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Greater Kitchener - Waterloo Chamber of Commerce host Competitive Advantage Forum for Employers
Kitchener - How are our leading employers enhancing their competitive advantage by employing foreign trained professionals? What are they doing to attract, recruit, hire, integrate and retain foreign trained professionals and how are they doing it?
WRIEN´s Competitive Advantage Forum is organized for Waterloo Region employers, who hire or plan to hire foreign trained professionals as a solution to skills shortages. The Forum will showcase some immigrant employment best practices that may be of significant value to your organization.
The keynote speaker, David Foot, is the author of the best seller "Boom, Bust & Echo." He will present a dynamic picture of workforce challenges and opportunities that will impact Waterloo Region.
The Forum will be held on November 14, 2007 at Holiday Inn Kitchener-Waterloo. 30 Fairway Rd.S., Kitchener.
Agenda
7:30am Registration, Breakfast, Networking
8:00am Keynote address by David Foot
9:00am Presentation of employer workforce best practices
9:45am- Added Feature - Open Forum with 10:45am David Food
Tickets: $20.00 each including GST
Registration: Please contact Helen Chen at hchen@greaterkwchamber.com or 519.749.6034
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Daw Immigration Solutions Inc. opens in Waterloo
Waterloo - A consulting firm focusing on immigration solutions for local businesses has opened in Waterloo. Owner Chris Daw, a member of the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants, is excited about assisting the local business community with an issue that many companies struggle with.
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International Migration, Economic Development and Policy
edited by Caglar Ozden and Maurice Schiff
International migration has become a central element of international relations and global integration process due to its rapidly increasing economic, social and cultural impact in both the source and destination countries. The purpose of this new book is to expand earlier work on migration and development both in terms of geography, methodology, and the issues examined.
This second research volume adds to the first volume (International Migration, Remittances, and the Brain Drain, 2005) by expanding the number of countries covered, and by providing thinking on new topics such as the gender-differentiated impact of migration and remittances; the impact of migration on fertility rates in the country of origin; and temporary/return migration.
Nine additional studies cover countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East and North Africa, North America, South Asia and the Pacific, as well as Western Europe.
Part I consists of four chapters, three of which examine the impact of migration and remittances on development indicators in Pakistan and twelve Latin American and Caribbean countries, while one examines an entirely new topic—the impact of international migration on birth rates and the extent of the demographic transition in the migrants’ countries of origin, with focus on Egypt, Morocco and Turkey.
Part II consists of two chapters dealing with host country policies and their impact on migrants (New Zealand and Switzerland).
In Part III, one chapter examines the determinants of return and repeat migration in Norway, and the second looks at the degree of success and the occupational choice of return migrants relative to non-migrants with similar profiles in Egypt.
Book overview
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RBC Study Quantifies New Immigrant Experiences
Having a Good Job and Owning a Home are the Most Likely Indicators of
Feeling Settled
TORONTO - A new study from RBC and Ipsos Reid shows a large majority (82 per cent) of new immigrants are happy to be in Canada and hopeful about their future (82 per cent), but slightly more than half (54 per cent) feel they are still in the process of settling into their new lives here.
"We initiated this study of immigrants who have been in Canada 10 years
or less because we have many customers who have been through the immigration
experience. We wanted to develop a deeper understanding of that experience and
learn more about what makes newcomers feel settled into their new lives," said
Mark Whitmell, RBC's director, Cultural Markets. "For instance, having a
better appreciation of how important something like home ownership is to
people going through this significant life transition, gives us a better
perspective on how we can hopefully help make that goal happen faster."
Stages of settling in Canada
According to survey respondents, 19 per cent still feel new to Canada, 54
per cent feel they are getting settled, and 27 per cent feel truly
established. While length of time living in Canada can be a good indicator of
feeling established, this is not always the case. One in ten (11 per cent) new
immigrants who have been in Canada for less than three years already feels
truly established, while one in ten (10 per cent) who have been here for five
to ten years still feels new to Canada.
"We have learned that regardless of a person's country of origin, age or
economic situation, most newcomers go through a common immigration experience
- from feeling new, to getting settled, to becoming truly established,"
explained Mr. Whitmell. "Each stage has a different focus and each individual
moves through those stages on their own unique timeline."
Key contributors to feeling settled
For those respondents who already felt truly established, having a good
job and owning a home were the top indicators that signified becoming settled
in Canada. Twenty eight per cent rank having a good job as their number one
indicator, while 20 per cent say it is owning a home. The third most popular
indicator is getting citizenship (11 per cent); followed by finishing their
education (nine per cent); and owning a business (eight per cent).
The results are slightly different for those immigrants who don't yet
consider themselves established. Thirty-nine per cent rank having a good job
as the primary signifier of being settled, while 14 per cent say it is owning
their own home. Next comes putting kids through school (11 per cent); owning
their own business (nine per cent); and finishing their education (four per
cent).
Interestingly, the survey pinpointed differences between Chinese and
South Asian new immigrants who feel established in Canada as to what they
consider important in order to feel settled. For South Asian new immigrants
the key factor is owning a home (31 per cent); conversely, Chinese new
immigrants cite having a good job (43 per cent) as the number one indicator of
being settled.
Attitudes towards life in Canada
When it comes to attitudes towards life in Canada, new immigrants have
mostly good things to say about their experiences. Three quarters (72 per
cent) agree people make them feel welcome, while two-thirds (66 per cent) say
they feel connected to people and activities outside their own ethnic or
immigrant community and feel able to use their skills to the best of their
ability (57 per cent).
"The survey results also illuminate the challenges of the immigration
experience," added Mr. Whitmell. "Forty-five per cent of respondents told us
they feel overwhelmed and 35 per cent report being lonely. It's indicators
like these that truly make us stop and think about the personal side of
starting over in a new country. Given the important role immigration plays in
Canada's future, helping newcomers achieve their settlement goals is really a
priority for all of us."
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Study: Re-accreditation and the occupations of immigrant doctors and engineers 2001
Statscan - The chances of foreign-trained doctors and engineers finding work in their field in Canada depend largely on where they are from and when they arrived, according to a new study.
Using data from the 2001 Census, the study, published today in Canadian Social Trends, found that underemployment is most common among foreign-trained doctors born in East Asia, South East Asia, West Asia and Eastern Europe. Conversely, foreign-trained doctors born in Western European and South Asian countries are most likely to practice medicine once here.
Among foreign-trained engineers, those trained in a country that has accredited engineering programs recognized by Canada had the same chance of being employed as an engineer as someone born and trained in Canada.
The chances were almost as high for engineers born in South Asia, the Caribbean or Latin America, but were very low for those born in South East Asia.
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Study: Canada's immigrant labour market in 2006
Statscan - Very recent immigrants who have been in Canada five years or less, that is, who landed between 2001 and 2006, had the most difficulty integrating into the labour market, even though they were more likely than the Canadian-born population to have a university education. In 2006, the national unemployment rate for these immigrants was 11.5%, more than double the rate of 4.9% for the Canadian-born population.
The situation improved for immigrants who had been in Canada between 5 and 10 years, that is, those who landed between 1996 and 2001. Their unemployment rate was 7.3%.
As expected, the longer immigrants remained in Canada, the better they fared in the labour market, and the more the gap narrowed between them and Canadian-born workers, according to new data on immigrants from the Labour Force Survey.
This new report shows that for the most part, established immigrants, those in the country for more than 10 years, had labour market outcomes in 2006 that most closely resembled those of Canadian-born workers. This is likely a reflection of their integration into the Canadian labour market over time.
The report focused on the labour market in Canada for immigrants in the core working age group, 25 to 54, in comparison with Canadian-born workers.
It pointed to the fact that many newcomers may need time to adjust to their new life in Canada and break into the workforce.
The data support previous reports that have shown that newly landed immigrants face many barriers to finding a job. For example, respondents to the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada cited lack of Canadian work experience, lack of recognition of foreign credentials and language barriers as the most severe impediments to labour force integration for recent immigrants to Canada.
Immigrants benefit from high labour demand in Alberta
Immigrants in strong labour markets, such as Alberta's hot economy, tended to have relatively strong labour market outcomes, the report found. Immigrants in both Alberta and Manitoba benefited from strong provincial labour markets in 2006, and had some of the best labour market outcomes of all immigrants in the country.
