Canada regulates the minimum advertisement requirements for overseas recruitment to protect local workers

As of January 1, 2009, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) has implemented the same minimum advertisement requirements for all occupations (managerial, professional, technical or skilled trades) offered to overseas workers by Canadian employers.

As a general rule, Canadian employers wishing to hire foreign workers for any occupation (managerial, professional, technical or skilled trades) will now require to advertise the position on Canada’s national job bank over the Internet for at least 14 calendar days before it offers to an overseas worker. For all positions, advertising must have been carried out no more than three months before the employer seeks HRSDC permission to hire a foreign worker (i.e. Labor Market Opinion or LMO). The failure to comply with this minimum advertisement requirement will result in the application to HRSDC for LMO being denied.

In addition to this minimum advertisement requirement, HRSDC has also suggested an alternative approach for the positions (or skill sets), which are harder to find in Canada, while imposed few additional requirements for those positions, which could be filled locally.

Accordingly, employers who are offering positions in management or in occupations which usually require a university degree (i.e. positions described in Canadian National Occupations Classification (NOC) as skill type 0 or skill level A) can alternatively conduct similar recruitment activities consistent with the practices prevailing within that occupation. This can include advertising in professional journals, newsletters, national newspapers, or even consulting with unions or professional associations. However, these efforts must be made during the three months prior to the LMO application.

For occupations which usually require college education or apprenticeship training (i.e. positions described in NOC as skill level B) must not be advertised elsewhere except Canada’s national job bank. Additionally, the advertisement must include the employer’s name and address and must disclose the wage being offered, so existing employees will have access to the wages being offered to their foreign counterparts.

Lastly, employers who are recruiting those in occupations which require only high school education, occupation-specific training, or on-the-job training (i.e. positions described in NOC as skill level C and D) must also conduct other recruitment activities consistent with the practice in the occupation in question, all within three months of the LMO application. These employers must also demonstrate reasonable "ongoing" recruitment efforts in communities which face barriers to employment i.e. Aboriginals, seniors, and other disadvantaged groups like immigrants.

HRSDC makes it clear that these requirements are the minimum efforts that can be expended and reserves the right to impose additional requirements.

The B.C. and federal governments agree to expand Settlement Workers in Schools program in its 2nd year

To help newcomer students and their families settle in their school and community, the B.C. and federal governments have decided to expand Settlement Workers in Schools (SWIS) program to 10 more school districts in the province with an investment of $8.6 million.

Under the SWIS program, settlement workers help immigrant and refugee children, in the K-12 public school system, adjust to school culture. The workers also increase parent involvement in their children’s education, while helping to build awareness of community and government resources. As well, a valued component of the program focuses on increasing cultural awareness and sensitivity in schools.

The program has been of great benefits to the newcomer families that have unresolved first year settlement needs. More than 5,000 newcomer students and their families have availed the benefits of settlement counseling since it began. Families with long term settlement issues or who need intensive support are referred to settlement agencies and other community services.

"The Settlement Workers in Schools program is invaluable in assisting new students to integrate more quickly, while giving their parents a critical connection to the broader community," said Murray Coell, B.C. Minister of Advanced Education and Labor Market Development. "Students and their parents experience a smoother transition into the school system and the ability to more rapidly participate in Canadian society in a meaningful way."

Began in the fall of 2007 in 10 school districts across the Lower Mainland and Greater Victoria, the SWIS program has been expanded this fall to include an additional 10 districts in the Fraser Valley, the Okanagan, Nanaimo, West Vancouver, Langley, Coquitlam, and the North, based on the percentage of English as a second language students enrolled in school districts.

"Prime Minister Stephen Harper and our government are committed to helping immigrants and their families succeed in Canada. Schools are one of the first services that newcomers access in their communities and the SWIS program is an ideal way to assist newcomer students and their families on their path to integration," said Jason Kenney, Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism. "We are very pleased to be working in partnership with the Province of B.C. to support the expansion of this program to more communities in the province."

