Newcomers streaming to mid-sized cities mainly due to emerging economic and employment prospects

According to a new statistics by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), the mid-sized cities are now attracting increasing number of immigrants than large urban centers where stream of newcomers is either flatlined or even declined in recent years.

The figures show the number of immigrants taking up residence in Toronto dropped to 87,136 last year from 99,293 a year earlier, a decline of roughly 12 per cent, while the number coming to Vancouver slipped to 32,920 from 36,273, a drop of just over nine per cent. Montreal was up slightly to 38,710 from 38,391.

Meanwhile, Charlottetown was up 73 per cent to 801, Moncton 31 per cent to 343, Saskatoon 40 per cent to 1,618, Winnipeg 10 per cent to 8,472 and Red Deer 93 per cent to 567. It was a mixed picture in British Columbia's smaller centers, with gains in Kelowna, Chilliwack, Nanaimo and Victoria and declines in Kamloops, Abbotsford and Prince George.

The change reflects shifting economic and employment prospects across the country and efforts made by comparatively smaller centers to attract and retain newcomers. Various successful regional initiatives such as expansion in provincial nomination programs (in terms of extended family members and international students) and federal programs designed to encourage immigrants to settle in diverse areas of country are some of the reasons attributed to this shift.

In their efforts to spread newcomers across the country, CIC has been encouraging smaller communities to benefit from immigration for their growth and sustainability. For this purpose, CIC is providing them with enhanced guidelines and increased funding to help develop their own immigration strategy and build an inclusive settlement plan for newcomers.

Major urban cities like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal are often cited as a preferred destination for newcomers because of their established ethnic communities and greater economic opportunities for individuals who do not have a high proficiency in English or French. These three largest metropolises absorb around 67 per cent of newcomers to Canada each year.

However, the recent figures have shown that newcomers who settle in smaller cities often enjoy a more successful economic integration. Labor force participation is highest in areas outside Canada’s threes largest metropolises, unemployment rates are lower, incomes are higher, and housing is less crowded. Moreover, immigrants have begun to appreciate the advantages of living in a smaller city, away from the congestion, pollution, noise and stress of a big city.

This influx of immigrants is very beneficial to small and mid-sized cities in terms of increasing the labor pool, raising the municipal tax base, and adding greater cultural diversification to the communities.

Saskatchewan introduces pilot project for occupations within the hospitality and foodservice sector

The Saskatchewan Immigration Nominee Program (SINP), in consultation with the Saskatchewan Hotel and Hospitality Association (SHHA) and the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA), has recently introduced a new pilot project to address labour challenges faced by the hospitality and foodservices industry in Saskatchewan.

The Hospitality Sector Project will allow employers in the hospitality and foodservices industry to select qualifying foreign workers to be considered for provincial nomination that are currently working in Saskatchewan in one of the following categories: Food/Beverage Server (NOC 6453); Food Counter Attendant/Kitchen Helper (NOC 6641); or Housekeeping/Cleaning Staff (NOC 6661) for a minimum of six (6) months on a temporary work permit issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), supported by Service Canada's (SC) Temporary Foreign Worker labor market confirmation.

Under the Saskatchewan PNP Hospitality Sector Project, workers in the categories listed must first begin working in Saskatchewan for an approved Saskatchewan employer on a temporary foreign work permit. If an approved business offers the worker permanent employment, after a minimum of 6 months employment, then he/she may apply to the SINP for permanent resident status. Applicants must have a minimum of Grade 12 education (or equivalent) and the necessary English language abilities to continue to work in their occupation.

To be approved, employers are required to meet Service Canada criteria. For example, they must offer wages within industry norms and demonstrate that they are unable to fill the positions locally. Employers must also submit a recruitment and settlement plan to the SINP.

In addition to the Hospitality Sector Project, the Saskatchewan PNP has specific categories for foreign skilled workers, international students, family members who are overseas, health professionals, long-haul truck drivers, farmers, and entrepreneurs. The province has set a target of 2,800 nominations under the SINP for 2008-2009, an 85 per cent increase over this year’s target of 1,500.

After the evaluation of pilot project, based on a number of criteria and factors, additional allocations may be made available.