The unemployment rate among very recent immigrants living in Alberta (those who became landed immigrants to Canada between 2001 and 2006) was 5.8% in 2006; less than half the national average for this group. This rate was, however, more than double the unemployment rate for Canadian-born Albertans (2.6% in 2006).
Immigrants in Quebec experienced substantially higher unemployment rates in 2006 than Canadian-born Quebeckers, no matter when they landed.
Higher jobless rates for immigrants regardless of education
Immigrants aged 25 to 54 were more likely to have a university education than Canadian-born men and women in 2006. While 36% of immigrants in this age group had at least a bachelor's degree, the proportion was only 22% among those born in Canada.
However, while unemployment rates for Canadian-born workers were lower for people with progressively higher levels of education, rates for very recent immigrants remained high regardless of their level of education.
The unemployment rate in 2006 among the very recently landed who had bachelor's degrees was 11.4%, four times the rate of only 2.9% for Canadian-born workers who were university-educated.
Similarly, the unemployment rate for those very recent newcomers who had a graduate degree was 12.4%, compared with only 2.4% for their Canadian-born counterparts.
Immigrants who had been in Canada longer also had lower employment rates and higher unemployment rates than the Canadian born with the same education. However, the more time immigrants had been landed in Canada, the more closely their unemployment and employment rates resembled those of the Canadian born.
Unemployment rate highest among newest immigrants in Montréal
Very recent core-working-age immigrants (those who had been in Canada for five years or less) had much higher unemployment rates than their Canadian-born counterparts in all three of Canada's largest census metropolitan areas (CMAs) in 2006, especially in Montréal.
This group of very recent immigrants in Montréal had an unemployment rate of 18.1% in 2006, three times as high as the rate of 5.9% among Canadian-born Montréalers.
Similarly, very recent immigrants in Toronto and Vancouver also faced unemployment rates that were close to three times the rates experienced by the Canadian born in their cities. In Toronto, the unemployment rate for core-working-age very recent immigrants was 11.0%, while it was 4.0% among Canadian-born Torontonians. In Vancouver, the rate was 9.6% for these very recent immigrants, compared with 3.3% among the Canadian born in Vancouver.
Again, these higher unemployment rates reflect the difficulties encountered by very recent immigrants in the initial phases of their settlement in Canada.
Calgary's hot labour market benefited immigrants and Canadian-born workers alike in 2006. Canadian-born workers aged 25 to 54 in Calgary had the highest employment rate (89.3%) among the eight mid-sized CMAs selected for this study.
The strong demand for labour in 2006 was particularly apparent among the city's immigrants who had been in the country for five years or less. Their employment rate was 73.6%—still below that of their Canadian-born counterparts in Calgary, but higher than that of very recent immigrants in the seven other mid-sized CMAs, as well as Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver.
Immigrant women struggle in the labour market
The report showed that labour market outcomes were better for immigrant men than their female counterparts, and that young immigrant women in particular have struggled.
Immigrant women in the core-working-age group of 25 to 54 had higher unemployment rates and lower employment rates than both immigrant men and Canadian-born women, regardless of how long they had been in Canada.
For example, the unemployment rate among women who had been in Canada for five years or less was 13.0% in 2006, somewhat higher than 10.3% among men in the same group.
In contrast, among Canadian-born workers, the unemployment rate for men was 5.2%, and for women, just 4.6%.
Young immigrants (aged 15 to 24), especially women, had much more difficulty in the labour market than their Canadian-born counterparts.
On the whole, immigrant youths who had been in Canada for five years or less had an unemployment rate of 17.2% in 2006, well above the rate of 11.2% for their Canadian-born counterparts.
The unemployment rate for very recent immigrant women aged 15 to 24 was 19.9%, twice the rate of 9.8% among young Canadian-born women.
Immigrants more likely to work in manufacturing industries
Immigrants were more likely to work in manufacturing industries than Canadian-born workers, as well as in professional, scientific and technical services. They were also more likely to be employed in accommodation and food service industries than those born in Canada.
In 2006, 19.6% of immigrants who had been in the country for five years or less worked in the manufacturing industry, compared with 13.0% of Canadian-born workers. Furthermore, weakness in manufacturing since the end of 2002 may have resulted in job losses among immigrants, particularly in Central Canada, where declines in factory employment have been the most pronounced.
Among Canadian-born workers, the biggest employer in 2006 was the retail and wholesale trade industry, with a 13.8% share. It was also the second-largest employer of immigrants, regardless of time since landing.
In terms of occupations, new immigrants who landed since 2001 were more likely to be working in sales and service jobs than Canadian-born workers.
Occupations in the natural and applied sciences were also more common among newly-landed immigrants than among Canadian-born workers.
Note to readers
To better understand the labour market experiences of immigrants, the Labour Force Survey (LFS) began collecting information in January 2006 that specifically identified working-age immigrants, those aged 15 and over, in the survey population.
Five questions were added to the survey to identify immigrants and determine when they landed in Canada, and the country in which they were born and received their highest level of education. These questions were added as a result of a partnership with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
The LFS is now able to provide regular information on the immigrant labour market. This information will enable various levels of government, the media and the public to know, in a timely manner, how well immigrants are performing in the labour market and how well the Canadian labour market utilizes the skills its immigrants bring.
Immigration is becoming increasingly important to Canada's economic well-being. Roughly two-thirds of Canada's population growth comes from net international migration. Population projections show that net immigration may become the only source of population growth by about 2030 and could account for virtually all net labour force growth by 2011.
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WATERLOO REGION GROUP TO LEAD NEWCOMER YOUTH VOLUNTEERISM PROJECT
Ontario Government Strengthening Volunteer Tradition
KITCHENER - The McGuinty government is investing $308,210 in Waterloo Region to get more newcomers involved in volunteering, Kitchener Centre MPP John Milloy announced September 7, 2007.
“Volunteers are the cornerstone of Ontario communities,” said Milloy. “By encouraging all members of the community to volunteer we build stronger communities and strengthen people’s sense of belonging and community.”
The Kitchener Waterloo Multicultural Centre will work with other agencies to develop ways to attract youth from diverse ethnocultural communities in volunteerism.
Other partners in the project include the Centre for Research and Education in Human Services, the United Way of Kitchener-Waterloo and area, the City of Kitchener and Immigrant Youth Coalition.
“By developing a model that will help engage youth from diverse backgrounds to volunteer, this youth-led partnership will create opportunities for youth within their own enthnocultural communities as well as the broader community throughout Ontario,” said Lucia Harrison, Executive Director, Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre.
This project is part of the McGuinty government’s Volunteering – Citizenship in Action, a series of initiatives aimed at strengthening the voluntary sector.
This funding initiative is just one more example of how, working together, Ontarians have achieved results in the voluntary sector by engaging newcomers and ethnocultural communities.
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Ontario Government Making It Easier For Newcomers To Quickly Access Jobs And Training
New Multilingual Referral Service For Employment Ontario
TORONTO - Callers to Employment Ontario's toll-free hotline will receive help in the language of their choice, Chris Bentley, Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities said August 23.
"We're keeping Ontario moving forward by offering newcomers multilingual
interpretation for Employment Ontario programs geared towards their success,"
Bentley said. "It's now faster and easier for newcomers to access training and
obtain job counseling - ultimately helping Ontario become more prosperous."
Bentley was joined by Michael Chan, MPP Markham and Peter Fonseca, MPP
Mississauga East for a live demonstration of the new multilingual service at
an Employment Ontario funded ACCES Employment Services centre in Toronto.
"This new service will help newcomers continue their careers in Ontario,"
said Chan. "Employment Ontario is a one-stop shop for anyone who wants to
learn about how Ontario's job market works, connect with potential employers,
and find out where to brush up on their language skills."
Newcomers to Ontario can call the toll-free Employment Ontario hotline
and tell staff which language they wish to use. Within minutes a certified
interpreter will be linked to the call to interpret for both caller and staff
person. Newcomers can be linked to information about language programs
supported by the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration as well as Employment
Ontario programs and services.
Newcomers make up about 29 per cent of Ontario's workforce. Since
November 2006, information about Employment Ontario programs and services has
been available online in 25 languages, including English and French.
