Issue
Without a rapid and substantive allocation of funding by the Ontario Government for existing programs – both private and public – that support the re-training and integration of skilled immigrants into the Ontario workforce, the already dismal provincial economy will regress to a position in the national and global community that will be difficult to recover.
Background
In January 2008, Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Ottawa needed to find ways to help Canada draw talented immigrants to the country to help avert an economic collapse.
Indeed, the minister was quoted as saying that labour shortages are one of the “most
daunting economic challenges” Canada will face in coming years.
For years, researchers have been warning about potential labour shortages across Canada, yet governments have not responded. In 2008, Statistics Canada stated that a widespread
shortage of workers impacting a broad range of occupations will occur and pointed out that
by 2015, immigrant workers will be required to sustain the skilled labour workforce since
there are too few naturalized Canadians graduating to meet the demands.
An alarming combination of factors is bearing down on Ontario: an aging population and low birth rate, coupled with a globalized and technologically progressive economy that has helped to generate competition from emerging countries. This dynamic, while not necessarily unique to Ontario, will be more acutely felt by Ontario employers and businesses since Ontario is the most densely populated province and has very large manufacturing and resource based sectors.
Moreover, since the labour market and economy are so tightly bound, a shortage of skilled
trade and sector specific workers can severely damage an economy. When the ratio of
workers arriving to the workplace dips below the number leaving it, it will create a drag on
the economy and stagnate an already challenging economic climate.
While existing plans like the Red Seal Program allows skilled apprentices and qualified
tradespersons to practice the trade in any province or territory in Canada where the trade is designated without having to write further examinations, it does not assist foreign trained apprentices and certified journeypersons. The Ontario government should look to adopt the core concepts of the Interprovincial Standards Red Seal Program and standardize apprenticeship training and certification programs and increase the types of trades included in the Red Seal Program.
Eliminating barriers for internationally trained professionals and trades people is essential to enhancing Ontario’s workforce. It is important that the Government of Ontario continue to support and expand programs that allow foreign trained professionals and skilled trade
persons to be re-certified and integrated quickly into streams of labour that are identified as being a priority area first.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce urges the Government of Ontario to:
1. Engage directly with employers and colleges to identify which areas of the labour and
professional sectors is a priority for skilled worker placement.
2. Develop and fund a postsecondary education process for the integration of immigrants
that would encompass a comprehensive suite of programs and services including, but
not limited to: accessible labour market information available in a variety of
languages, counseling and advisory services in a variety of languages and ‘bridge’
training courses that improve an individual’s existing foreign training and education
should they not meet the standards under the Red Seal Program.
3. Consistent and inclusive consultation with municipalities, community settlement
organizations and business groups to better attract, retain and develop immigrants
into the community and sector.
*This submission builds upon the May 2006 policy resolution that the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce submitted to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce (“Integrating Immigrants into the Ontario Workforce”). Despite the significant depression in the economy in the time since the first resolution, government intervention and action
remains a key element in accelerating Ontario’s economic renewal.