Educating foreigners key to solving Canadian job woes

OTTAWA - Canada, which relies heavily on immigration to keep its economy running, could bridge much of its growing skilled-labour shortage by educating more newcomers in its schools, Industry Minister David Emerson said yesterday.

"Educating more foreign students, getting more degrees and training in Canada would take you a long way there," he said.

"The reality is, though, that we're always going to have a substantial amount of foreign trained people entering the labour market."

Canada accepts more than 200,000 immigrants each year, but Ottawa expects to be short of as many as one million skilled workers before the decade is out.

Leading business groups estimate the shortage already amounts to 250,000 qualified workers.

Experts also estimate up to one in three immigrant professionals move elsewhere because their foreign accreditation is not recognised in Canada.

Other professionals, such as doctors or engineers, can spend years employed as low-paid fast-food workers, taxi drivers or store clerks.

At issue is the discrepancy between the provinces' varying professional certification standards and federal immigration objectives, immigration lawyers and analysts say.

"The next area we are going to have to turn up the heat on is labour mobility, the recognition of professional and trade skills across provincial boundaries because that forms the platform on which we build an international recognition," Emerson said.

"I don't think there's a silver bullet," he added after meeting his provincial and territorial counterparts to discuss interprovincial trade barriers.

Reciprocal recognition between Canadian and foreign universities, as well as remedial courses to make up differences in training could also help bridge the gap for newcomers.

 

- REUTERS