"The staff at ACCES speak various languages reflecting the thousands of
newcomers we serve every year," said Manjeet Dhiman, Director of Services at
ACCES Employment Services. "Providing service to our participants in their
first language allows us to build stronger connections with them and it
ensures that they gain a more in-depth understanding of the information and
services we provide."
This year, the McGuinty government is investing close to $1 billion in
Employment Ontario's programs and services to help more than 900,000 Ontarians
find employment and training. Bentley also announced new investments in key
Employment Ontario programs and services:
<<
- Job Connect - Links people seeking employment and employers seeking
staff to meet their business needs. Job Connect is receiving
$7.5 million in additional funding this year, for a total of $134
million. This is up from $105 million in 2003-04.
- Classroom spaces for apprentices - New investments in provincial
in-school training will help the government meet its commitment to
increase the number of new apprenticeship registrations to 26,000
annually in 2007-08. The government is investing close to $90 million
in classroom spaces, an increase of $25 million over investments in
2003-04.
- Literacy programming - Investment is rising from $70 to $74 million
this year, to help people build literacy, numeracy and other essential
skills, thereby opening doors to further education, training and
employment. This is up from $60.5 million in 2003-04.
>>
"Through Employment Ontario, we are building a well-trained, highly
skilled workforce. This is just one more example of how, working together,
Ontarians are building a brighter future," Bentley said.
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Spain ‘Leads The Way’ In Handling Illegal Migration, Says UN Official
Addressing the opening session of the first Global Forum on Migration and
Development in Brussels, “Peter Sutherland, the UN Secretary General's
Special Representative for Migration, called Tuesday for the European
Union to establish a common immigration policy and described Spain as
‘leading the way’ in addressing illegal immigration through talks with
North African countries. …
The summit, which is being attended by representatives from European and
other countries as well as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and European
Commission President José Manuel Barroso, aims to spur thinking on
immigration issues worldwide. Sutherland said ‘migration is a right’ and
pointed to the hypocrisy of the West's current policies. … Sutherland
indicated that Spain is on the right track, highlighting the talks it is
leading with North African countries. …” [El Pais (Spain)/Factiva]
AP and Dow Jones add that “Ban called Tuesday for urgent action by rich
and poor nations to tackle growing problems related to the increasing
flows of migrants seeking to escape poverty in Africa and Asia. Ban told
some 600 delegates at [the] conference that ‘effective action without
delay’ was needed to address abuse and discrimination, and to build more
open policies to migration, especially in richer nations such as Japan,
the US and those in the 27-nation European Union. …
Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said the 27-nation EU bloc had to
move away from its current plans to deter African migrants from coming to
the EU by staging patrols in the Mediterranean. … He called on richer
nations to boost aid to developing countries and to give out small
business loans to foster local economic development in poorer countries.
Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo appealed for the EU and the US to
loosen restrictions on those wanting to migrate and to work to end the
current deadlock in world trade talks, which could open up crucial
agricultural markets to poorer nations and their products.
John Kaputin, Secretary General of the 79-nation African, Caribbean and
Pacific Group of mostly former European colonies, said migration would
‘continue to play a dominant role’ in relieving poverty in lesser
developed nations. He urged the EU and other countries to allow in more
students and professionals, such as doctors and nurses, so they could
build up expertise they could take back home. …
Tuesday's Global Forum is to be a first in informal conferences meant to
tackle the migration phenomenon. A second conference was planned for
Manila, Philippines, next year.” [The Associated Press and Dow
Jones/Factiva]
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UN Chief To Open Migration, Development Forum
“United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon will open an international forum in
Brussels Tuesday aimed at improving the way migration and development
policies interact.
The forum, with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso as
keynote speaker, will involve some 600 officials from more than 140
countries and groups like the African Union and the International
Organization for Migration. The informal gathering, to run until
Wednesday, will allow policymakers to share ideas regarding migration and
development policy, and examine new possibilities for international
cooperation and partnerships. … Discussion Wednesday will focus on
temporary labor migration and how it contributes to development, and how
to better manage the ‘brain drain’ of highly skilled workers from
developing countries.” [Agence France Presse/Factiva]
In an op-ed published in The Washington Times and The Guardian, Ban
writes: “It is commonly said we live in a globalized world. Less well
understood is that globalization is taking place in stages. We are in its
second stage: the Age of Mobility. … Until now, this flow of people mostly
has benefited richer countries and generated worries about brain drain in
poorer ones. But our knowledge is growing about how to make the migration
equation work for everyone. Yet, rather than looking at the potential
developmental gains from migration, governments have been slow to adapt.
The result is burgeoning illegal immigration, social tension,
discrimination, loss of faith in government and the empowerment of
criminal networks. …
Migration can be an enormous force for good. If we follow the evidence and
begin a rational, forward-looking conversation about how to better manage
our shared interests, we can together help usher in the third stage of
globalization - a long-awaited era where more people than ever before
begin to share in the world’s prosperity.” [The Washington Times (US) and
The Guardian (UK)/Factiva]
Meanwhile, Reuters reports that “A senior UN official criticized some
European countries on Monday for failing to work together to cope with
migration, urging them to tackle it with more spending on aid and
education. UN Special Representative for Migration Peter Sutherland also
said the US risked undermining global efforts to address migration by
snubbing [the] global forum on the issue due to open in Brussels on
Tuesday.
Sutherland said countries such as Spain and Malta could not deal alone
with the thousands of illegal immigrants from Africa who have headed
across the Mediterranean to Europe's southern shores, and that it was a
problem for Europe as a whole. … Europe and the West should spend more on
development in poor countries to alleviate the misery that prompts many
migrants to leave their homes, while also paying for education and
cultural adaptation of migrants taken in by host countries, he said. …”
[Reuters/Factiva]
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New Research Book:
International Migration, Economic Development and Policy
World News - Edited by Caglar Ozden and Maurice Schiff, this new research book confirms that migration reduces extreme poverty in developing countries—by as much as 35 percent in migrant households in Mexico. Further, new findings show that migration from parts of South Asia boosts girls’ education and healthcare back home. For example, migration in Pakistan increases girls’ school enrolment by as much as 54 percent compared with just 7 percent for boys.
Also, migrants command higher wages on return to their home country than workers with no international exposure. One study shows that migrants returning to Egypt earn about 38 percent more than non-migrants with similar profiles. In a groundbreaking finding, the book also shows that migration to Europe is associated with lowered fertility rates in Morocco and Turkey.
About the book (and download overview)
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Women Benefit The Most From Migrations
“It was common knowledge that the 200 million migrants who left their
country of origin in order to improve their living conditions and wages
were sending back ‘to their country’ some $200 million each year. However,
consequences on improving lives of the poorest populations weren’t well
known. The World Bank has thus undertaken research to better understand
these 3 percent of the world population who contribute twice as much as
ODA towards the development of poor countries.
Women seem to be the main beneficiaries of migration phenomenon as shown
in the International Migration, Economic Development and Policy study
co-directed by Caglar Ozden and Maurice Schiff, and published on Thursday
June 28th.
Pakistani girls with one member of the family abroad are benefiting from a
54 percent school enrollment rate increase, vs. 7 percent for boys.
Ghazala Mansuri, one of the researchers participating in the World Bank
study explains this phenomenon by the preference given to boys when
revenues are low, which tend to be less true when the family budget is
improved by remittances sent by the expatriate family member.
Again in Pakistan, girls from migrants’ family remain two years more in
school than girls who do not have a family member abroad. …Migration has a
real impact on the demographic transition and upon women fertility rate;
migrants adopt the same behavior as in countries where they went to work.
…” [Le Monde (France, 06/30)/Factiva]
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Boomers in Mexico - Reporting 'Easy Access' Baby Boomers Rush South to Retire
PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO - The US Department of State estimates that out of the approximately four million Americans living overseas, between 600,000 and one million are in Mexico - up from about 200,000 a decade ago.
Many of the residential areas are gated communities much like the
communities north of the border. Most of the American residential areas are
beachfront properties at prices much lower than state side. Most recently in,
an estimated 100,000 Americans have created the first North American land rush
of the 21st century.
