Alberta opening door to foreign workers

Edmonton - An Alberta-based pilot program that allows skilled tradespeople to move from employer to employer while on a temporary Canadian work permit is expanding - a change that could bring hundreds or even thousands of new workers to the province, says Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
The program also makes it easier for certain foreign workers to get a job in Alberta's oilsands or on construction sites, especially from countries with no Canadian visa restrictions, such as the U.S.
Kenney said it will help address what he calls a nearcrisis in a number of fields where there aren't enough Canadian tradespeople available.
"This collapses what used to be a six-month, complicated, bureaucratic process into a one-step process where they can get a work permit in 30 minutes at the airport," Kenney said in an interview on Monday.
"This will make it massively faster for employers to proactively recruit skilled tradespeople - for example, from the United States."
For the past year, foreign steamfitters and pipefitters in the pilot project have been able to move freely between Alberta employers instead of being tied to one boss for the duration of the work permit - the usual rule in Canada's temporary foreign worker program.
Now, other in-demand tradespeople, including welders, heavy duty equipment mechanics, ironworkers, millwrights and industrial mechanics, carpenters and estimators will also be able to join the program.
The pilot program also allows these types of workers to be issued a work permit without a special authorization from Ottawa, called a Labour Market Opinion.
The Alberta government estimates the province could be short almost 1,500 welders, 1,376 carpenters, 775 heavy duty mechanics and 77 ironworkers in less than a decade.
"The good news coming out of this is Alberta is still the economic engine of Canada," Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education Minister Stephen Kahn said Monday.
"We need these workers." A number of Alberta groups have made recent trips south to recruit U.S. workers, who don't need to learn a new language and often have similar training and qualifications.
But Kenney said the U.S. has been unwilling to expand a North American Free Trade Agreement visa program. The move to allow tradespeople into Alberta more easily through the TFW program, Kenney said, is "a bit of a work around."
"There are thousands of unfilled positions. And major construction projects are being held back because of this," the minister said, adding he estimates the program could bring thousands of workers in "once it picks up steam."
The news was welcomed in many quarters as a benefit to both the temporary workers, who will have more job options, and employers without enough employees.
However, a group representing small and medium-sized businesses said the expanded mobility of the workers means staff at small firms might be subject to "poaching" by larger companies.
"The small employer goes through all the cost and hassle of hiring a temporary worker, only to have them lured away by a big company with the promise of higher wages," said Richard Truscott of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Martyn Piper, executive secretary Treasurer of the Alberta Regional Council of Carpenters and Allied Workers, acknowledged there's a shortage of carpenters and other trades. However, he's worried the new additions to the TFW program will lessen the impetus to train young workers, women and First Nations people, so they can become full participants in the labour market.
Piper also said the government needs to make sure only those foreign workers with the proper training and qualifications are allowed into the province.
"I would urge caution," Piper said.
This is just one in a long list of continual adjustments being made to Canada's TFW program. In April, Ottawa announced that foreign workers can be paid wages up to 15 per cent below the average pay rate, so long as it can be clearly demonstrated the same wages are being paid to Canadian workers.
At the same time, the government announced companies with an unblemished two-year history of hiring temporary workers from abroad will be allowed to apply for fast-tracked hiring permission.
Some unions have said the new provisions make it more difficult for Canadians to find meaningful work.

Montreal ranks as best city in Canada to be a student

Montreal has been rated the best student city in Canada, but it falls well behind Paris according to a new international survey.

Paris was followed by London and Boston withMontreal landing 10th, Toronto coming in 26th and Vancouver coming in 31st.

British firm QS, which usually ranks individual universities, examined 50 cities around the world, looking at student mix, quality of living, employer activity and affordability to devise the list.

Helping Montreal finish in 10th was that QS ranked McGill as the 17th best university in the world.

"Montreal has been dubbed the cultural capital of Canada, and one of the world's most liveable cities," reads the description of the city on the QS ranking website. "Montreal has one of the highest scores for quality of living, alongside a favourable student mix and rankings score, largely courtesy of the world-class status of McGill."

QS also says Montreal is the best-value destination in the top 10 behind Boston and Berlin and while tuition fees for international students are high, they compare favourable to top schools in the U.K., U.S. and Australia.

"It's simply fantastic that Montreal should rank among the top 10 universities on the planet, making it a peer among Paris, London and Boston," said Guy Breton, rector of University de Montreal, in a statement in a Montreal Gazette article. "Our institution takes particular pride in this fact, carrying as it does the name of our city and considering our own contributions to Montreal's rich and dynamic university life."

Toronto, with 109,400 students, ranks high on quality of life, but low on affordability. The same can be said for Vancouver. It had the fourth highest score for quality of life, but the eighth lowest score for affordability out of the 50 cities.

"Unlike London and Boston, Paris does not have a global top 30 university, so it may come as a surprise to some that it ranks as the top city in the world for international students," reads the QS website on Paris. They chose Paris because it has 16 schools in the rankings, international fees are well below U.K., Australia and North America, and because the city is in the heart of Europe, graduates are targeted by employers all over the continent.