Canada concludes consultations to identify critical occupational shortages and future role of immigration

A cross-Canada consultation process, launched by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) on July 7 to discuss occupational priorities for immigration purposes, has finally reached to its end following two round table consultation sessions with national stakeholders from business, industry, labour, non-governmental organizations, Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC), and the Bank of Canada.

Hosted by Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, these broad consultations with stakeholders provided CIC with a national perspective on critical occupational shortages of short- and medium-term and the role of CIC in effectively balancing Canada’s immigration system with its needs.

This knowledge and expertise, along with input gathered at workplace/industry/sector/region level and in form of feedbacks submitted through Internet over the past month, will help CIC develop instructions for immigration officers on occupations that are identified for priority processing. Expected to be released this fall, first such minsterial "set of instructions" will then focus on post Febraury 26, 2008 applications, in the federal skilled worker category, in the perspective of current labor market needs.

In the meantime, government is also focusing on modernizing the immigration system to respond to Canada’s labour market needs, reducing wait times for new applicants, and reducing the backlog of immigration applications.

For this purpose, the budget 2008-09 allocates $109 million over five years. With this funding, CIC has begun recording occupational information for applications in the current skilled worker backlog. The Department will be referring applications of interest to the provinces and territories for possible processing under the Provincial Nominee Program. CIC is also working toward increasing capacity and efficiency in missions with the largest backlogs, centralizing the receipt of applications, and reconfirming the intentions of applicants facing the longest wait times.

CIC is also setting up a network of path-finding and referral services to help internationally trained individuals use their skills in Canada. For this purpose, government has established Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO) in May 2007, which helps internationally trained individuals find the information they need to get their credentials assessed and recognized more quickly. There are now 320 Service Canada centres across the country offering in-person services to newcomers.

Provincial and territorial governments of Canada also intend to better recognize foreign credentials. In its two-day annual "Federation of the Council" meeting, the provincial premiers and territorial leaders have decided to harmonize the different provincial requirements for recognizing foreign credentials after August 2009.

CIC has made sure that every time following such consultations, the instructions will be published in the Canada Gazette and available on CIC website. They will also be tabled in Parliament as part of the Annual Report on Immigration.

To meet the 2008 immigration plan, CIC missions around the world continue to process applications submitted before February 27, 2008. Applications received on or after February 27, 2008 will be placed on hold until immigration officers receive instructions resulting from the consultations. However, federal skilled worker applicants who already have a job waiting for them in Canada will be processed.

Further, the new legislation will not affect agreements with the provinces to process provincial nominees or, in the case of Quebec, Quebec skilled workers, and programs relate to refugee protection, so applications in those areas will continue to process in the usual way. The new legislation is also not intended to affect Canada’s goals for family reunification.

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

To meet the growing needs of immigrants and refugees, the government of Canada funds number of settlement, adaptation and integration services as well as language training, in partnership with provinces, territories and settlement providers, as part of its LINC, ISAP and HOST programs.

Under the $920 million Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), a new funding of more than $10 million, over the next two years, will spent on essential settlement services for newcomers to Scaborough, the eastern suburb of the city of Toronto and the safest large metropolitan area in North America by Places Rated Almanac.

The funding will be used for delivering language training to nearly 1,800 students, referrals to community resources, and general information and employment-related services to 4,100 newcomers through Mennonite New Life Centre of Toronto ($2,636,961), Catholic Cross-Cultural Services ($4,458,538), East Metro Youth Services ($220,730), Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) ($420,208), Canadian Arab Federation ($2,544,815) and Tropicana Community Services ($203,954). This new funding will also use to help young newcomers by providing preventative programs that address the psychological and emotional challenges youths often face when settling and integrating in a new environment.

After this new funding, the year-to-date funding to immigrant serving organizations in the Scarborough area alone have now reached to more than $19 million.

Similarly, as part of its $1.4 billion ‘additional settlement funding package’ to provinces and territories other than Quebec, a new funding of nearly $4.2 million will be provided to immigrant-serving organizations of two major cities of Saskatchewan.