In the last decade, an estimated half million American Baby Boomers have
moved permanently to Mexico, making the United States' southern neighbor the
country with the most U.S. expatriates in the world. Not since the conclusion
of the American Civil War -- when thousands of Southerners emigrated to Mexico
-- have so many Americans moved to Mexico. Officials at the American embassy
estimate that there are "officially" more than 600,000 American citizens
living permanently in Mexico, but concede the actual number is closer to
800,000. Treasury Department officials in Washington estimate that the number
of Treasury checks -- Social Security, Veteran Administrations, tax refunds --
sent to Mexico is "in the ballpark of 750,000."
The reason so many Americans and Canadians choose Mexico is because they
can drive to Mexico in a car. A bigger reason is that Mexico is a bargain
compared to the USA and Canada. Mexico is rich with history, steeped in
culture having perhaps a more pronounced culture than any other nation in
Latin America. Mexico has great food, great architecture and many areas with
an excellent climate. Mexico is modern, with better highways than many parts
of Latin America and an infrastructure that allows foreigners to connect via
telephone and Internet to the rest of the world. This level of infrastructure
isn't available in Nicaragua, or in Guatemala, and this is a very important
determining factor for the boomer retiree who doesn't want to be
inconvenienced by inconveniences.
Boomers who are concerned about making the move have solid sources to
turn to. Mark Venegas, owner Venegas World Star Realty, has made a point to
have native born agents who have US training precisely to help with the
process of moving to Mexico. "The closing process, notary, escrow, your deed
(Escritura), capital gains taxes, security and management of property are just
a few things we guide clients through...we have a unique position to offer
inside information on the real estate with the understanding of what US
residents really need to know," states Venegas.
"Punta Mita is the boomers' most recent find, with sales tripling for the
local real estate association's MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and doubling
for developers. It's very upscale, low-density development with a Jack
Nicklaus golf course and a Four Seasons Hotel. Up to now, most of their
product has been beachfront or fairway/oceanview luxurious homes, but they
have recently begun offering condominiums and townhouses," adds Venegas.
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EU To Encourage Skilled Africans To Return Home To Aid Development
“The European Union wants to encourage skilled Africans to return home,
saying their countries need them to develop their own economies, the
European Commission said Wednesday.
As part of a paper listing ways it can help African development, the EU's
executive arm said it wanted to reduce problems African countries face
when professionals - particularly doctors and nurses - leave to take up
better-paid jobs in Europe. … The paper stressed that the 27-nation EU
and African nations had to build a "strategic partnership" to better
handle migration issues, notably a brain drain of talented and educated
professionals who are recruited by richer nations, like the EU bloc and
others such as Canada, the US and Australia. …
The EU said it would work with African Union countries to promote
"circular migration" to encourage African workers in Europe to find work
at home. It didn't set out any formal suggestions but mentioned better
links between African and EU universities and hospitals as one way of
helping this happen. EU Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Franco
Frattini has already begun pilot projects with EU governments to set up
information offices in Africa on migration issues. A job center is planned
to open this year in Mali to help match potential migrants with seasonal
or longer-term jobs in Europe, in both manual labor and professional
openings such as engineers, doctors or nurses. …” [Dow Jones and The
Associated Press/Factiva]
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Economist Urges WTO-Like Body For Migration
“The World Bank's chief economist for Latin America said that
international migration should be regulated with a system of multilateral
accords similar to those negotiated under the auspices of the World Trade
Organization.
In an interview with Efe, Guillermo Perry called for global accords on the
movement of people - not unlike those signed for international trade and
capital flows - and said such agreements would benefit both the recipient
countries and the countries of origin. Immigrants' rights activists often
complain that under the existing arrangements, goods and capital enjoy
more freedom than people. At present, Perry said, developed countries tend
to put more restrictions on the least qualified workers while opening
their doors more readily to the most highly skilled migrants, a situation
that has direct economic consequences in the countries of origin.
He noted that the least qualified emigrants are the ones who send the most
money home and that, although initially these funds go directly to their
families, they are not used only for consumption but also for investment
in areas such as housing and education. This is already occurring in
countries like El Salvador and Mexico, where emigrants come from very poor
families and their remittances are doing a great deal to reduce poverty.
Perry said that, by contrast, qualified workers who immigrate to more
developed nations have less impact on the economies of their countries of
origin because it is in the recipient countries that they contribute to
productivity while they send less money home because they come from
middle-class or upper-class families.
In order for there to be a better distribution of wealth and for the
benefits of migratory movements to be more equally shared, Perry proposes
a multilateral system of agreements. Among the measures that could be
agreed upon, he alluded to the legal, temporary movement of workers so
that they improve the productivity of a developed country during their
stay and later return to their country of origin to contribute their
experience and knowledge.
Perry was in Madrid this week to present a report at Spain's central bank
on the negative effects of the informal, or underground, economy on Latin
America's development.” [EFE News Service/Factiva]
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OECD Sees Migration Rise By 10 Percent
“Migration into Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD) countries rose by 10 percent in 2005, according to the body's
latest report. The OECD's International Migration Outlook study said four
million people arrived in its member states that year. Regarding the UK,
it said that 9.7 percent of the British population in 2005 was born
overseas, about 5.8 million people. The OECD represents 30 of the leading
democratic economics, from Australia to the US, France to Japan. It says
that family reunification is the largest single reason for migration, but
labor migration is a growing motivation.
The US, Spain, UK and Canada absorbed the highest proportion of these
immigrants in 2005, it found. It estimates that 473,800 settled in the UK
that year. Its four million figure relates to migrants arriving to stay in
OECD states on a permanent basis. The OECD says temporary labor migration
reached 1.8 million during 2005. The figures exclude illegal migration. It
added that its member nations need to pay more attention to the
integration of migrants. …
[The report] cites a lack of integration as the reason why many
second-generation immigrants experience high levels of unemployment.” [BBC
News (UK)]
The Telegraph notes that “The last census, six years ago, suggested 4.3
million people in Britain were born abroad. But the OECD's annual
International Migration Outlook put the proportion in 2005 at 9.7 percent
- or about 5.8 million out of a total of 60 million. …” [The Telegraph
(UK)/Factiva]
The Age adds that “Increased migration of highly skilled workers such as
doctors and nurses into OECD countries over the past decade has created
fears the ‘brain drain’ may severely damage developing countries. The
OECD’s International Migration Outlook for 2007 contains an editorial
written by the OECD's Director for Employment, Labor and social affairs,
John Martin.
‘In it, he wrote that 11 percent of employed nurses and 18 percent of
employed doctors on average were foreign-born, but there are large
variations between countries. The percentage of foreign doctors ranges
from less than 5 percent in Japan and Finland to more than 30 percent in
Ireland, Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The percentage of
foreign-born nurses is above 20 percent in Australia, Switzerland and New
Zealand.” [The Age (Australia)/Factiva]
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Ontario Government Seeing Results From Investment in Newcomers
Internationally Trained Newcomers Joining Ranks of Ontario's Professional
Agrologists
GUELPH - The Ontario government is seeing results from an investment in innovative programming to help internationally trained agrologists find employment in their chosen field, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle announced June 14, 2007.
"Through our investment in the Internationally Educated Professional
Agrologists Program (IEPA), we are creating a stronger future for Ontario's
agri-food industry," said Colle. "The program has been running for only a year
and already half of the participants have received accreditation as
professional agrologists. This is a wonderful example of how breaking down
barriers benefits newcomers to Ontario."
The Internationally Educated Professional Agrologists Project is led by
the Ontario Institute of Agrologists (OIA) in Guelph. The educational program
enables newcomers to get qualified and registered in their profession, to
partner with a coach/mentor and to find work related to their areas of
expertise.
Agrologists are professionals who work in the agri-food industry and are
registered in a Canadian provincial institute of agrologists. They specialize
in areas such as farm management, biotechnology, agri-business and food
quality inspection.
"The Internationally Educated Professional Agrologists Initiative is
showing the new face of agrology in Canada," said Carol Tyler, OIA Executive
Director. "Agrologists in this program come from over 26 countries and bring
international experience and linguistic skills to help Canadian firms compete
in international markets."
