20 August 2008

Canada helping temporary foreign workers and foreign students to get residency

Last week the Canadian Department of Immigration and Citizenship announced the details of the proposed Canadian Experience Class, which helps temporary foreign workers and foreign student graduates get residency visas in Canada.

The new avenue for Canadian residency visas will mean work experience will have more weighting when the Immigration Department is considering a person’s application for residency. 

The Canadian Experience Class will help foreign nationals on a Canadian work permit or a Canadian study permit to use their managerial, professional, technical or trade work experience as points towards their applications for residency and citizenship. 

The applicants using the Experience Class will still need to prove their English language ability and their occupational skill level.  Final changes to the Immigration Bill will be made after a 15-day review period.

"The Canadian Experience Class is one more measure this government is proposing to make our immigration system more attractive and accessible to individuals with diverse skills from around the world, and more responsive to Canada’s labour market needs," said the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Diane Finley. "This new proposed avenue for immigration would also go further to spread the benefits of immigration into smaller centres across Canada."

The Minister is hoping that the changes will encourage more people to stay in Canada permanently and attract more skilled workers to the country. 

"Choosing newcomers based on knowledge of our labour market and experience within Canadian society would make Canada a more attractive destination for skilled individuals from around the world," added Minister Finley. "International students and skilled workers would be more likely to choose Canada if they knew their time in Canada and contribution to Canadian society would assist in their eligibility to apply to stay permanently."

However, according to the Journal of Commerce, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) has raised concern about the proposal. 

"By restricting this benefit to only professional, technical and skilled occupations, the government is setting up a permanent underclass of unskilled temporary foreign workers who will be deprived of the rights to citizenship being extended only to elite workers," said Gil McGowan, Alberta Federation of Labour President.

Alberta is desperate for more skilled workers to move to the region; currently 900,000 skilled workers are waiting to get visas approved to move to Canada and Alberta are will be needing around 50,000 of them.  According to the news provider, the Construction Sector Council has said 31,035 skilled workers will be needed to maintain development progress over the next eight years and a further 21,271 workers will be needed to replace the retiring baby boomer generation.

In related news, the Canadian Government has also recently amended the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program, the Foreign Credentials Referral Office, improved resettlement programs, and streamlined the application process for skilled migrants so that more skilled workers and temporary workers can contribute to the Canadian community.

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The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people apply for Canada visa and immigration services.

Article by Jessica Bird, Canadian Visa Bureau.