In Regina, a new funding of $1,922,871, over the next year, will be provided to four different immigrant-serving organizations namely Regina Open Door Society ($1,420,575), Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology ($357,376), Regina Immigrant Women’s Centre ($24,920) and Assemblée communautaire fransaskoise ($120,000) to help deliver necessary and important programs such as language training for over 1,600 newcomers and provided community resources for assistance in settling into their new communities and finding a job.

In Saskatoon, a new funding of $2,228,014, over the next year, will be provided to four different immigrant-serving organizations namely Saskatoon Open Door Society ($1,276,641), Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology ($754,075), Global Gathering Place ($76,279) and Saskatchewan Intercultural Association ($121,019) to help deliver necessary and important programs such as language training for over 2,000 newcomers and provided community resources for assistance in settling into their new communities and finding a job.

For 2008–09, Saskatchewan will be receiving more than $5.5 million in basic settlement funding, an increase of more than $1.5 million over the previous year.

Canada unveils new immigration class for international graduates and temporary foreign workers

As announced in its strategy for 2008, the department of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has now introduced a new immigration category under Economic Class which will allow certain temporary foreign workers and international graduates with Canadian degrees and Canadian work experience to apply for permanent residence from within Canada, which was not possible at federal level previously.

The program, known as the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), will help address the immediate shortage of workers with specific trade skills by adding up to 12,000 workers from the talent pool of international graduates and certain temporary foreign workers in its first year of implementation.

Although, temporary foreign workers and international graduates will have to follow a different set of criteria to qualify for CEC, their selection will primarily be based on an assessment of their successful labor market integration and experience within Canadian society. Both types of applicants will also require a valid temporary resident status in Canada at the time of application and, depending on their occupational skill level, at least a basic or moderate language proficiency in one of Canada’s two official languages documented by IELTS and/or TEF.

For recent graduates at Canadian post-secondary institutions, it has made necessary that they have completed at least 2 academic years of post-secondary study program at the institution qualifying for post-graduate work permit and at least 12 months of work experience in Canada acquired after graduation (but within 2 years prior to CEC application) and exclusively in NOC Skill Levels 0, A or B.

For work permit holders, it has made necessary that they have at least secondary school diploma, trade certificate or apprenticeship plus 2 years of full time work experience in Canada in Skill Levels 0, A or B acquired within 3 years prior to CEC application.

Unlike other existing programs under the Economic Class, CEC follows a simple pass or fail model instead of a point system. If a prospective applicant fulfills minimum program requirements, he/she would be considered eligible.

Many of the proposed elements of the new CEC class are subject to change. However, it has been estimated that if the potential of CEC is properly addressed, it will also remove the ongoing requirement to apply for visa extensions for students or workers on temporary status or the need to comply with the labor market opinion renewal process, which is also experiencing impractical and increasing processing delays throughout Western Canada.

CEC is expected to expand the benefits of immigration to smaller communities across Canada wanting to attract immigrants and support their settlement and integration by their own.

This initiative, combined with recent changes to the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWP), the establishment of Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO), increased investment in essential settlement services and recent amendments to Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), will not only enhance Canada’s ability to compete with other countries to attract and retain the best individuals with diverse skills from around the world, but also assist employers across the country to capitalize on the skills and experience of these individuals.

Primarily, this program will be limited to those who have legally entered Canada. Undocumented workers and those without continued legal status will not have access to the program.

Canadian Experience Class is part of national strategy on international graduates and temporary foreign works, and key element of government’s long-term immigration plan. Through the Canadian Experience Class, newcomers will be more likely to make the most of their abilities while undergoing a more seamless social and economic transition to Canada. And, in turn, their cultural and economic contributions will enrich Canada.

Critics call the program unfair because it excludes many temporary foreign workers such as unskilled laborers, factory workers and farmers.

Canada and Ontario cofund 12 new bridging programs to provide occupation-specific language training to newcomers

To improve the accessibility of internationally trained newcomers to occupational certification/registration and employment, the governments of Canada and Ontario have announced to jointly invest $11.2 million in Ontario’s bridge training programs.

Individually, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is committing more than $7.8 million while Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration (MCI) is contributing more than $3.4 million for this purpose.