Ontario has approximately 800 professional agrologists. When this
three-year initiative is completed, Ontario's labour force will have more
internationally educated professionals in this field than any other Canadian
province.
Since 2003, the McGuinty government has invested over $53 million in over
90 bridging programs to help newcomers reach their full potential. These
programs provide newcomers with the language training and work experience they
need to work in various trades and professions.
Breaking Down Barriers for Newcomers
Today's announcement is just one more example of how, working together,
Ontarians have achieved results in helping to break down barriers for
newcomers. Other initiatives include:
- Negotiating the first-ever Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement,
which provides an additional $920 million of federal funds for
language training and settlement services over five years;
- The Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, 2006, which became law
in March 2007. The Act will ensure a fair, open and transparent
process for obtaining registration and licensing in regulated
professions for internationally trained individuals;
- Creating Global Experience Ontario, an Access and Resource Centre for
the internationally trained;
- Establishing the first-ever Office of the Fairness Commissioner which
is responsible for assessing registration and licensing practices;
- Increasing opportunities for International Medical Graduates (IMGs)
from 90 to 200 annually, including 218 new IMGs in training and
assessment positions last year;
- Establishing the first provincial Internship for the Internationally
Trained. Administered by Career Bridge, newcomers with a minimum of
three years international work experience will be placed for six-
month paid assignments within the Ontario Public Service and Crown
Agencies;
- Creating a Foreign Trained Professionals Loans Program providing up
to $5,000 per person to cover assessment, training and exam costs;
and,
- Launching an immigration web portal, www.OntarioImmigration.ca, to
support newcomers both in Ontario and abroad, prior to arrival.
"By eliminating barriers that prevent internationally trained people from
working in their field, we are building the highly skilled work force Ontario
needs and securing our province's future," Colle said. "When newcomers
succeed, Ontario succeeds."
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Ontario Government ENRICHes Ontario schools WITH GLOBAL EXPERIENCE OF internationally educated teachers
$800,000 Investment Helps Foreign-Trained Teachers Gain Certification
TORONTO – Internationally-trained teachers are being given the opportunity to contribute their unique global experience to Ontario’s classrooms thanks to the expansion of a dynamic bridging program funded by the Ontario government, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle announced June 7, 2007.
“The [Ontario] government is breaking down barriers for internationally educated teachers to become certified to teach in Ontario,” said Colle. “We are investing in the province’s future by assisting internationally trained newcomers to contribute their talents and experience to Ontario.”
The government is providing $800,000 to the Ontario College of Teachers to partner with a number of community agencies to deliver the Teach in Ontario Employment Services Project. This project will assist internationally trained teachers in the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, and Windsor to prepare for employment and find work in Ontario schools:
· Three community agencies—Skills for Change in Toronto, Local Agencies Serving Immigrants in Ottawa, and Windsor Women Working with Immigrant Women—will match internationally trained teachers with mentors experienced in teaching in the Ontario school system.
· Involving the participation of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation, the project also includes a classroom immersion component, a supply teaching workshop to prepare participants for employment, and an employer awareness workshop.
These new services will build on the existing Teach in Ontario project, which provides a broad array of support including sector-specific language training, information and counselling. Since its inception in 2004, 1130 internationally-trained teachers have been certified by the Ontario College of Teachers.
“Thanks to Ontario’s educators, our students are building their math skills, learning more about the world around them and discovering their potential,” said Education Minister Kathleen Wynne. “The skills, and the global education and experience internationally educated teachers bring to Ontario are a further asset to our classrooms.”
“Internationally educated teachers are an important resource for Ontario,” said Brian McGowan, Registrar and CEO of the Ontario College of Teachers. “They bring new ideas, a fresh perspective, often years of teaching experience, and the cultural and language diversity that characterizes a significant part of our student population. Many of them can offer skills and experience teaching in areas where there are ongoing shortages such as French as a Second Language and the sciences.”
Bridging programs are designed to provide newcomers with the language training, potential for licensure and work experience they need to work in various trades and professions. This new funding will bring the total investment to over $53 million in over 90 bridging projects to assist newcomers to find work in their field more quickly.
Breaking Down Barriers for Newcomers
Today’s announcement is just one more example of how, working together, Ontarians have achieved results to break down barriers for newcomers. Other initiatives include:
· Negotiating the first-ever Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement, which provides an additional $920 million in federal funding for newcomer services over five years;
· The Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, 2006, which became law in March 2007. The Act will ensure a fair, open and transparent process for obtaining registration and licensing in regulated professions for internationally trained individuals.
· Establishing the first-ever Office of the Fairness Commissioner which is responsible for assessing registration and licensing practices.
· Creating Global Experience Ontario, an Access and Resource Centre for internationally trained individuals.
· Increasing opportunities for International Medical Graduates (IMGs) from 90 to 200 annually, including 218 new IMGs in training and assessment positions last year.
· Creating a Foreign Trained Professionals Loans Program providing up to $5,000 per person to cover assessment, training and exam costs.
· Launching an immigration web portal, www.OntarioImmigration.ca, to support newcomers both in Ontario and abroad, prior to arrival.
· Establishing the first provincial Internship for the Internationally Trained. Administered by Career Bridge, newcomers with a minimum of three years international work experience will be placed for six-month paid assignments within the Ontario Public Service and Crown Agencies.
“This investment will help internationally educated teachers prepare for certification and work in education that matches their skills and training,” said Colle. “It will also help enrich Ontario’s school community with new and diverse global perspectives.”
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Fraser Institute hosting conference to examine links between Canadian immigration policy and terrorism
VANCOUVER - The Fraser Institute, Canada's leading independent research organization, is hosting a conference in Toronto to discuss immigration policy and how it relates to the threat of terrorism in Canada and the United States.
"It's become obvious in recent years that Canada's flawed refugee system
and a lack of political will to reform the program have been major factors in
making Canada a prime destination for terrorists," said Martin Collacott, a
senior fellow with the Institute and co-chair of the conference.
"This conference is an attempt to generate discussion about policy
options for governments. We can't hide behind political correctness; both
Canada and the U.S. need to carefully examine the links between immigration
policy, security and the potential for terrorism."
Canada and the U.S. share the world's longest undefended border. But
since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre,
security has become a priority for the Americans, said Alexander Moens, Fraser
Institute senior fellow, professor of political science at Simon Fraser
University and conference co-chair.
"The United States is Canada's largest trading partner. For our own
economic security and well-being, Canada needs to ensure that our immigration
and refugee policy is not perceived as posing a potential threat to the U.S."
Scheduled for June 28 and 29 at the Sheraton Centre Hotel in Toronto, the
conference has lined up a wide array of experts in immigration policy and
security, and journalists who have written about immigration and terrorism.
These are some of the 17 featured speakers:
Bat Ye'or - World-renowned author of Islam and Dhimmitude: Where
Civilizations Collide and Eurabia: The Euro-Arab Axis.
Kim Bolan - reporter with the Vancouver Sun and author. She won the PEN
Canada/Paul Kidd Courage Prize in 2006 for her coverage of the Air-India
story while under death threats and is the author of Loss of Faith: How
the Air-India Bombers Got Away With Murder. She will speak on Sikh
extremism in Canada.
Steven Emerson - A leading authority on Islamic extremist networks,
financing, and operations, he is the executive director of the
Investigative Project on Terrorism, which he launched in 1995 after the
broadcast of his award-winning documentary, Jihad in America. Nearly
every one of the terrorist suspects and groups first identified in his
1994 film have been indicted, convicted, or deported since 9-11. He will
discuss the presence and influence of terrorists and their supporters in
Canada and the United States.
Stewart Bell - A veteran investigative reporter and foreign
correspondent, he has been writing about terrorism for more than twelve
years, playing a central role in alerting Canadians to the threat posed
by foreign and Canadian-born terrorists in Canada. He is the author of
Cold War: How Canada Nurtures and Exports Terrorism Around the World. He
will speak about Canada's response to terrorism since 9/11.
James Bissett - former executive director of the Canadian Immigration
Service, Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, and Albania, and
Canadian High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago. He will join Mark
Krikorian, executive director of the Center for Immigration studies in
Washington DC, to discuss security concerns in immigration and refugee
policies.
