$425,000 in Online Courses to Help Immigrants

The Honourable Monte Solberg, Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, today announced that Canada's New Government will invest over $425,000 in funding to develop an online tool aimed at improving the employability and earning potential of foreign-trained workers. The announcement was made at Bow Valley College, where the project will be undertaken in partnership with Human Resources and Social Development Canada. Bow Valley College will receive funding for the project through the federal government's Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR) program. In partnership with HRSDC, Bow Valley College will adapt its existing Internet program for working immigrants, Building Workplace Essential Skills Online, to help them raise their essential skills levels to that of their Canadian counterparts. "The investment Canada's New Government is making will help expand a program that has been so successful that more than 96 per cent of graduates find jobs in their chosen field. These are concrete results for new immigrants," said Minister Solberg. "They translate into a better standard of living for immigrant families, and they translate into a stronger Canadian economy."

The learning tool will be made available within Canada and in centres overseas so that immigrants can better prepare for integration into the Canadian work force before they arrive in Canada. The tool will be tested in eight colleges nationwide, including in major centres such as Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Halifax. The project will then be piloted in at least three countries globally, and then be made available to qualified immigrants around the world. "For years, Bow Valley College has been providing skills development programs to highly educated immigrant professionals by using a variety of instructional techniques. We have incorporated essential skills in our training and this has helped ensure that more than 96 per cent of our graduates secure employment in their field. Bow Valley College is pleased to lead the development of an online learning program pilot that can assist immigrants in upgrading their essential skills either before they come to Canada or after they arrive," said Ms. Sharon Carry, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bow Valley College. Through the FCR program, Canada's New Government is working closely with provincial and territorial governments, regulatory and educational bodies, professional associations and other stakeholders to ensure that immigrants can make full use of their talents and experience to the benefit of Canada.

Plea of Forest Hill Club president dismissed

source: The Tribune

The Divisional Commissioner (Appeals), Patiala, has dismissed the appeal of Col B.S. Sandhu (retd), owner of WWICS company and president of the Forest Hill Golf Club, against the orders of the SDM-cum-Collector (Agrarian), who had declared as surplus as much as 353 acres of land in Karoran and Nada villages belonging to Colonel Sandhu and his two sons. The Collector (Agrarian), Mr Sukhwinder Singh Gill, in his orders issued on February 17 had declared the area as surplus and ordered the Revenue Officer-cum-Naib Tehsildar concerned to take legal action for handing over the land to the Punjab Government. The Collector had also ordered that the action should be taken after giving due notice to Colonel Sandju under Section 9 of the Punjab Land Reforms Act, 1972. At least 328 acres of the surplus land falls in Karoran and 25 acres in Nada.

Regulatory agencies hurting Efforts to Recognize Foreign Credentials

source: The Editor in Emigration News, Misc Stuff

Government efforts to resolve the issue of foreign credentials recognition is being hindered by professional regulatory agencies, said Conservative MP Jason Kenney on Sunday. The agencies are “keeping the doors shut” for new Canadians trying to find work in their chosen profession, Kenney said. “The myth of the PhD driving a taxi, or an engineer working at the corner store is all too true,” Kenney told policy makers at a diversity conference in Toronto. “We cannot move forward without the regulatory bodies breaking down their barriers, and it is time they begin to do so,” he said. Kenney said that while his government is committed to resolving the foreign credentials problem, it doesn’t have the jurisdiction to force provincially mandated regulatory agencies, such as those that regulate the legal and medical professions, to co-operate. “While many of these bodies understand the need for foreign credentials recognition, many more have tried to keep the door shut on new Canadians who wish to practise in their area of expertise,” said Kenney, who was recently appointed the secretary of state for multiculturalism.

Speaking to The Canadian Press from Ottawa, federal NDP Leader Jack Layton said that it’s not a matter of force, but co-operation between the federal and provincial bodies. “It’s about coordinating with these agencies and making sure immigrants have complete knowledge about what they are going to face when they arrive in Canada,” he said. Layton said this kind of “buckpassing” is the reason the federal Tories have made little progress on the issue over the past year. “Trying to pass off the responsibility is cold comfort to the many immigrants who came here,” Layton said. They were allowed into the country by the federal government “based on their professional certification and experience, only to find when they arrive, doors slammed in their face,” he said. Last year, the Conservative government allocated $18 million for consultations on the creation of a foreign credentials recognition program. Immigration Minister Diane Finley is expected to make an announcement “in the very near future” about such an office. Layton said it’s about time the Tories took some action on the issue. “This is a promise the Conservatives made in the election and was provided for in the budget a year ago. It’s disturbing to me to hear that they are just getting around to this now,” said Layton. “Each month that goes by, these people slip further and further behind and the prosperity gap for new immigrants just continues to grow for these hardworking families,” he said.

