Immigrants Will Be Fast-Tracked If They Take Certain Professions
By ANTONELLA ARTUSO
QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU CHIEF
Toronto Sun
Wed, February 13, 2008
The Ontario government will help fast-track the citizenship of immigrants with Canadian post-secondary credentials to work as bricklayers, drywallers and in a number of other skilled professions.
The Pilot Provincial Nominee Program is being extended to international students from across the country who obtain an offer of full-time work in Ontario.
“International students are highly skilled, have Canadian credentials and are familiar with Canadian society — our province will benefit from their talents for years to come,” Citizenship and Immigration Minister Michael Chan says in a news release.
An employer can hire an international student in one of 20 areas where there is deemed to be a labour shortage, while multinational investors will be able to bring in “key employees.”
The Ontario government will nominate successful applicants for fast-tracked permanent residency in Canada.
Sean Gobeil, owner of the Toronto School of Drywall, said there is a great demand for drywallers in the province.
Employers often have to look abroad for people to do the work.
“It's a bit of a Catch-22,” Gobeil said. “It's a trade where there's a need, the training's available but it is not easy to convince people to do the work.”
Occupations eligible for the provincial nominee program are specialist physicians, family physicians, pharmacists, audiologists and speech-language pathologists, physiotherapists, registered nurses, medical laboratory technologists and medical radiation technologists.
Also, university professors, high-end researchers, machinists and machining and tooling inspectors, tool and die makers, industrial electricians, construction millwrights and industrial mechanics, heavy-duty equipment mechanics, carpenters, bricklayers, cement finishers, tilesetters and drywall installers and finishers.
