Express Entry immigration favours low-wage workers

[andy108]

In its first year, the Express Entry program allowed more cooks and food workers than engineers and professors to apply

The results of a new immigration program meant to match the flow of foreign workers with Canada’s job market should be a wakeup call for policymakers, experts say.

Under the new Express Entry system, immigrants applying for low-wage, precarious jobs in Canada are being favoured over those applying for more professional positions, said Toronto immigration consultant Parmjit Mangat.

Mangat worries the policy means new immigrants may not find stable jobs and could be at risk of having their rights violated by employers.

http://www.metronews.ca/news/toronto/2016/04/11/express-entry-needs-overhaul.html

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Express Entry needs to be modified, each NOC shoud have its own points threshold and quota.

The quota should be changed/updated on an annual basis, to make sure that the most in-demand NOCs are fully used.

So far it seems Express Entry... is fat away from perfect.

 

[RamsayBolton]

This is the reason why

There are hundreds of job categories in the system, but food service workers and cooks accounted for 16 per cent of all invitations.
Food service workers are being invited to apply for permanent resident status even though they don’t have job offers on the table, Mangat said, while others — like engineers and university professors — are bypassed until they find work.

Remove and overhaul the whole LMIA thing. Only low-wage workers have benefited the most from the LMIA, since no native Canadians or skilled professionals want to do those jobs.

 

[mead]

This is the reason why

Remove and overhaul the whole LMIA thing. Only low-wage workers have benefited the most from the LMIA, since no native Canadians or skilled professionals want to do those jobs.

I have been saying this since the start of EE. NOC needs to be included in EE other wise we will have wrong mix of professionals. LMIA is also a problem as there r quite a few shady employers who use LMIA

 

[scylla]

Well if it goes back to a NOC quote system based on need - they certainly won't be inviting any professors. Way too many professors already in Canada and not enough jobs...

 

[RamsayBolton]

I have been saying this since the start of EE. NOC needs to be included in EE other wise we will have wrong mix of professionals. LMIA is also a problem as there r quite a few shady employers who use LMIA

Yep, they need to enforce the median wages on the job offer thing like the new BC PNP. Those small/family-owned businesses are the ones that take advantage of the LMIA and lower the wages of the many industries, like those ethnic restaurants, landscaping, house painting and constructing. Can you believe that a simple job like house painter are listed as a NOC B job - same class as Network/System Administrator (2281) whose responsibilities are to take care the whole IT infrastructure of a company.

7294 Painters and decorators

Example Titles

construction painter
maintenance painter
painter
painter and decorator
painter and decorator apprentice
paperhanger

View all titles

Main duties


Painters and decorators perform some or all of the following duties:
Read specifications to determine quantities of materials required
Prepare and clean surfaces using methods such as scraping, sanding, sandblasting, hydro-blasting and steam-cleaning; remove old wallpaper and loose paint; repair cracks and holes in walls; and sandpaper and apply sealer
Mix and thin paint to obtain desired colour and texture
Apply paint or other materials, such as stains, lacquer, enamel, oil, varnish, fibreglass, metal coating or fire retardant using brushes, rollers or spray equipment
Measure, cut and apply wallpaper or fabric to walls
Assemble and erect scaffolding and swing stages
May advise customer on selection of colour schemes and choice of wall coverings
May provide cost estimates to clients.

I've recently learned that many shady immigration firms are using this noc code to help unqualified people to apply for express entry and LMIA.

 

[RegularGuy]

You are mistaken. Canada need those workers. It has a natural resource and service based economy.

 

[mead]

Yep, they need to enforce the median wages on the job offer thing like the new BC PNP. Those small/family-owned businesses are the ones that take advantage of the LMIA and lower the wages of the many industries, like those ethnic restaurants, landscaping, house painting and constructing. Can you believe that a simple job like house painter are listed as a NOC B job - same class as Network/System Administrator (2281) whose responsibilities are to take care the whole IT infrastructure of a company.

I've learned that many shady immigration firms are using this noc code to help unqualified people to apply for express entry and LMIA.

median wage is not the answer as shady employers will pay employees and then take cash back from them . I have seen such thing happen in US because of the wage restrictions. There needs to be an in depth study of what canada really needs and based on that data there should be allocations or points . This ofcourse should be updated every year or as needed. if the NOC does not get application then its quota should be allocated to others. again I am not an expert but people who have more data should look at this.

