Getting our immigration system back in balance
Carol Goar
The Star.com
Aug 07, 2009 04:30 AM
Comments on this story (41)
Two years from now, Canada will reach a historic turning point. There won't be enough new workers joining the labour force to replace those who are retiring. Employers will have to hire immigrants to succeed.
Ottawa has known this demographic crunch was coming for years. Yet rather than strengthening the nation's capacity to bring in skilled newcomers who intend to stay here and build a life, the government of Stephen Harper has opened the floodgate to half a million temporary foreign workers who lack the qualifications to become citizens and the skills to help boost Canada's productivity.
It is hard to tell whether the Conservatives are lurching blindly into the future or deliberately putting expediency ahead of rational planning.
What is clear is that they have taken an immigration system that was far-sighted but badly managed, and turned it into an efficient processing system for low-skill foreign labour.
When Harper was elected three years ago, 50 per cent of the immigrants admitted to Canada were highly skilled workers, chosen for their ability to contribute to the economy and integrate into the national fabric. (The rest were refugees fleeing persecution and relatives of foreign-born Canadians.)
By 2008, the proportion of skilled workers had dropped to 42 per cent. It wasn't that Canada was accepting more refugees or family-class immigrants. It was that Ottawa was bringing in unprecedented numbers of temporary foreign workers to clean offices, drive trucks, serve fast food, join construction crews and do government paperwork.
If this trend continues, Canada will soon will find itself with a workforce that is less skilled, less productive and less capable of sustaining the nation's standard of living.
Regrettably, the government has no intention of turning things around and there is little pressure from the opposition parties to change course. That means the impetus will have to come from concerned citizens.
Here is how Canada could get its immigration system back in balance:
1.) Eliminate the low-skill pilot project under which employers can recruit temporary foreign workers who wouldn't otherwise be eligible for admission.
The 7-year-old program was introduced in response to Alberta's oil boom. Now that commodity prices have cooled, it would make sense to wind down the initiative and offer employers incentives to hire and train Canadian workers.
2.) Make sure the point system used to assess would-be immigrants is compatible with the country's labour needs and professional licensing standards.
For too long, Ottawa has thrown open the doors to doctors, scientists, accountants, engineers and educators whose credentials often aren't recognized here, while impeding the entry of heavy equipment operators, plumbers, electricians, bricklayers and laboratory technicians whose skills are badly needed.
3.) Develop a national set of guidelines for selecting immigrants.
Under the current hodgepodge of rules, employers recruit workers to meet their immediate needs, provinces nominate immigrants to fill gaps in their labour force and Ottawa applies both its point system and an occupational screen, giving preference to workers in 38 job categories. It is hard to move forward as a country with so many actors pulling in different directions.
4.) Hire or reassign enough visa officers to process the applications of skilled workers in a timely manner.
At the moment, the average wait is 5 1/2 years. At busy visa offices such as New Delhi, Islamabad and Kiev, processing times can exceed seven years. Little wonder employers do an end-run around Immigration Canada and talented applicants apply to other countries.
The only reason to cling to the status quo is that it is a workable stopgap. No one is complaining vociferously right now.
But a nation with an aging population can't afford to think about today and let tomorrow take care of itself.
Carol Goar's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
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Comments (41) :
Immigration
The gov't must do a better job of setting criteria for immigrants to Canada, and in limiting the number of immigrants entering Canada. The focus should be on bringing in those who can assimilate into a cold, northern, and western culture who bring necessary skills that are currently lacking (where there are shortages projected for the future not only the present). The other aspect of this story is finding a way to automate jobs and increase our productivity using technology not low skilled labour – one has a future, the other destroys it…
Submitted by starvan at 3:39 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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Are Canadians expected to shoulder all of the world's overpopulation problems?
RickS: If one of the largest countries in the world (land) cannot support and sustain a meagre 35 Million people, then the human race really is doomed! Canadians cannot directly control what other countries do, but we sure as heck can get our own policies sorted out to what is sustainable right here in Canada and set an example of sustainability. Its (lack of) policy and political willpower/vision that allows for paving of arable land in Canada. Now on to Japan. With a population of 127.5Million, on a land mass smaller than Southern Ontario, well yes indeed, there is something to be said about (lack of) sustainability and in what their government policies are trying to do to make corrections although their growth rate is still 0.1% a year (2008). SO what's the magic number for Sustainable Carrying Capacity? Thats the Billion(s) dollar question… Canada's popluation growth rate is declining by the way. It is down to approx 0.83% a year (2008) from 1.02% in 2000.
Submitted by ITCDN at 3:38 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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Retirement crunch?