Other highlights include a media panel with Globe and Mail columnist
Margaret Wente and Western Standard publisher Ezra Levant. The two will
discuss what it is like to be on the front lines debating immigration,
terrorism and ethnic politics.
Collacott and Moens said their aim is for the conference to inform the
public and describe the terrorist threat for what it is. Participants at the
conference will also examine and compare Canadian, U.S. and European
government policies for dealing with terrorism. The objective is to analyze
strengths and weaknesses in these policies and formulate recommendations that
could provide a better balance between immigration and national security.
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Engineers Canada welcomes announcement of Foreign Credentials Referral Office
OTTAWA - Engineers Canada welcomes the Government of Canada's commitment to improving employment outcomes for foreign trained professionals through the creation of the new Foreign Credential Referral Office.
"We are ready to work with the federal government to help make the new
office successful as we have found through our research that complete,
accurate and early information and referrals are key to successful
settlement," says Marie Lemay, P.Eng., Chief Executive Officer of Engineers
Canada. "A single, central source of information is crucial to an immigrant's
success."
Engineers Canada and its members have significant experience working with
international engineering graduates (IEGs). In 2001, of the 44 percent of
skilled workers who identified an intended occupation at the time of
immigration, 63 percent indicated engineering.
Engineers Canada and its provincial and territorial licensing bodies have
made substantial progress in helping integrate IEGs through the licensing
process. The effort began with From Consideration to Integration (FC2I), a
three-phase HRSDC-funded initiative designed to integrate IEGs into the
Canadian profession and workforce without compromising public safety or
lowering professional standards. Engineers Canada and the provincial and
territorial licensing bodies are now implementing FC2I's recommendations.
Among the accomplishments of FC2I has been the creation of the
International Institutions and Degrees Database (IIDD), to provide an
accurate, current database of recognized international engineering degrees in
progress; the Internationally-Educated Engineers Qualification (IEEQ) program
at the University of Manitoba, to assist IEGs in meeting qualifications
requirements; and the Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers language
project, to develop appropriate language benchmarks for newcomers for use in
engineering workplaces, courses and bridging programs.
Engineers Canada supports the creation of the FCR office as another tool
to assist IEGs. We are looking forward to working with the government as they
develop their overseas strategy. In that context, we believe that:
<<
- educational qualifications of IEGs should be assessed by licensing
bodies for Canadian equivalency as early as possible in the immigration
and settlement process
- the agency must not duplicate processes already in place
- the agency should respect provincial and territorial jurisdictions and
work with the licensing bodies to link assessments to licensure
>>
"We look forward to the government offering a single source resource to
potential immigrants so that they can make informed decisions prior to
immigrating to Canada," says Lemay.
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Study: Impact of immigration on labour markets in Canada, Mexico and the United States
Immigration has tended to lower wages in both Canada and the United States, according to a new study. However, it was found that the impact of immigrants on the wages of domestic workers depends to a large extent on the skill mix of the newcomers.
A significantly higher proportion of immigrants to Canada are highly skilled. In 2001, around 4 in 10 individuals with more than an undergraduate university degree were immigrants in Canada compared to about 1 in 5 in the United States. This has had the impact of curtailing the earnings growth of the most educated Canadians relative to the least educated, the study found.
In the United States, however, the opposite has happened. A significantly higher proportion of immigrants to the United States have been much less skilled. As a result, these newcomers have depressed the earnings of low-paid Americans and increased the gap relative to the highest-paid.
In Canada, immigration has dampened the trend to higher earnings inequality but in the United States, it has exacerbated it.
The study, based on census data from each country relating to workforce participants aged 18 to 64, explored the impact of the immigration on each nation's labour market.
Between 1980 and 2000, immigration increased the male labour force by 13.2% in Canada and 11.1% in the United States, the study found. However, Mexico experienced a 14.6% loss in the size of its potential male workforce.
Inverse relation between immigrant-induced shifts in labour supply and wages
One of the central questions in the economics of immigration concerns the impact on the labour markets of countries that send and receive immigrants.
A key finding of this study is that there was a sizable, statistically significant, and roughly comparable inverse relationship between immigrant-induced shifts in labour supply and wages in each of the three countries.
In each, a migration-induced shift of 10% in labour supply was associated with a 3% to 4% change in weekly earnings in the opposite direction.
But, as the study found, the mix of skills was a factor, causing real weekly wages to decline in different skill groups in each country.
While the United States and Canada are two major host countries for immigrants in North America, Mexico is a source country of immigrants, almost all leaving Mexico for the US.
Therefore, while evidence from the United States and Canada shows the impact of immigration on wages in host countries, Mexico provides a mirror image of the impact of emigration in a source country.
In Mexico, emigration has resulted in a decline in the labour supply and, consequently, an increase in wages. The study found that the effect on Mexican wages was almost identical in scale, though the changes were in the opposite direction. A labour supply decline of 10% was estimated to induce a wage increase of 3% to 4%. The impact of emigration on the wages of those who stay in Mexico also depends on the skill mix of those who leave the country.
Different skill mixes are the result of immigration policies
The differences in skill mixes between Canada and the United States are the result of differences in immigration policies during the last four decades.
Canadian immigration policies since the 1960s have encouraged high-skilled workers to come to the country. During the same period, American immigration policy has emphasized family reunification, which resulted in a disproportionate number of low-skilled immigrants.
Significant illegal immigration to the United States since 1965 (an estimated 10.3 million as of 2005), more than half of which is estimated to have been from Mexico, has also contributed to the tendency for US immigrant workers to be lower-skilled than those who entered Canada.
Immigration to the United States, moreover, has tended to increase the supply of young workers; the opposite has been observed in Canada.
This study suggests that immigration played a role in the 7% drop in real weekly wages experienced by workers with more than a university undergraduate degree in Canada between 1980 and 2000. Over this period, the immigrant share of all workers with more than a university undergraduate degree in Canada increased. Between the 1986 and 2001 censuses, this share rose from 32.5% to 38.2%.
The study also suggests that, in the long run, low-skilled workers in Canada have gained relative to high-skilled workers. This has occurred not simply because disproportionately more highly educated immigrants to Canada have dampened upward pressure for the wages of high-skilled workers, but also because the share of low-skilled workers in the labour force has declined.
The net result is that migration-induced effects on the Canadian labour supply have served to reduce measured wage inequality between low-skilled and high-skilled workers. The weekly earnings gap of 38% between those who dropped out of high school and those with a university degree increased to almost 45% between 1980 and 2000. In the absence of immigration the study estimates this gap would have been 49%.
The story for the US labour market is different. The tendency for the supply of immigrant labour to the United States to be concentrated among low-skilled workers served to depress the wages of workers in the lowest skill groups.
Coupled with only a small dampening effect of immigration on the wages of highly-skilled workers, who saw their real weekly wages increase by 20% in the United States between 1980 and 2000, immigration served to magnify growth in US wage inequality between low-skilled and high-skilled workers over the same period.
In Mexico, however, emigration rates are highest in the middle of the skill distribution and lowest at the extremes.
As a result, international migration has increased relative wages in the middle of the Mexican skill distribution and lowered the relative wages at the extremes.
Paradoxically, the large-scale migration of workers from Mexico actually slightly reduced the relative wage of low-skill workers remaining in that country.
Most of these effects, however, were small when compared to actual wage changes and were consequently not the main explanation for the developments in earnings inequality in these three countries.
Note to readers
Data used in this study are drawn from the Canadian, Mexican and American censuses, and the analysis is restricted to male labour market participants aged 18 to 64. The study used all the microdata files of the Canadian censuses taken every five years from 1971 to 2001. Each of these files represents a 20% sample of the Canadian population, except the 1971 file, which represents a 33.3% sample.
Data used to study the American labour market are the US decennial census files from 1960 through 2000, with 1960 representing a 1% sample of the population and 1970 a 3% sample. Files from 1980 to 2000 each represented 5% samples.
The analysis of the Mexican labour market uses the 1960, 1970, 1990 and 2000 Integrated Public Use Microdata Samples (IPUMS) of the Mexican decennial census; no microdata sample was available for 1980 as the primary records were destroyed in an earthquake. The 1960 file represents a 1.5% sample of the Mexican population; the 1970 file represents a 1% sample; the 1990 file represents a 10% sample; and the 2000 file represents a 10.6% sample.