 

[RamsayBolton]

median wage is not the answer as shady employers will pay employees and then take cash back from them . I have seen such thing happen in US because of the wage restrictions. There needs to be an in depth study of what canada really needs and based on that data there should be allocations or points . This ofcourse should be updated every year or as needed. if the NOC does not get application then its quota should be allocated to others. again I am not an expert but people who have more data should look at this.

Yeah, that's true. Many companies are paying fake salaries and issueing fake t4. However, by enforcing the median wage, we can at least eliminate the low-paying jobs in the EE pools, like in this article

International students with a work permit had median earnings of $19,291 in 2010, compared with about $41,600 for 2013 domestic college graduates and $53,000 for Canadian university grads, according to the review.

$19k/year means $9.25/hr - minimum wage.

 

[RegularGuy]

They need those workers. High skilled computer engineers have already gone to US or have enough job skills and points to get through LMIA and EE.

 

[mead]

Yeah, that's true. Many companies are paying fake salaries and issueing fake t4. However, by enforcing the median wage, we can at least eliminate the low-paying jobs in the EE pools, like in this article
$19k/year means $9.25/hr - minimum wage.

agreed to some extent it could work

 

[mead]

They need those workers. High skilled computer engineers have already gone to US or have enough job skills and points to get through LMIA and EE.

agreed with this too but what EE does is gives preference to low skilled at the expense of high skilled. That should not happen. Low skilled labor needs should be filled too and high skilled as well hence a separate pool by NOC

 

[RamsayBolton]

They need those workers. High skilled computer engineers have already gone to US or have enough job skills and points to get through LMIA and EE.

No, they don't. There's a reason why Express Entry removed NOC class C and D from the list. It doesn't make sense at all that you accept low-skilled workers who earn minimum wage and create more burden on Canadian welfare system. It's obvious that Vancouver cannot compete with Silicon Valley or San Francisco in terms of high salary and job opportunities, so some native Canadians are moving south, and those people will be replaced with international students and high-skilled foreign professionals.

 

[mf4361]

Simply adding NOC restriction to EE system inherently sabotage the point of LMIA in EE. So doing that makes no sense.

What they should do is either remove LMIA as "requirement" for PR applications (for TFW, tho, a strict control is imperative) and provide other incentives to flavor higher skilled and wage workers, or relief and reform requirements of LMIA on NOC 0, A, B so people currently in higher skilled work are more likely to get LMIA.

 

[RamsayBolton]

Simply adding NOC restriction to EE system inherently sabotage the point of LMIA in EE. So doing that makes no sense.

What they should do is either remove LMIA as "requirement" for PR applications (for TFW, tho, a strict control is imperative) and provide other incentives to flavor higher skilled and wage workers, or relief and reform requirements of LMIA on NOC 0, A, B so people currently in higher skilled work are more likely to get LMIA.

Right now, I have to say that the EE BC PNP is one of the best system with very realistic rules. For example, you will have extra points based on your NOC code, like 25 for A and 0, 10 for B and 0 for C and D
10 more points for each year of directly related Canadian work experience, 10 more points for top 100 needed occupations (IT dev, accountant, legal assisntants, plumber, electrician,etc.) and finally points for annual wage, like 50 for $100k/year, 25 for $65k/year (this one needs to be revised though)

This way we can weed out all the low-skilled, low wage and unneeded occupations and accept more highly skilled professionals. You want more Tim Hortons cashiers or cooks? then put them all to Entry Level and Semi-skilled stream. Why the hell would you want to put a 40 year-old cook with LMIA and a young undergrad mechanical engineer in a same pool ?

 

[mead]

Right now, I have to say that the EE BC PNP is one of the best system with very realistic rules. For example, you will have extra points based on your NOC code, like 25 for A and 0, 10 for B and 0 for C and D
10 more points for each year of directly related Canadian work experience, 10 more points for top 100 needed occupations (IT dev, accountant, legal assisntants, plumber, electrician,etc.) and finally points for annual wage, like 50 for $100k/year, 25 for $65k/year (this one needs to be revised though)

This way we can weed out all the low-skilled, low wage and unneeded occupations and accept more highly skilled professionals. You want more Tim Hortons cashiers or cooks? then put them all to Entry Level and Semi-skilled stream. Why the hell would you want to put a 40 year-old cook with LMIA and a young undergrad mechanical engineer in a same pool ?

good question