The Agreement for Canada-B.C. Cooperation on Immigration provides funding through the transfer of approximately $109 million per year from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) to the B.C. government, which is responsible for administering settlement services, including SWIS, for new immigrants through WelcomeBC. WelcomeBC, which supports immigrants and their families in succeeding both economically and socially, helps immigrants in B.C. access services under one umbrella to assist them in better adapting to life in their new communities and builds on the province’s history of welcoming newcomers and creating inclusive communities.

Canada seeks extended support and cooperation by Indian Punjab in fight against phony consultants and fake document vendors

At the end of his week long formal visit to India, the Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada (CIMC) Minister Jason Kenney called on Chief Minister Punjab Parkash Singh Badal and sought his support and cooperation to crackdown the "developing industry" of document vendors and phony consultants exploiting large numbers of Punjabis wanting to go to Canada.

According to an estimate, two of every three temporary visa applications are rejected by Canadian officials in Chandigarh due to the fake documents that are submitted with applications. These fraudulent documents include, but not limited to, counterfeit letters from MPs, identification papers, employment offers, university transcripts and diplomas, funeral announcements and even pictures of false wedding ceremonies.

Expressing concern over the issue, CM Punjab assured the Minister that Punjab Government would extent its fulsome support and cooperation to evolve a permanent solution to curb this illegal practice.

CM was apprised in the meeting that few owners of marriage palaces are involved in arranging fake marriages in connivance with travel agents/immigration consultants to provide photographs of marriage in support of proof for the purpose of Canadian visa to illegal persons. CM assured the visiting Canadian Minister that State Government would take stringent action against the erring travel agents involved in the exploitation of women in getting them married with the persons intended to seek Canadian Visa which ultimately result in broken marriages.

"Our Canadian officials in Chandigarh are regularly dealing with fraudulent documents produced by unregistered immigration consultants, including fake passports, fake endorsement letters from Canadian Members of Parliament, fake death certificates and many more," said Minister Kenney. "Although the approval rate for temporary visas has improved over the last year, the large number of unauthentic documents being submitted to the Chandigarh mission is a very serious problem for the integrity of Canada’s immigration system. I am pleased that the Chief Minister of Punjab says he will act on this commitment to crack down on unscrupulous immigration consultants, and I look forward to assessing the success of this promise later this year."

Kenney said unscrupulous consultants have been known to target a program, and then tailor the applications to that program. A recent example involved Canada's live-in caregiver program. A surge of applications for the program in 2007 raised eyebrows at the office in Chandigarh, largely because they were from men, who are not the traditional caregivers in India. Officials subsequently discovered many applicants presented documents that said they graduated from care-giving schools that did not exist.

Kenney said there has been a lack of interest in the past on the part of the Indian authorities to pursue visa fraud, but that he expects much closer cooperation between Canadian officials and Chandigarh police in the future.

Canada is the only country to operate a visa office in Chandigarh. The Chandigarh office of the Canadian High Commission opened in 1997 and first began issuing visas in 2004 after former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien attended the opening of the Consulate General of Chandigarh in 2003. About half of the Indo-Canadian community in Canada hails from Punjab.

A first of its kind immigration-specific social networking site launched on the Internet by David Cohen

Established only a few months ago, LoonLounge is a rapidly expanding online community and social networking website where established and prospective Canadians can meet and connect for the purpose of building a stronger Canada.

A brainchild of prominent immigration lawyer David Cohen, LoonLounge facilitates the creation of social and professional connections through community membership. The concept behind LoonLounge is based on the knowledge that communities create an informal social assistance system, which could help newcomers in their settlement process, affording them the opportunity to more rapidly contribute to Canada both economically and socially.

Being a global network of online communities, the LoonLounge will help prospective migrants learn from the experiences and advice of newly settled Canadians. While settled Canadians would benefit from developing new relationships with prospective migrants – whether for business or personal motivations – prospective migrants would enjoy the advantages of seamless integration into the Canadian community and economy.

Along with these contacts, services provided on LoonLounge include a job search function, online forums, blog posts, salary survey, immigration assessment, facts about Canada, success stories, access to experts, and links to organizations and more resources. The site lets users join communities based on common ties such as home country or occupation, and can host subgroups for, say, cricket. The new Citizenship and Immigration Canada list of 38 priority jobs and language testing are the two hottest topics on LoonLounge.