This is the first time QS has put together a list of the best student cities in the world. Information was taken from public data and surveys. To make the list, cities have to have a population of 250,000 or more and at least two universities.

Alberta Tories announce breaks on student loans

Advanced Education Minister Greg Weadick seeks to eliminate barriers

The Alberta government plans to make it easier for students to access loans — and will introduce a new series of grants to keep certain graduates within the province.

Tory Advanced Education Minister Greg Weadick announced Monday the province will eliminate student income, RRSPs and parental earnings from being considered as part of eligibility for the provincial portion of student loans.

Instead, students will be expected to make a flat $1,500 contribution to their tuition, zero for single parents.

“It’s all about making sure that finances are never a barrier for students,” said Weadick at the announcement in Edmonton.

“As many students will attest, the application for an Alberta student loan has been incredibly complicated and in fact has turned some people off from pursuing their education altogether. We’ve fixed that ... instead of complicated calculations about how much you make or how much your parents make, you will know exactly how much you need to contribute and how much the government is willing to provide.”

The Progressive Conservative government’s student loan plan also calls for new graduation grants for students who complete their programs — $1,000 for a technical certificate, $1,500 for a diploma and $2,000 for an undergraduate or graduate degree.

The province will also introduce a new $1,000 retention grant for graduates in high-demand occupations who stay in Alberta for three years. The professions have not yet been determined but will include nurses, health professionals and technicians, doctors, teachers and social workers.

The government is also consolidating all its loan programs into a new Student Aid Alberta organization.

Immigration fraud

Chandigarh, January 20
Ranjit Kaur, a resident of Moga, alleged that Amardeep Singh, alias Boby, a Sector-21 resident, took Rs 5,35,000 in cash from him to send her abroad (Canada), but he did not do so. A case under Section 420 IPC has been registered.

Edmonton economy churning out jobs, city official says

EDMONTON - Edmonton led the country in job creation over the last 12 months, says the city’s chief economist.

But that expansion will heat up the local economy next year and may boost inflation and create labour shortages, John Rose said Thursday.

“The metropolitan area of Edmonton has generated more jobs than any other metropolitan area in the country — 44,900 jobs in the past 12 months,” Rose told an economics conference Thursday.

“These aren’t greeters at Walmart, this isn’t people giving each other yoga classes. These are jobs in manufacturing, jobs in construction, jobs in transportation, jobs in professional services. We’ve actually seen part-time employment in the city shrink, so in fact we’ve had probably around 50, 55,000 full-time jobs created, with a net gain of 44,900.”

Calgary, according to Statistics Canada data that Rose presented, added about 25,000 jobs in the period Rose discussed.

Rose, speaking at a downtown hotel, cited oil prices as the driving force behind the growth. Over the 12 months ending in October 2011, the price of oil peaked in April 2011 near $110 a barrel and sat near $90 in Oct. The price of oil generally rose from 2010 to 2011.

Unemployment in the province, Rose predicted, will sit around five per cent next year. He pegged general inflation at 2.7 per cent for 2012 — down from its current four-year high of 3.4 per cent, but still more than double the rate in 2010.

Job Growth Chart

Cenovus Energy accounted for around 200 new jobs in the Edmonton area. The oilsands firm, which assembles its extraction equipment in modules at a plant in Nisku, nearly doubled the number of contractors at its plant since December of last year. Reg Curren, media relations adviser with Cenovus, said that might increase further as the plant ramps up module production in the coming months.

The plant produces “approximately 17 to 20 modules a month, and that’s forecast to increase to about 25 a month,” said Curren.

An unemployment rate below 4.5 per cent indicates a labour shortage and creates wage inflation, said Rose. He forecast both as problems for certain industries around Edmonton in 2012. He said manufacturing already feels the labour squeeze.

“The manufacturing sector in this community is having real problems finding the people they need at this point in time,” said Rose. “We’re going to see that start to spread out into construction, into transportation, into professional services in the not-too-distant future.”

“I put that out as a warning for employers to get ready for an environment which is going to be highly competitive, particularly when it comes to those at the higher end of the skill range.”

“We’ve already seen signs of shortages of both skilled and semi-skilled labour,” said Brian McCready, vice-president of Alberta and Saskatchewan for Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters. “Pricing to fill positions is going up.”

McCready said CME plans to address the shortage by training current employees, investing in new equipment and encouraging government to ease laws around foreign workers, particularly those from the U.S.

Rose said Edmonton’s labour market absorbed most of the available local workforce over the last year, making a similar increase in job numbers unlikely in 2012. “There isn’t much juice left to squeeze in the labour market,” he said. “That’s good news, but that’s going to lead quite quickly to marked shortages of skills in particular sectors of the economy.”

Job growth was stronger in surrounding areas than in the city proper, according to Rose. “Part of that very rapid growth you see for the region is really still a recovery element, as opposed to the City of Edmonton, which took a much more modest hit during the recession,” he said.

