A meeting was held in Ottawa on June 15th to determine the best course of action with regards to improving the Canadian immigration system as well as attracting the skills Canada needs to create a younger, functional workforce in the face of the impending retirement of baby boomers. Immigration may very well be Canada’s lifeblood for a stable economy as an increased amount of the population will be over the age of 60, and the labour force will depend on younger, skilled immigrants.
Ministers of territorial, federal and provincial governments attended the meeting.
“After today’s discussion, I am confident that our governments’ combined efforts will help position Canada as a destination of choice for the world’s best and brightest, while continuing to maintain our humanitarian tradition,” said federal Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.
“If Canada wants to succeed in the global economy, our country must be able to attract and retain immigrants with the skills it needs today while preparing us to face the challenges of the future,” he said.
At the meeting, Minister Kenney said that the applications for federal skilled workers through the Action Plan for Faster Immigration plan are no longer backlogged, however there are still a bit too many coming in for the government to be able to handle quickly.
A press release on the meeting itself also said that all of the governments are working to recognize foreign credentials for many jobs in a more timely manner.
“Immigration is important to all provinces and territories,” said Nova Scotia’s Minister of Immigration, Ramona Jennex. “We agreed here to improve our cooperative approach to immigration to ensure its benefits are shared across the country,” she said.
My take?
With our aging demographics and the increasing competitive global market place, Canada better get its act together to improve its immigration system which, as it stands now, serves largely as a economic barrier to entry for skilled workers rather than a means to counter-act our shrinking labor force.
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
