Lets read this post that may be of interest to some of the guys in the forum.
[size=10pt][size=10pt][size=10pt]Skilled immigrants to be matched with vacant jobs in 2015[/size][/size][/size]
The federal government is looking to match skilled immigrants with unfilled jobs, in what it's calling a new "fast and flexible system of economic immigration" it intends to have in place in January 2015.
Under this new system, which the government has compared to "a dating site," Ottawa would act as chief matchmaker between immigrants who want to move to Canada for work and Canadian employers looking to fill job vacancies.
"We're looking for an economic match," said Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander in an interview with CBC News.
Alexander is currently working to build an "expression of interest" system to manage applications for immigration to Canada.
"We are moving from defence to offence. We're moving from a passive system to a proactive system. We're moving from a system based on processing whatever applications showed up, to a system focused on recruitment of the people that we know we need," Alexander said on Jan. 23.
By next year, Canada will no longer be obligated to process all applications in the order they were received.
The new system would work in two stages.
First, prospective immigrants would apply to express their interest in coming to Canada. In doing so, they would answer a series of questions about their professional skills, their education, languages spoken, etc.
In the second stage, Alexander said, those applicants would see their skills matched with labour needs identified by the provinces and territories, as well as employers.
That means provincial governments and employers alike would have access to the pool of applications — in essence, an "employment database" that did not exist before.
"We will share it with employers in a way that protects privacy," Alexander said.
Employers to play key role
Under the proposed system, employers would play a key role in searching the pool for prospective candidates, conducting interviews and identifying candidates.
Only once a match has been identified would the skilled immigrant be invited to apply for permanent residence.
This new system of immigration would apply to anyone who has put in a bid through one of five immigration programs:
Federal skilled workers.
Federal skilled trades.
Canadian experience class.
Business class.
Provincial nominees.
Alexander said the federal government doesn't want to "pick the winners," per se.
"We can't socially engineer this ourselves. We need data from across the federal government … the provinces, as well as strong input from employers to make these determinations."
"It's going to give us a much more tailored immigration flow and a workforce that will make itself at home in a Canadian economy much more quickly."
'This wait is far too long for businesses, many of whom have jobs that needed to be filled yesterday.'
—Allan O’Dette, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce
Under the new system, the government is proposing to shrink the processing time from upward of two years to six months.
According to a report issued by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce earlier this month, employers will buy into the new system only if it's fast.
Aiming to cut the processing time down to six months, did not appear to win employers over.
“This wait is far too long for businesses, many of whom have jobs that needed to be filled yesterday,” Allan O’Dette, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce said in the report.
Canada's system is said to be modelled after similar systems which are already in place in New Zealand and Australia. Under the Australian model, visas for permanent residence are processed within 60 days.
The government must ensure the new immigration system reflects the needs of employers, the report said.