"Governmental initiatives just can't provide the kind of support that LoonLounge offers to new Canadians," says David Cohen. "People need a support system. They need a community to get them started in a new life, and they need it before and after they get here."

Although LoonLounge is launched officially this week, the Canadian immigration online community has already made an impact. Nearly 15,000 members from 191 countries have registered, indicative of a social movement over the net. And it is not just immigrants benefiting from this social networking tool, established Canadians and recently-landed immigrants also find the site beneficial.

Though a recent analysis of what works for immigrants by the think-tank Public Policy Forum didn't study LoonLounge in particular, author Winnie Wong points out that the few websites that are effective tools for newcomers involve Canadians rather than just immigrants, and are community-based rather than top-down.

Cohen, who spent two years working on LoonLounge, keeps a low profile on the site, which is run by six people in his Montreal office and doesn't charge any fees or accept advertising.

Immigration is the future of Canada and LoonLounge is your invitation to become involved. Watch a brief animated clip and join the LoonLounge online community today.

Kenney visits Pakistan to review and discuss immigration, manpower and investment issues with key Pakistani officials

On a two-day visit to Pakistan, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada (CIMC) Minister Jason Kenney held official bilateral meetings with Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani and heads of key ministries to discuss Canada-Pakistan relations with regards to immigration, employment of Pakistani citizens in Canada, and Canadian investment in Pakistan.

During these meetings, Prime Minister Gilani and Minister Kenney discussed regarding enhancing recruitment of Pakistani manpower by the Canadian entrepreneurs involved in development of new agricultural lands in Canada’s labor scarce provinces, and creating ways for employment of different categories of workforce from Pakistan. Minister Kenney assured Prime Minister that he will look at the possibility of making use of the skilled and semi-skilled labor from Pakistan for development of agriculture, construction and industrial sectors in some provinces of Canada.

Prime Minister hoped that Canada would also provide Pakistan with technical and financial assistance for upgrading the universities and vocational training institutions to train Pakistani manpower for this purpose. He stressed on the MOU to be drawn up between the two countries for development and up gradation of professional and technical institutes to maintain the standards that Canada desires.

The Prime Minister also took up the issue of inordinate delay in the processing of immigration cases of Pakistani nationals by the Canadian authorities. He urged that Pakistanis should be treated at par with immigrants from other countries. Minister Kenney agreed by the Prime Minister and assured that he will discuss with visa officers at the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad to review operations as well as facilitating the visa process for business travelers and international students.

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to the Canadian Government for doubling its economic assistance (CIDA) to Pakistan from $30 million to $60 million. Canada recently announced this increase, which will be used to strength local government institutions, basic health care for girls, and primary education for Pakistani children. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister also praised Canada’s continued assistance to Pakistan for human resource development and capacity building.

Minister Kenney informed Prime Minister Gilani that a Parliamentary Forum in Canada would be established next month to promote exchanges between elected representatives in Canada and Pakistan.

Before returning to Canada January 18, 2009, the Minister will also travel to Mumbai, where he will express Canada’s condolences for the terrorist attacks in November 2008, and visit the Golden Temple in Amritsar, and sites of importance particularly to the Jewish and Ismaili communities. In New Delhi He will be visiting the office of the Canadian Immigration Integration Project (CIIP) and addressing the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber. In Mumbai,

At the close of his visit to Pakistan, Minister Kenney said that the purpose of his visit to Pakistan was to look at the possibility of establishing a more close and friendly relations between the two countries.

Canada’s population grew faster in 2008 due to an increase in net international migration

As of October 1, 2008, Canada's population was estimated at 33,441,300, up 335,900 people, or one per cent, from January 1, 2008. All provinces and territories, except Northwest Territories, recorded population increase but demographic growth remained higher in Western Canada.

Based on 2006 Census counts, the Canadian Statistics Agency confirmed that this advance in population growth was mainly due to a rise in net international migration which, at 240,700, reached its highest level since the end of the 1980s.

This upward movement in net international migration was due to an increase in both the number of permanent and non-permanent residents.

Since the beginning of the year, Canada has received 194,600 new immigrants, 12,900 more than last year for the same period.