Conservatives break promise to new Canadians

In the face of urgent need to integrate skilled and qualified new immigrants into Canada’s workforce, the Conservative Government has again postponed concrete action and instead announced a study as a stalling tactic. In commenting on an announcement of a $3 million study by HRSD Minister Monte Solberg today, NDP Deputy Immigration Critic Olivia Chow said, “More talk and more studies won’t help new Canadians find good jobs or contribute to our economy. New Canadians are tired of the empty promises and lack of action. This government promised to create an agency for the recognition of foreign credentials but has dragged its feet for over a year. Where is the fairness for working families?” “What we need now is money to fund and expand these existing and proven programs and projects. We also need the immediate creation of a central body to speed the recognition of foreign trained professionals' experience,” continued Chow. Chow recently proposed a 7-point plan to create a foreign credential recognition agency.

Chow notes that this major disappointment and setback from the Conservatives comes at a time when Statistics Canada reports that new Canadians are not earning any more than they did 10 years ago and the Conference Board of Canada reports that an estimated 500,000 Canadians are under-employed, causing a shortage of $5-billion per year in potential earnings of new Canadians. According to a report released today from Ryerson University and Catalyst Research of immigrants who have been here over 20 years, approximately 50% of visible minority respondents with foreign credentials felt their employers did not recognize their educational credentials as being “on par” with equivalent Canadian degrees, diplomas or certificates. Releasing the $1.3 billion earmarked from the Canada-Ontario Labour Market Partnership Agreement would have provided greater fairness and opportunities for working immigrant families. "Where is the money for training, settlement, and integration of new Canadians into Ontario’s workforce?" asks Chow. “We know it’s there, but instead of releasing it - and after dragging his feet for a year - the minister is not only failing visible minority immigrants, but failing the economy.” Olivia Chow’s ‘Creating Fair Opportunities’ plan is available at www.oliviachow.ca

Foreign-trained minorities feel Undervalued

by: Dana Flavelle

Canada's largest employers are in danger of losing some of their most talented visible minority employees unless they begin placing a higher value on their foreign education and training, a new study warns. Almost half the visible minority professionals surveyed said they feel their foreign training isn't as highly valued as Canadian diplomas, degrees and certificates, a study by Catalyst Canada and Ryerson University revealed. They were also twice as likely to feel this way as white/Caucasian colleagues who studied abroad, the study found. Visible minority professionals who felt undervalued were the least satisfied in their jobs and the most likely to consider leaving the country in search of other opportunities, the initial results of the study also showed. The findings raise serious global competitiveness issues for Canada, the authors said, particularly in light of the country's growing dependence on immigrants for future economic growth and prosperity. Within a decade, visible minorities will account for one in five members of the available workforce and in large cities like Toronto they'll represent half, the authors said. “If our final research confirms that this group is most likely to seek opportunities outside of Canada, the implications for competitiveness, economic growth and productivity could prove to be significant,” Catalyst Canada's executive director Deborah Gillis said Wednesday.

“Integrating immigrants and visible minorities is critical to the growth and productivity of Canada. It's an issue of economic prosperity for our country,” said Zabeen Hirji, chief human resources officer for RBC Financial Group, the main corporate sponsor of the research. “The challenge for corporate Canada is finding exactly what barriers are preventing visible minorities from advancing in their chosen careers and then addressing those barriers.” “Diversity is more than a matter of equity or human rights. It is also the single most competitive issue we face as a nation,” said Wendy Cukier, associate dean in Ryerson's faculty of business. While the problems faced by new immigrants who can't find work in their field is well-documented, this is the first study based on a broad survey of established, experienced professionals, the authors said. The survey last fall of 6,000 people working as professionals, managers or executives at Canada's 500 largest firm included visible minority and white/Caucasian employees, both male and female. Participants had on average 20 years' work experience. The full report, called Career Advancement in Corporate Canada: A Focus on Visible Minorities, is scheduled for release in June.

