Canadian immigration alone won't be enough to protect against a skills shortage, a new study shows.
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05 February 2010
Massive skills shortage in Ontario needs increased Canadian immigration and training
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Canadian immigration as well as a focus on providing more training to Canadians is needed to avoid a skills shortage, a new study shows.
Seneca College President Rick Miner said a lack of skills coupled with the retirement of the baby-boomer generation may mean the country will have to rely on Canadian immigration to fill jobs, but that won’t be enough.
"If current trends continue, hundreds of thousands of people will lack the necessary skills to find any work," Mr Miner said. "The unemployment crisis in Ontario will be far more severe than the current recession."
Although Mr Miner’s study focused on Ontario, a similar trend has been noted in separate studies Canada-wide.
Canadian immigration Minister Jason Kenney recently made the statement that: "The reality is that immigration could account for virtually all labour force growth in Canada within the next decade”.
But Mr Miner says immigration alone won't be enough to fill in the employment gaps and that more education is needed for Canadians and that action needs to be taken now to address the challenge.
Canada is already experiencing skills shortage in a number of occupations, which are detailed on the Canadian Priority Occupation List. If a Canadian skilled migration applicant’s occupation is on the Priority Occupation List they are eligible to apply under the Federal Skilled Worker programme without the requirement of a job offer from a Canadian employer and able to emigrate to Canada as a matter of priority, with the potential to arrive within months of beginning the application process.
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