People are retiring? News to me and all the other Canadian-born, Canadian-educated young people in temporary jobs waiting for the supposed “wave of retirement”. There are fewer and fewer permanent, professional positions due to fact that retirement is not mandatory. When someone does retire, the job is restructed out of existence.
Submitted by bookgirl73 at 3:35 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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How does it make sense to elliminate low-skilled project and train Canadians to do the work. If it is low skill then there should be little training required. The people here who should be doing these jobs are allready subsidized by socialist programs so they won't do the work. It's the Liberals that decided to bring people in from every place on the planet. Why should you be surprised when there are 'standards' problems.
Submitted by BriGuyPI at 3:26 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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Immigration and multiculturalism
Immigration is a silent invasion and does more harm than good (for any country, not just Canada). Multiculturalism is a popular fad and is destined to die like Madonna's music. Unfortunately Canada has already lost it's identity thanks to incapable politicians and voiceless population.
Submitted by Fracas at 2:25 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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What is our legacy for our children?
Many comments here seem to assume that we need immigrants (usually because of the hype about an “aging population”), and that our current population level is somehow sustainable. In contrast, Japan has very restrictive immigration policies, an aging population, and a declining population. Yet they seem to be willing to accept the consequences, given that they are less severe than the consequences of continued growth. Are Canadians that greedy that we simply wish to grow and grow in a never-ending death spiral? As well, the evidence is clear even in Canada that we have exceeded a sustainable population. Species continue to disappear at extinction rates, and arable land is disappearing rapidly. Perhaps we need to wrap our heads around the idea of SUSTAINABLE CARRYING CAPACITY before we blithely continue onward. Or do we wish for a shoulder-to-shoulder human monoculture on this planet?
Submitted by RickS at 2:22 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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We have had rampant immigration for at least 20 years. We need to start streamling the process, letting in on short term visas only those who have properly documented skills needed here. Once they have been here long enough to prove themselves in the work force and society, then we should offer them full immigration. They should be tested for proficiency in English or French, and for their ability to adapt to Canadian standards. We are letting in way too many people who cannot speak either official language and too many people who cannot contribute to the country.
Submitted by canada first at 1:28 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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What about knowing how to speak an official language
The writer neglected to add the ability to speak in one of our official languages as a criteria for skilled workers to immigrate. You can have all the skills to be a laboratory technician or other job she mentioned but if you cannot speak the language or understand the culture of the patients you should not be working in that field. Is a big risk to the employer. Mistakes in health care can harm or cost lives.
Submitted by whatfun at 1:05 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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We need to be CAREFUL with immigration
As the last of the indiginous peoples of the US central areas were surrendering to the US army one of the cheifs told Pres. Grant “Watch your immigration policies”. Good advice. They let our ancestors into the continent and look what happened to them. We need to be smart enough to make sure that the flood of immigrants don't force us to change out way of life to suit them.
Submitted by WJM at 12:34 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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Corporate Greed!
Take away the corporate demand to surpass last quarter's immense profits through taxes. Tax the wealthy more for their unusual yearly gains. Raise the minimum wage to allow a family to survive financially. Welfare and employment insurance would then be a much smaller expense to the taxpayers. Canadians would accept these “doughnut jobs”, and we all would be serving a purpose. The main thing stopping us from an improved standard of living is GREED!
Submitted by Dennis Regan at 12:26 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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In BALANCE !!??
Your story or commentary doesn't 'balance' the realities of the 21st century.. Unemployment is at its highest point in decades if not centuries and although our population is aging.. many, many will not be able to retire as hoped or planned. Our students coming out of college or university can't find jobs.. So quit trying to highlite a problem that in reality doesn't exist !!
Submitted by RanCar at 12:23 PM Friday, August 07 2009
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Immigration not a solution in itself
Birthrates Canada 1.53, India 2.81, Pakistan 3.52, USA 2.05, Mainland China 1.73, World average 2.55 is actually in decline from 2.65 from 00-2005. Highest Niger 7.19, Lowest Singapore 1.08. With the declining worldwide birthrate, it is inevitable that attracting the best immigrants will become more difficult as many contries are already competing for the same talent pool. We cannot afford to rely and depend on immigration alone to provide Canada with a sustainable population. We as a society must put in place policy measures to achieve 1.9 to 2.05 birthrate here in Canada, by establishing domestic policies to encourage Canadian families to have children. Immigration policy should be utilized as a 'top up' only to achieve long term sustainability as the quality(skills) and quantity (numbers) of immigrants can only decline. Drop the politicorrect and face reality! We've been outsourcing everything, including our own breeding!
Submitted by ITCDN at 12:08 PM Friday, August 07 2009