The analysis focuses on weekly earnings adjusted for inflation. The skill mix of the various populations is measured by their educational attainment and experience.
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Canada's New Government Launches First Phase of Foreign Credentials Referral Office
TORONTO - The first phase of the Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO) was launched May 24, 2007 by the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. The FCRO is designed to help internationally trained individuals who plan to work in Canada get their credentials assessed and recognized more quickly. As outlined in Budget 2007, $32.2 million has been set aside for the first five years of the FCRO's operation.
"Too many newcomers can't get jobs they have been trained for. That's a terrible waste, for them and for the country. Today, we are delivering on our commitment to do something about it," said Minister Finley. "In our first phase, the Foreign Credentials Referral Office will help newcomers access what they need to become accredited, both in Canada for those newcomers already here, and abroad for those waiting for an opportunity to come to our country."
"Canada needs immigrants, and initiatives such as the FCRO will help attract newcomers and capitalize on their skills," said Wai Young, Interim Executive Director of the Canadian Immigrant Settlement Sector Alliance which represents 450 immigrant and refugee service agencies across Canada.
The new office will help people navigate through the complex system of foreign credential recognition in Canada. The office's approach includes:
- in-person services and a dedicated phone service operated by Service Canada at 320 outlets across the country by fall 2007;
- an expanded online service that will help individuals identify occupations in Canada for which they may be qualified, provide them with detailed labour market information, and refer them to the appropriate regulatory body; and
- increasing employer awareness of the processes for, and benefits of, hiring internationally trained and educated professionals.
In addition, Canada's New Government will work directly with the provinces to speed up the entry of healthcare professionals after evaluating the success of a pilot project included in the recent Canada-Alberta immigration agreement. This project includes provisions to refer candidates with preliminary approval for permanent residence to Alberta licensing bodies to begin the process of recognizing their credentials.
The Government of Canada is also working with provincial and territorial partners to improve online services that help immigrants integrate into Canadian society. Canada is today announcing approximately $18.8 million in funding for several provinces and territories to enhance online information about settling and working across the country.
Canada's New Government is also providing $5 million to top up the existing Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) Program, bringing its total funding to $73 million. This program, which falls under Human Resources and Social Development, successfully strengthens foreign credentials assessment and recognition processes in Canada. As part of this program, the Government today announced $7.7 million in new projects.
"Together, the new credentials referral office and the FCR Program will improve the efficiency of Canada's labour market," said Gary Lunn, Minister of Natural Resources. Speaking in Vancouver on behalf of Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, Minister Lunn said: "Specifically, the office will provide newcomers with a clear path on where to find information on how to get their credentials assessed, while the FCR program will help improve foreign credential recognition processes in Canada."
The creation of the FCRO follows consultations with provincial and territorial governments and other key stakeholders, including regulatory and assessment bodies, post secondary education institutions and their national organizations, employers, sector councils, immigrant serving organizations and newcomers themselves. Credential recognition in Canada is mainly a provincial responsibility. The federal government plays a facilitative role, funding assessment projects and now, with the FCRO, providing a range of information and referral services.
FOREIGN CREDENTIALS REFERRAL OFFICE
The Foreign Credentials Referral Office (FCRO) is a new federal office that will be located within Citizenship and Immigration Canada to help internationally trained individuals find the information and access the services they need to put their skills to work quickly in Canada.
The Office will work closely with partners across jurisdictions to help ensure that the skills, training and credentials of newcomers and Canadians educated abroad are recognized in Canada. It will provide a clear path, and a one-stop shop for information and referral services to individuals both overseas and in Canada. Essentially, it will offer comprehensive and authoritative information on the Canadian labour market and processes for credential assessment and recognition in Canada. This will help internationally trained individuals find employment commensurate with their skills and experience more quickly.
Canada's New Government's commitment to this issue was reaffirmed in Budget 2007 and Advantage Canada, the Government's strategic, long-term economic plan designed to improve Canada's economic prosperity.
On-Line
A key component of the FCRO will be a new website (www.credentials.gc.ca), featuring a new search engine called "Working in Canada". This tool will help individuals identify occupations in Canada for which they may be qualified, as well as the regulatory body appropriate for their needs. The tool will also provide individuals with detailed labour market information, based on where they live (or plan to live). It is the first of its kind in Canada to be offered on a national scale and will be available both in Canada and overseas, through the FCRO Web site and the Going to Canada Immigration Portal (www.goingtocanada.gc.ca).
Dedicated phone line
Service Canada will provide information, client referral and pathfinding assistance to immigrants in Canada via a dedicated phone service (1-888-854-1805).
In-person service
At launch, in-person service will be available to clients at a Service Canada Centre in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, Halifax and Winnipeg. By fall 2007, as the initiative unfolds, this service will be available at more than 320 Service Canada Centres throughout the rest of Canada. Service Canada will support the FCRO initiative as part of its commitment to provide one-stop, easy access to a growing range of programs and services.
Overseas
Canada's New Government currently provides prospective immigrants with basic information on settling in Canada, both on-line and in-person, at select locations abroad. These services will be improved to provide comprehensive and authoritative information about the Canadian labour market and processes for credential assessment and recognition in Canada. By providing prospective immigrants with improved information, path-finding and referral services, they will be able to make informed decisions early in the immigration process. In addition to the information available through the Going to Canada Immigration Portal and the new FCRO Web site, Citizenship and Immigration Canada is also looking at ways to enhance and expand the Canadian labour market information it makes available overseas, including its print resources, as well as in-person orientation sessions.
Canada's New Government is also supporting the Association of Community Colleges of Canada, to deliver overseas pilot projects in India, China, and the Philippines, three major immigrant source countries. The Canadian Immigration Integration Project pilot offices are funded by Human Resources and Social Development Canada's Foreign Credential Recognition Program and operated in partnership with Citizenship and Immigration Canada. This project provides in-person orientation sessions, including up to date labour market information, to prospective immigrants. This will help them prepare for the Canadian labour market, particularly with respect to having their credentials assessed and recognized. The results of these three pilot projects will help determine future steps around overseas activities.
Funding breakdown
The $32.2 million for the first five years of operation of the FCRO includes the $18 million announced in Budget 2006. From the $32.2 million, $18.5 million will be for Service Canada to deliver dedicated 1-888 telephone and in-person services throughout Canada. By fall 2007, all Service Canada centres will offer in-person client services.
The remaining $13.7 million will be invested over five years for the operations of the FCRO including working with partners to improve the effectiveness of foreign credential recognition processes in Canada and overseas.
BACKGROUNDER
Foreign Credential Recognition Program
To meet the needs of the 21st century economy, Canada requires a highly skilled workforce. Our ability to compete in the global knowledge-based economy is dependent on the skills of our people. Cities and communities that can attract the best talent, including highly skilled immigrants, provide opportunities for investment and contribute to keeping Canada's economy strong.
Foreign credential recognition is the process of verifying that the education and job experience obtained in another country are equal to the standards established for Canadian professionals. Credential recognition for regulated occupations is mainly a provincial responsibility that has been delegated in legislation to regulatory bodies. Canada's New Government is playing a facilitative role with provinces and territories and providing strategic leadership to foster the development of consistent, national approaches to this important issue.
About the Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) Program
Canada's New Government is providing an additional $5 million to top-up Human Resources and Social Development's existing FCR Program. This additional funding is over and above the $68 million that has already been committed for a six year period, and will allow the Program to further strengthen foreign credential assessment and recognition processes in both regulated and non-regulated occupations.
The Program is intended to improve the integration of internationally trained workers into the work force by funding and working with provinces, territories, and stakeholders, including regulatory bodies, post secondary institutions, sector councils, and employers, to implement projects that facilitate the assessment and recognition of qualifications acquired in other countries.
The objectives of the FCR Program are to work with its partners to ensure FCR processes across the country are:
- Fair - individuals wishing to have their credentials assessed will be treated equitably;
- Consistent - there will be similar processes to assess and recognize credentials in all jurisdictions throughout Canada. This means that once an individual's credentials are recognized in one province, they will be recognized across Canada;
- Transparent - individuals will understand how to have their credentials assessed and recognized before they arrive in Canada and, if they do not meet the requirements, they will know what to do; and
- Rigorous - high standards for preserving quality service and public safety.