The number of non-permanent residents in Canada also rose by more than 79,500 from January to September. Higher net numbers of non-permanent residents were observed in almost every province and territory, especially in Quebec and in the four western provinces, where the levels topped 2008 highs.

The rise of net population inflows resulting from international migration from January to September 2008 has affected population dynamics in almost all regions of the country, except Northwest Territories. Every province saw their demographic growth increase compared with the same period of 2007.

However, demographic growth remained higher in Western Canada. Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Yukon all had growth rates higher than the national level. East of Manitoba, only Prince Edward Island outpaced the national level.

For a fourth consecutive quarter, Alberta led all the other provinces in demographic growth, posting a rate of 0.72 per cent, nearly twice the national rate. The province's growth was mainly attributable to a resurgence in interprovincial migration and a strong increase in its number of non-permanent residents. Alberta's rate of growth in non-permanent residents has been the highest of all the provinces since the fourth quarter of 2006.

Saskatchewan had the highest net interprovincial migration rate in Canada in the third quarter of 2008. Its population has been growing at a faster rate than the national level since the second quarter of 2007.

Manitoba and British Columbia both posted demographic growth above the national level in 2008. Manitoba posted its highest quarterly increase between April and July since the third quarter of 1982.

In Eastern Canada, all Atlantic provinces recorded population increases for a second consecutive quarter. Prince Edward Island continued to lead the region in demographic growth with an increase of 0.67 per cent, mainly the result of the highest net international migration rate in Canada. In the third quarter of 2008, the population of Newfoundland and Labrador experienced its highest growth rate since the second quarter of 1991, primarily as a result of strong net interprovincial migration.

For a fourth quarter in a row, Ontario's demographic growth, +0.37 per cent, was below the national level, even though the province registered its lowest net outflow in interprovincial migration since the first quarter of 2007.

Quebec's demographic growth was its highest since the second quarter of 1991. An increasing number of births and a third-quarter record in net international migration more than offset the province's large net outflow in interprovincial migration.

Yukon led the northern territories in demographic growth for a third consecutive quarter. Since the beginning of 2008, Yukon has been the only territory with net inflows in both interprovincial and international migration.

Canada's rate of natural increase in 2008 remained relatively stable compared with the same period of 2007, with the number of births and deaths increasing in a similar fashion.

Canada invests in employment programs to facilitate social participation of newcomers and unemployed workers

To help newcomers participate in the workforce and contribute to their communities, government of Canada delivers necessary training, skills and opportunities in partnership with communities and stakeholders, and provides them essential funding to support these initiatives.

Now to help 3,700 newcomers to Canada, unemployed workers aged 45 or older aiming to re-enter the workforce, as well as assist employers in addressing local skills shortages in Lower Mainland area of British Columbia, federal government has initiated three S.U.C.C.E.S.S. projects.

One project, Tomorrow’s Workplace, aims to generate an understanding of skills shortages issues among employers and involve them in creating solutions by offering employer outreach and networking opportunities. This project is delivered through the Labour Market Partnerships program.

The Employment Resource Centre project will enable S.U.C.C.E.S.S. to help unemployed recent immigrants, who are legally entitled to work in Canada, prepare for and find employment through access to a self-serve resource centre, workshops, and the development of individual work plans. Through the Experience for Hire project, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. will provide unemployed workers aged 45 or older with employment counseling on labour market trends, job search techniques and career goals that will allow them to obtain employment or become self-employed. Both of these projects are delivered through the Employment Assistance Services program.

Established in 1973 and incorporated in 1974 as a non-profit charitable organization for the purpose of promoting the well-being of Canadians and immigrants, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is now a multi-service, multicultural immigrant serving agency in British Columbia. With a network of 11 branches in Lower Mainland area, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is delivering program in culturally sensitive ways to meet the needs of new immigrants and unemployed workers. Approximately 70 per cent of the S.U.C.C.E.S.S. annual operating fund comes from the three levels of government. In 1979, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. became a member of the United Way of the Lower Mainland. In 1994, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. received the Citation for Citizenship Award for its contribution to new immigrants’ settlement and integration. S.U.C.C.E.S.S. was accredited by the Council on Accreditation in January 2004 for the achievement of best practice standards.