Skilled foreign workers may enter Canada faster

As reported by Reuters, the Canadian government has announced it would relax immigration requirements for skilled foreign workers as the nation desperately needs to fill labour shortages in the construction, oil and mining industries.

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney announced that the government would modify the Federal Skilled Worker Programme, which has long been slanted towards professionals, to lure in more trades people who are currently in short supply in the current commodities boom.

This new system is expected to strengthen the role of companies in the immigration system, since it will allow them to fill important jobs faster. This was virtually impossible in the past for skilled trades people, said Kenney. Canada’s rigid economic immigration schemes required skilled trades people to prove high levels of language competency as well as possession of post-secondary degrees.

This new programme will be based mainly on job offers from Canadian firms, who will have to prove that the immigrant has proper credentials and experience equal to Canada’s certification standards.
Immigrants admitted with the new plan will not be required to speak English or French as fluently as professional applicants must, although certain language requirements will still apply.