South Korea, Japan and Hong Kong, all of which increased in 2005-06.

Women have accounted for about 45% of all international students since 1999. In 1992, the proportion was about 39%.

Among foreign students, enrolments increased in all but two fields of study. The biggest decline was in the field of mathematics, computer and information sciences, where foreign enrolment fell by almost 4%. In the other fields of study, the numbers increased. The rate of growth had exceeded that of the prior year for three fields of study: education; humanities; and health, parks, recreation and fitness.

Another survey reported that just over 65 per cent of total foreign students, who are admitted to Canada annually to study, are intending to remain in Canada to embark on careers or pursue further studies.

A 2007 survey by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC) showed that 69 per cent of schools offer scholarships targeted toward international undergraduate students and 62 per cent for international graduate students pursuing masters or doctoral degrees. This survey also found that 356 programs with an international focus offered at 61 niversities in 2006.

Canada announces new funding to help newcomers settle in Ontario and improve language skills

To help newcomers settle, adapt and integrate into Canadian society, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), in partnership with provinces, territories and settlement providers, has been delivering programs and services to migrants of more than 40 nationalities for over 16 years, and providing stakeholders necessary funding to support these initiatives.

For this purpose, a new settlement funding of over $30 million has been announced to help 16 partner agencies delivering settlement and integration services to new immigrants in the city of Toronto, Ontario. This funding, which is provided under the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), will cover the period of next two years through to 2010, and expected to help more than 10,000 migrants who have settled in Canada’s largest city. The services will include helping migrants find jobs and assisting them in getting general orientation, translation and interpretation services. The funding will also help migrants with referrals to community resources and counseling services.

The 16 partner agencies in the city of Toronto, who will receive a portion of $30 million, include Center for Information & Community Services Ontario ($3,628,753), Community Microskills Development Center ($1,537,453), COSTI Immigrant Services ($3,772,100), JobStart ($551,573), Midaynta Community Services ($1,163,436), Northwood Neighborhood Services ($933,270), Polycultural Immigrant and Community Services ($2,530,593), Riverdale Immigrant Women’s Center ($1,284,295), Skills for Change ($1,867,349), South Asian Family Support Services ($1,397,171), South Asian Women’s Center ($197,697), The Cross Cultural Community Services Association ($908,464), Woodgreen Community Services ($2,894,789), Working Women Community Center ($1,754,157), YMCA of Greater Toronto ($4,869,263) and York Weston Community Services Center ($778,775).

Another funding of $2 million has been announced for the Ottawa Chinese Community Service Center at the occasion of Chinese New Year to assist in delivering settlement and integration services to newcomers in Ottawa-Carleton Region. This funding, to be spent over two and a half years, is expected to serve more than 7,000 people with settlement services such as language training, counseling, general information and employment-related support.

Similarly, at the start of Vietnamese Lunar New Year, a new funding of over $2.5 million has also been announced for three Vietnamese organizations serving newcomers in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The funding will go to the Vietnamese Association of Toronto ($1,850,988) and the Vietnamese Women’s Association of Toronto ($235,683) for delivering settlement services to more than 650 newcomers in Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood and in North York. The Vietnamese Community Center of Mississauga ($454,188) will also receive funding to provide language training to at least 45 immigrants in the community. The settlement services that these organizations provide include orientation, translation and interpretation services, language training, referrals to community resources, counseling, and employment services. In addition, as announced in May 2007, the Government of Canada is also committed to facilitating the immigration of Vietnamese living in the Philippines without status since the late 1970s.

Flexibility Learning Systems of Lethbridge, Ontario will also receive a funding of $1.3 million, which will go towards developing and delivering more flexible language training and literacy programs, over the next three years, to meet the increasingly diverse needs of newcomers. The funding is being provided under the Language Instruction for Newcomers to Canada (LINC) program, and expected to serve more than 650 newcomers in this area.

These fundings for settlement and language training to Ontario are provided under the $920 million COIA over five years and are part of $1.3 billion package over five years to provinces and territories other than Quebec, which was committed by the Canadian federal government in budget 2006.

