Michael Chan, Ontario's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, recently announced a $24.7 million program aimed at keeping skilled immigrants in Ontario by helping them find jobs in their fields more quickly.

This announcement was in response to an Institute for Research on Public Policy study, which found that Australia's recent changes to its skilled immigrant system nearly tripled the rate at which they found jobs in their fields. In Canada, “we should have more focus and more funding” to address any immigrant brain drain, stated Minister Chan.

The new funding, which is part of the Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement concentrates on skilled immigrants in education, engineering, finance, health care, research, social work, and trades. A significant element of the program is English training that specifically relates to the immigrants' professions. Another is the provision of diploma programs for immigrants who need additional accreditation to work in Canada.

3,000 immigrants will benefit from the program, which works out to about $9,000 invested per person.