Improvement in Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Canadian Ministers Monte Solberg (Minister of Human Resources and Social Development, HRSDC), and Diane Finley (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, CIC) have announced new improvements to the Temporary Foreign Workers program. The program is intended to allow businesses to temporarily hire foreign workers where they cannot find a Canadian resident or citizen to fill vacant positions. "As part of the Advantage Canada strategy, Canada's New Government is making changes to our Temporary Foreign Worker program to make it faster and easier for Canadian employers to meet their labor force needs," said Solberg. "Employers who have exhausted their search for Canadian workers often need to hire temporary foreign workers to work for a period longer than a year, and today's announcement will allow this to happen." "The changes will reduce the time that employers have to wait to get the workers they need," said Finley. "As well, extending the time that workers can stay in Canada provides more security and stability to the workers and to the employers." The Advantage Canada plan is a "national economic plan designed to make Canada a true world economic leader." It was introduced last November with the government-stated objective of increasing the global competitive advantage of Canada in five key areas:

• Tax Advantage - reducing taxes for all Canadians and establishing the lowest tax rate on new business investment in the G7

• Fiscal Advantage - eliminating Canada's total government net debt in less than a generation

• Entrepreneurial Advantage - reducing unnecessary regulation and red tape and increasing competition in the Canadian marketplace

• Knowledge Advantage - creating the best-educated, most-skilled and most flexible workforce in the world

• Infrastructure Advantage - building the modern infrastructure needed to support growth

According the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), these changes are a welcome first step in alleviating the difficulties faced by small businesses, such as finding workers in an increasingly shrinking labor market. "With the shortage of labor at an all - time high, foreign workers are a more and more important resource for small businesses trying to deal with the issue," said Catherine Swift, President and CEO of CFIB. "However, CFIB research found that the immigration and temporary foreign worker process is cumbersome and complicated to navigate. Today's announcement shows the government is listening to small business' concerns and is beginning to address the issues," she added. The Temporary Foreign Workers program allows employers to hire temporary workers from abroad if no Canadian citizens or permanent residents can be found. Previously, those under the program were required to leave Canada after a 12 month period with the requirement of waiting four months before re-applying. Under the new changes, they are allowed to stay for two years before being required to request an extension. Even better news for Canadian employers, two additional measures being introduced are designed to make the process more efficient for business owners. Employers will now be able to apply online to HRSDC for a labor market opinion (LMO), which is an assessment of the likely impact a temporary offer of employment will have on the Canadian labor market. They can also, upon request, have CIC and HRSDC process work permits and LMO's concurrently.

Immigrants face barriers to Social Integration

source: Xinhua

Immigrants to Canada are finding it hard to integrate into the society of their adopted country, facing various barriers ranging from credentials not being recognized to being undervalued in work, according to recent surveys. The failure for recognizing foreign credentials have prevented most skilled new immigrants from being employed on their expertise. A lot of doctors, nurses, and professionals end up with working as taxi-drivers, waiters or waitresses and laborers. This has resulted in a much higher poverty rate among the immigrants group than the local population. A Statistics Canada report released last month said although the government hiked the ratio of more highly educated immigrants since 1993 in a bid to improve the newcomers' financial situation, new immigrants continue to be one of the poorest groups of the country, whose low-income rates have risen to more than 3 times higher than local-born Canadians after 2000. The report examines the economic welfare of immigrant families and individuals and assesses their financial situation since 2000. It finds that in 2002, low-income rates among immigrants during their first full year in Canada were 3.5 times higher than those of Canadian-born citizens. Two years later, the low-income rates were 3.2 times higher. Both numbers are higher than that in the 1990s. Even if an immigrant enters into the workforce with his (her) foreign credential successfully, it is very often that he may not feel so valued as his local colleges, a new survey has found.

Nearly 50 percent of visible minority respondents with foreign educational credentials felt their employers did not recognize their credentials as being on par with Canadian equivalent degrees, diplomas or certificates, said a study by Catalyst Canada and Ryerson University which was released Wednesday. The survey is based on the response of 6,000 people working as professionals, managers or executives at Canada's 500 largest firms. Participants, who have an average of 20 years' work experience, included visible minority and white/Caucasian employees, both male and female. Visible minority professionals who felt undervalued were the least satisfied in their jobs and the most likely to consider leaving the country in search of other opportunities, the study also showed. The study warned that as within a decade, visible minorities will account for one-fifth of Canada's total available workforce, the findings raise serious concern for Canada's global competitiveness. "If our final research confirms that this group is most likely to seek opportunities outside of Canada, the implications for competitiveness, economic growth and productivity could prove to be significant," Catalyst Canada's executive director Deborah Gillis said Wednesday. In a bid to help new immigrants integrate into the society, the government announced Wednesday it would invest 3 million Canadian dollars (2.5 million U.S. dollars) to study why skilled immigrants have trouble finding the right jobs. The study will attempt to identify barriers encountered by immigrants and figure out strategies to overcome them, said Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Monte Solberg. "What is needed now is money to fund and expand these existing and proven programs and projects." The immediate creation of a central body to speed the recognition of foreign trained professionals' experience is also needed, said Olivia Chow, a parliament member from the Opposition New Democratic Party (NDP).