Canada launches a toolkit to help small and rural communities attract newcomers

Spearheaded by the National Working Group on Small Center Strategies, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), in partnership with provincial governments and immigrant settlement service providing organizations, has launched a toolkit for smaller communities across Canada wanting to attract immigrants and support their settlement and integration by their own.

“Attracting and Retaining Immigrants: A Tool Box of Ideas for Smaller Centers” is a comprehensive toolkit to help smaller communities across the country to benefit from immigration for their growth and sustainability. This toolkit will not only guide such communities in developing their own immigration strategy but also encourage them in building an inclusive plan for newcomers.

This toolkit includes information on immigration and employment realities, and recommendations on strategies for building support, reducing barriers and creating welcoming communities. Specifically, it addresses topics such as (a) creating local opportunities; (b) setting practical objectives; (c) building consensus; (d) involving the community; (e) the importance of family ties, employment, and housing services; (f) accessing existing opportunities under current immigration rules as they relate to skilled and business immigrants, provincial nominees, refugees and temporary residents; and, (g) factors needed to create a welcoming community, such as respect for diversity, accessibility of public services and educational facilities, health, safety, faith and spirituality and leisure activities.

This toolkit was created by the National Working Group in response to an expressed interest by smaller communities in attracting and retaining newcomers after a recent Statistics Canada report. The report, which studied the years 1992-2005, showed that income differences between native-born Canadians and new immigrants in smaller centers and rural areas closed faster over time than in large urban areas.

This toolkit is funded through a contribution agreement from Citizenship and Immigration Canada as part of its programming aimed at helping newcomers to Canada integrate and settle in their new communities. Overall, the Government of Canada is investing $1.4 billion in settlement funding over five years to provinces and territories outside of Quebec, which receives annual funding through a separate agreement.

Canada’s first enhanced driver’s license launched in B.C.

The Province of British Columbia and the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC), in cooperation with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), are developing an optional enhanced driver's license (EDL) which will authorize holders to drive, and could serve as an alternative to a passport, for entry into the United States by its land and sea ports under the U.S. Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).

The EDL contains the same information as the standard B.C. driver's license, with the addition of a Canadian flag to distinguish the EDL from a standard driver's license, a machine-readable zone and a radio frequency identification (RFID) chip that contains a unique identifier to help border officials identify EDL holders at the border.

The B.C. EDL program will begin as an initial phase, in which 500 EDLs will be offered at the designated Driver Services Center in Richmond and Cloverdale. Eligible participants must be (a) Canadian citizens; (b) born in British Columbia and hold a valid B.C. government-issued birth certificate; (c) hold a valid B.C. driver's license; (d) intend to use the EDL to travel to the United States by land or sea; and (e) agree to share select personal information in connection with EDL with Canadian or U.S. border authorities.

Limiting the number of EDLs in the first phase allows the government of British Columbia, as well as the CBSA and CIC to test the effectiveness of the EDL program, to ensure all citizenship, privacy, and security requirements of the Canadian and U.S. governments are met, and to gather feedback from participants and the various agencies involved before it is offered to more Canadian citizens residing in British Columbia who drive and wish to travel to the United States by land or sea. In the first phase, there is no cost for the EDL. When the program is fully implemented, there will be an additional charge, which has not yet been determined.

The EDL is a new, voluntary option for drivers that allows for more convenient travel to the United States's Since 2006, British Columbia has worked with the Government of Canada and Washington state to develop an enhanced driver's license that will meet the new U.S. passport requirements at the border. Last November, American Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff confirmed that these enhanced driver's licenses would be accepted as alternatives to passports at US land and sea border crossings.

Ontario and Quebec have introduced plans to create similar driver's license.

Beginning on February 1, 2008, Canadian citizens 19 years or over will require, at a minimum, government-issued photo identification, such as a driver's license, together with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate or citizenship card, to enter the United States by land or sea. As always, a Canadian or US passport, US passport-card, a NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST card, US military ID with travel order, and US merchant mariner document will be acceptable. Border crossing rules for Canadian landed immigrants and people other than Canadian or American citizens will not changed.

Also beginning in February, American people can apply for a passport card that will be smaller than a regular passport but will include security features.