The funding, which is being provided under the $920 million Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement (COIA), will be used for 12 of the 15 language training and bridge-to-work programs being delivered at 11 different universities, colleges and agencies in Toronto, Ontario. This bridging will target nearly 1,800 internationally educated professionals in specific fields such as healthcare, engineering, social work, architecture and finance through providing specialized language training, communication assessment services, bridge-to-work opportunities, and mentoring and internship placements.

For example, the School of Continuing Studies at University of Toronto will receive a total of $720,000 to develop and deliver a program aimed at helping Ontario’s internationally trained newcomers find employment in project management. Similarly, the CARE Center for Internationally Educated Nurses will receive a total of $507,603 to develop and provide innovative courses that teach language skills specific to nursing profession.

Other agencies that will receive funding include Association of Ontario Land Surveyors ($667,699), Community Microskills Development Centre ($1,251,188), Canadian Mothercraft Society ($474,630), Centennial College of Applied Arts and Technology ($139,334), Accessible Community Counseling and Employment Services for New Canadians ($383,501*), George Brown College ($805,173), G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, Ryerson University ($3,601,971), Jewish Vocational Service of Metropolitan Toronto ($1,428,658) and Toronto District School Board (1,273,532*).

Since 2003 the Ontario government has invested over $85 million in 145 bridge training programs, helping more than 20,000 newcomers improve their language skills, prepare for exams and work in their field sooner.

Canadian Temporary Foreign Worker program continues to spiral upward after 22 per cent increase in 2007

According to a new statistics by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), there were 201,057 temporary foreign workers in the country in 2007, a 22 per cent increase from the previous year.

In its stock count of Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW), CIC has measured the number of temporary residents present in Canada on December 1, 2007. While these official figures show a continued upward trend in the stock counts of Ontario and British Columbia with an increase of 14 and 23 per cent respectively, no other province has experienced a dramatic increase in its temporary foreign workers as Alberta.

As of December 1, 2007 figures, the number of temporary foreign workers in Alberta is more than double in two years. In 2007, there were 37,257 temporary foreign workers in Alberta, a 66 per cent increase from the previous year.

This inflow of temporary foreign workers also outnumbers the arrival of permanent residents in Alberta. In 2006, Alberta became the first province in Canada to bring more workers into the country under the Temporary Foreign Worker program than under its mainstream provincial nominee immigration program. In 2007, that troubling trend accelerated with the number of temporary foreign workers growing to nearly double the number of new immigrants coming to the province.

Alberta is now home to almost one of every five temporary workers in Canada, while it maintains only 8.8 per cent of permanent immigrants in Canada.

The increase in temporary foreign worker numbers is due in part to the chronic labor shortages that have plagued Alberta and other parts of Canada. The Government of Canada has attempted to make it easier to hire workers from abroad on a temporary basis to fill positions that Canadian employers are unable to fill with the local labor force.

After an increase in temporary foreign workers and reports on their abuse and exploitation by Alberta Federation of Labor (AFL) and other concerned groups, the government of Alberta has taken significant steps to adequately protect foreign workers from potential exploitation by establishing two modest advocacy offices for temporary foreign workers in Edmonton and Calgary. These offices will not only improve the enforcement of employment standards but also help resolve occupational health and safety issues. To enhance and compliment the work by these advocacy offices, Alberta Ministry of Employment and Immigration has also kicked off a pilot to provide additional settlement services to temporary foreign workers in six cities of Alberta. These services include orientation (banking, taking the bus, grocery shopping and how to dress in cold weather), referrals for housing, education, legal services, interpretation and job applications.

Study finds 41 per cent of immigrants remit money to friends or relatives abroad during their first four years in Canada

A latest survey report by Statistics Canada shows that roughly four in ten immigrants who arrived in Canada during 2000/2001 sent money to family or friends abroad at least once during their first four years in the country.

The Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada (LSIC) was conducted jointly by Statistics Canada and Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It was designed to study the incidence of remitting, amounts and the characteristics of remitters that followed a group of 12,000 newcomers, aged 15 or older, who arrived in Canada between October 1, 2000 and September 30, 2001, over a four-year period.

This first national study of immigrants' remittances found that over the entire period of four years, about 41 per cent of immigrants sent money home at least once: Within 6 to 24 months of landing, 23 per cent of immigrants had sent remittances to their home country; within 2 to 4 years after landing, about 29 per cent had done so.