Progress to date
The FCR Program has made investments in 19 out of the top 45 occupations identified by skilled immigrants entering Canada.
Some examples:
- The FCR Program has provided $3.6 million to the Medical Council of Canada to develop improved processes that will help integrate international medical graduates into the Canadian labour market. This has led to an on-line self-assessment examination to allow applicants to assess their level of medical knowledge and determine their readiness to take the other examinations leading to licensure. The Program has also supported the increased availability of the Medical Council of Canada's Evaluation Examination. Originally offered in 12 locations up to three times per year, the exam is now offered in approximately 40 additional locations and up to 10 -12 times per year. Working with regulatory bodies, the Medical Council of Canada is in the process of establishing a single-source service to streamline the credential verification process for international medical graduates.
- The FCR Program has also invested more than $3 million over four years to help integrate international engineering graduates into the labour market. This has helped achieve greater consistency in provincial assessment processes for engineers. Furthermore, in 2005, the Professional Engineers of Ontario certified more international engineering graduates than domestic-trained graduates.
- The FCR Program is also facilitating foreign credential recognition in non-regulated occupations such as tourism, textiles and trucking.
Overseas Projects
FCR Program has invested over $4.5 with the Association of Canadian Community Colleges to deliver overseas information services to improve the labour market outcomes for skilled worker class immigrants by helping them prepare for integration while completing the immigration process in their country of origin. The pilot offices are located in China, India and the Philippines.
New projects
The new FCR Program projects total more than $7.7 million and include:
- $515,313 for the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers to develop a database of foreign engineering degree programs that will be used by provincial regulatory bodies in their assessment of international engineering graduates.
- $2,500,000 for the Information and Communications Technology Council to develop a competency-based assessment and recognition tool for internationally educated information and technology professionals. Activities also include developing and piloting a bridge-to-work and mentoring program, along with tools for small and medium-sized enterprises.
- $3,039,560 for the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council to develop FCR capacity in the tourism sector based on competency assessment and recognition.
- $395,250 for the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training to help establish the International Credential and Competency Assessment and Recognition Agency in Atlantic Canada.
- $500,000 for National Alliance of Respiratory Therapy Regulatory Bodies to investigate issues related to the entry of foreign-trained practitioners into the profession of respiratory therapy in Canada, and to develop an entry-to-practice examination for competency assessments of foreign-trained and Canadian-educated individuals.
- $750,000 for BioTalent Canada, the sector council for biotechnology, to build capacity within the sector so that foreign trained professionals can be assessed and connected with employers in an efficient and reliable fashion. Some of the initiatives the council will undertake as part of this project include developing an industry-led internship program that would be consistent with a "Bridge-to-work" model approach and would facilitate the gaining of Canadian work experience for immigrants, developing and testing a national practical assessment approach for the integration of immigrants into the biotechnology sector, and developing a curriculum to "train the trainer" on soft skills that will assist in the assessment and integration of internationally trained professionals into the labour market.
BACKGROUNDER
IMPROVING ONLINE INFORMATION FOR NEWCOMERS
Canada's new government has announced approximately $18.8 million in funding for several provinces and territories to enhance online information to help immigrants succeed with their new life in Canada.
Funding will be allocated annually until 2010.
The funding will go towards developing on-line content, tools and services that will promote provinces and territories as a destination and help immigrants succeed once they arrive, both socially and economically. The on-line information could include information about health care, education, job markets, and the services, opportunities and lifestyle in a particular city, for example.
The funds can also be used for consultation and outreach. Provinces and territories may also choose to provide funding to municipalities to help enhance information at the local level.
Contribution agreements have been signed with New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Alberta, the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Under existing federal-provincial immigration agreements, British Columbia and Manitoba will also receive funding to help them improve the provision of online information for prospective immigrants and newcomers.
Funding Agreements with Provinces and Territories
Under the new agreements, provinces and territories outside Ontario will receive a base amount of $200,000 every year, plus a variable amount each year based on the average intake of immigrants in each province and territory over the last three-year period. For Ontario, which receives more than half of Canada's immigrants each year, funding is based on the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement.
In line with this allocation, the total amounts over four fiscal years would be approximately as follows:
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Province Amount
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Newfoundland and Labrador $820,000
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Nova Scotia $870,000
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New Brunswick $836,000
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(i)Ontario $10,000,000
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(ii)Alberta $1,200,000
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(ii)Northwest Territories $603,000
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Yukon $800,000
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(iii)Manitoba $1,100,000
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(iii)British Columbia $2,600,000
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(i) Ontario's portal funding allocation is based on the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement. For more information on the agreement, consult the following link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/policy/fed-prov/can-ont-index.html.
(ii)Alberta and Northwest Territories allocations are for three fiscal years instead of four because agreements were not formally reached with these jurisdictions until the beginning of the 2007/2008 fiscal year.
(iii)British Columbia and Manitoba receive portal funding under existing federal-provincial immigration agreements.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) hopes to have multi-year agreements in place with Saskatchewan and Nunavut later this year.
All settlement funding for Quebec, including online resources, is covered under the Canada-Quebec Accord, signed in 1991.
Going to Canada Immigration Portal
The provincial and territorial portals will link to the Government of Canada's Going to Canada Immigration Portal (www.goingtocanada.gc.ca). This portal has been developed by CIC and Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) to offer comprehensive and integrated information to prospective and new immigrants. Its goal is to assist these individuals in preparing to live, work and study in Canada.
The creation of the Going to Canada Immigration Portal responds to concerns raised by stakeholders during consultations regarding the lack of specific and relevant information available to prospective and new immigrants to assist them in integrating into Canada's communities and labour market.
Research conducted abroad revealed that the Internet is the primary source of information for Canada's international target audiences. Participants from a range of countries including India, United States, Japan and Australia noted that the Internet is the first and most frequent source of information, regardless of the reason for seeking information on Canada.
Partnerships are key to the portal's success. Accordingly, CIC has encouraged provinces and territories to develop complementary immigration, settlement, employment, skills and learning information for their respective websites. Both CIC and HRSDC will work with non-governmental immigration stakeholders on the portal to ensure that it continues to be relevant and that it meets the needs of diverse client groups.
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Do you Know What your Obligations are when Hiring and Training Immigrant Workers?
Join Co-chair Peter McFadden and other distinguished Human Resource specialist to learn more about Effectively Integrating Foreign Workers into the Canadian Labour Market
Employees are the most important investment an organization can make. With immigrant workers representing more than 70% of the recent labor force growth in Canada ? it is clear that you need to develop human resource strategies that attract and retain highly skilled foreign workers to your organization.
The Canadian Institute's Hiring and Training Skilled Immigrant Workers conference offers a timely opportunity for human resources professionals to share information on how to effectively integrate skilled immigrant workers into the current workforce. Get critical instruction regarding breaking down the barriers that hinder access to international skill and talent.
The Canadian Institute's Hiring and Training Skilled Immigrant Workers conference will provide expert speakers from leading organizations across Canada: The Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC), The Greater Kitchener-Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), The Maytree Foundation, The Waterloo Region Immigrant Employment Network (WRIEN), The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), RBC Financial Group, Cambrian Credit Union, Enbridge GasDistribution Inc., Siskind, Cromarty, Ivey & Dowler LLP, Ernst & Young LLP, Lang Michener LLP, Kinley & Connelly, MCB Solutions Inc., Skills International, Construction Recruitment External Workers Services (CREWS), World Education Services (WES) Canada, hireimmigrants.ca and McDonald Green Personnel Inc.
Plus don't miss discussions regarding critical human resource issues affecting you:
Exploring current Canadian labour market trends
Overcoming common barriers to hiring and developing skilled immigrant workers
Employing skilled immigrant worker cultural intelligence to develop local and international ethno-specific markets
Ensuring legal compliance when hiring and training skilled immigrant workers
Increasing productivity through improved communication with multicultural teams
Identifying the new tools and technological resources available to increase skilled immigrant workforce results
And much, much more!
Hear from those who have developed strategies to attract the best people from the international talent pool to Canada. Be where the experts and your colleagues will be on June 25-26, 2007.
Find out more...
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