11 December 2007

Canadian immigration fast tracked by government

The Canadian government has announced the fast-tracking of temporary Canadian visas to meet urgent skills shortages in British Columbia and Alberta.

Bureaucratic obstacles to obtaining Canadian visas in the construction, tourism, hospitality and healthcare industries will be cut under the pilot project, bringing the time taken to get approval to hire a foreign worker down to just five days.

"This programme is working really well and now the goal is to expand it and we hope to say more on that in the very near future," human resources minister Monte Solberg told the Vancouver Sun in an interview.

British Columbia is now experiencing record employment levels of 63.9 per cent and the minister confirmed that the shortage of skilled labour is hindering growth. He gave the example of the Cloverdale Trades and Technology Centre at Kwantlen University, which had its opening delayed because they couldn't find enough trades people to complete the work.

The federal government is continuing to pour investment into settlement funding for immigrants.

Canada needs skilled immigrants: The Canadian Visa Bureau can assist skilled workers interested in Canadian immigration. More information on Canadian visas is available on the website. Anyone applying for a Canadian visa should begin by completing the online Canadian visa application to see if they meet the legislative requirements.