“We’ve got the jobs, we don’t have the people. How do we square that circle?” he said. “It’s going to be interesting.”

Alberta adds jobs as unemployment rises across Canada

EDMONTON - Alberta bucked national employment trends in November,Statistics Canada reported Friday.

The country shed 19,000 jobs last month, the agency said, bumping unemployment up from 7.3 per cent to 7.4 per cent nationwide. But in Alberta, the jobless rate shrank from 5.1 per cent to five per cent as the province added nearly 3,000 jobs in the month.

“We had a lot of job gains in some specific sectors, such as oil and gas, scientific and technical sectors, construction,” said Darrell Winwood, spokesperson with the provincial Department of Human Services. “One of the reasons, of course, is wintertime. The oil and gas sector, traditionally, tends to be busier in the winter time. When the ground gets cold and freezes, it’s easier to move the heavy equipment into the back country.”

On Thursday, City of Edmonton chief economist John Rose said the greater Edmonton area added nearly 45,000 jobs between Oct. 2010 and Oct. 2011, more than any other metropolitan area in the country.

The Statistics Canada release paints a different picture for the country as a whole.

It was the second straight month of job losses for Canada, which saw 54,000 people leave the ranks of the employed in October.

BMO Capital Markets economist Robert Kavcic pointed out that, since the middle of this year, there have been average employment losses of about 2,000 people per month, “so there’s no question that employment growth has cooled sharply.”

Still, Kavcic noted that some of the details of the November job numbers “weren’t as bad as the headline, but certainly nothing to smile about.”

For example, there was a decline of 53,000 part-time workers last month but 35,000 more people finding full-time work.

As well, there were 11,000 more people working in the private sector last month, but that wasn’t enough to make up for the 2,200 decline in public-sector workers and 27,500 fewer people considering themselves self-employed.

CIBC World Markets chief economist Avery Shenfeld also said there were some bright spots in the details of the report, though it was still indicative of a tough job market.

“Overall, while there was at least some encouraging news in the lean back towards full-time work, the overall picture is one of a continued softening in Canada’s jobs market, suggesting a slowing in economic growth after a brisk third quarter,” Shenfeld said.

This report comes after data earlier this week showed Canada’s economy grew at a faster-than-expected annualized pace of 3.5 per cent in the three months ended in September.

There were job losses in industries such as retail and wholesale trade in November, as well as support services for business and building management. Gains were seen in areas such as personal services, construction, natural resources and utilities.

Looking more broadly, there were 43,900 fewer people in service sectors in November, with 25,200 more in goods-producing sectors.

Statistics Canada highlighted employment declines of 30,500 in Quebec and 4,200 in Saskatchewan, though Nova Scotia had a relatively strong gain of 4,400.

The Alberta government predicted more job growth in the province over the coming decade on Friday. The Human Services Department released a new forecast calling for 606,000 new jobs in Alberta by 2021, along with a potential labour shortage of up to 114,000 workers in industries like health care, tradespeople, and financial services.

‘Immigrate through legitimate means’

Chandigarh, January 5
Dwelling on the agenda of youth empowerment through quality education, skills development and employment, most of overseas participants expressed serious concerns over deterioration in the standard of senior secondary education and post-matriculation dropout rate in Punjab at the Punjabi Parvasi Divas conference here today.

Canada as a partner country in this years' conference was well represented, both among speakers and the audience.

Though Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, NRI Affairs Minister Balbir Singh Bath, Chief Secretary SC Aggarwal and NRI Commissioner Vijay Partap were conspicuous by their absence, overseas Punjabis from Canada, including Ontario Minister Harinder Takhar, Alberta MLA Peter Sandhu and former MP Gurbax Malhi, talked about how Punjabis have scripted a success story in their present country of abode.

The participants endorsed the suggestion made by the secretary-general of the International Punjabi Chamber for Service Industry Gulshan Sharma that immigration overseas should be only through legitimate, decent and dignified means.

Satinder Dhiman, a management professor in North America, through video conferencing, expressed deep concern that the dropout rate of students for post-matriculatiuon education in Punjab had shot up to more than 90 per cent. Without education, he said, no state could come up economically.

Canada's Consul-General in Chandigarh Scot Slessor said what Canada needed most was young skilled people who were comfortable in speaking English.

More than 50 per cent of the total Indian immigrants in Canada come from Punjab and its surrounding areas. Scot Slessor said list of skills in demand in Canada were all prominently displayed on the government websites. Advanced countries did not need many people with higher educational qualifications, including PhDs, but they needed plumbers, drivers, mechanics or people trained in other trades in demand. Other basic requirement was that they should be conversant with English.

Ontario Minister for Government Services said Punjabis made up for their deficiencies in education with "jugads". With their hard work and unprecedented ability to adapt themselves to the new work and living environs, they had made major strides in every area.

Peter Sandhu from Alberta said when he left India more than three decades ago, the standard of high school education was pretty good. But unfortunately, it had deteriorated rapidly. The government needed to focus on reviving education network, besides imparting training in trades that were in demand overseas.