Among those who sent money home, the average amount was $2,500 in the first period, and $2,900 in the second period. Those who came under the economic class as skilled workers, investors and entrepreneurs topped the list by sending an average $3,000 abroad, compared with $2,700 for family-class immigrants and $1,900 for refugees.

It could be translated anywhere between $1.5 billion and $2 billion that Canadians remitted in each of the last four years.

The incidence of sending money varied considerably from country to country or by place of birth. Some 60 per cent of immigrants from the Philippines and Haiti sent remittances two to four years after landing. About 40 to 50 per cent of immigrants from Jamaica, Nigeria, Romania, Guyana and Ukraine sent money. However, less than 10 per cent of immigrants from industrialized nations like France, the United Kingdom and South Korea did so.

The likelihood of immigrants remitting depended on three additional factors — their income, family obligations in Canada and abroad, and demographics. Remittances accounted for 7.5 per cent of the remitter's annual personal income and 3.4 per cent of family income during a newcomer's first two years in the country. Immigrants who had family incomes of $70,000 or more were more than three times as likely to send money home as those with family incomes of less than $10,000. In addition, the amount sent by immigrants in families with incomes of $70,000 or more was about 45 per cent higher than the amount for those with incomes of $25,000 to $44,999.

At the demographic front, immigrants with three or more children at home were far less likely to send money abroad than those with no children. Moreover, women sent about 12 per cent less than men. Also, immigrants aged from 25 to 44 were far more likely to send money abroad, and far higher amounts, than those in younger or older age groups.

According to World Bank figures for 2004, remittances represent an important source of revenue for people in developing countries. They accounted for about 20 to 30 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in countries such as Haiti, Lesotho and Jordan, and for about 10 to 19 per cent in several others, such as Jamaica, the Philippines and the Dominican Republic. The worldwide money flows to developing countries increased to US$167 billion in 2005, an estimated 73 per cent jump from 2001. The top remittance-receiving countries in the world are India (US$21.7 billion), China (US$21.4 billion) and Mexico (US$18.1 billion).

Saskatchewan launches two new projects to help future immigrants in preparing better for job market

To prepare future immigrants to Saskatchewan for local labor market and improve their transition to the workforce before they enter into the Province, the Saskatchewan government has recently launched two innovative projects.

The project named "Foreign Credential Recognition Support for Labor Market Needs in Saskatchewan" will help potential immigrants to Saskatchewan get their international credentials recognized before they arrive in Canada, thus facilitating newcomers in their transition into the labor market more rapidly. This will also help in meeting high-demand labor needs of Saskatchewan employers.

The project is funded by $3 million on a pilot basis by Human Resources and Social Development Canada’s Foreign Credential Recognition Program (FCRO) in partnership with Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It will be delivered by the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST), which will establish a system for verifying that credentials and job experience obtained abroad are equal to Canadian standards.

For now, the pilot will target potential immigrants (to Saskatchewan) only from Ukraine, the Philippines and Vietnam having skills and experience in limited mechanical trades: welding, heavy-duty equipment and agricultural machinery.

A new section titled "Internationally Educated Health Professionals (IEHP)" has been added on Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program’s web portal as another project. This information-pack resource provides internationally educated health professionals with access to information and tools designed to help them integrate quickly, such as access to clear and accurate information about healthcare regulators, the licensing process, credential recognition, and latest job opportunities in healthcare. This resource will not only help Saskatchewan attract more healthcare workers but also help connect IEHPs to the people, resources and services they need to stay and succeed in Saskatchewan.

The IEHP portal responds to research conducted in 2006-07 that identified challenges IEHPs face in becoming licensed and practicing in their fields. Stakeholders, including IEHPs, employers, training institutions and regulatory bodies identified a critical need for accessible, clear and accurate information.

Developed in cooperation with a variety of stakeholders, the first phase of the IEHP portal (www.immigration.gov.sk.ca/iehp) serves as a gateway to other IEHP web resources. Over the next two years, the information will be expanded and enhanced. Funding for this phase and future development is provided through a partnership with Health Canada and Saskatchewan's Ministry of Health.