24 September 2008

Alberta using marketing money to steal US skilled workers

The Alberta government will be using half a million dollars to attract foreign US skilled workers to the region, reports the Calgary Herald.

The money will fund an advertising campaign that will focus on luring foreign nationals living in the US to Canada instead, by highlighting the fact that it will only take six to 18 months to obtain permanent Canadian residency. 

Highly skilled workers waiting for permanent residency in America can sometimes wait up to several years to have their Canadian visa approved. However, the Alberta government have said highly skilled foreign workers can immigrate to Alberta without having secured a job first, and will have a much faster visa approval.

The ads are targeting temporary residents in America, and have slogans such as "Milk has an expiry date. You shouldn't."

"We did the research. We know, economically, it's time for us to be more proactive in the U.S. market," said Wendy Blackwell, Executive Director of Alberta's labour attraction branch.

The government is particularly targeting engineers, geologists, nurses, physicians and accountants. 

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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.