National Settlement Conference 2
(Calgary - October 2-5, 2003)
Strengthening our Settlement Vision
The Small Centre Strategy
The Regional Dispersion & Retention of Immigrants
Employment
Arriving immigrants initially decide to move to a particular community
for a number of reasons. For refugees, it may be the destination assigned
to them by the federal government under its Government Sponsorship program,
or it may be the location of their sponsoring group under the Private
Sponsorship program. Any immigrant may seek out family, friends, or ethnic
/ linguistic community, or follow the lure provided by literature, or
be attracted by the magnet of the big city. Sometimes, inappropriate or
inaccurate information is a factor. The factor that determines an immigrant's
first Canadian home may be as simple as the fact that an international
flight has taken them there, or it may be as complex as the fact that
a Provincial Nominee Program has arranged special access. Or it may also
be the prospect of a job.
Whatever the reason newcomers choose to live in their first Canadian
community, the most compelling reason for employable, able-bodied adults
to stay in a community is acceptable employment. However, only the interrelation
of a multitude of factors will keep them in a community, including opportunities
for career or educational advancement and their complex relationships
with family and the community at large. Still, the primary factor that
helps the initial transplanting take root is employment as soon as possible
after arrival. For couples, employment of both partners is a factor.
The following areas identify challenges and initiatives to secure satisfactory
employment for newcomers. The great importance of employer participation
cannot be overstated.
A Community Employment Database
A usual and unfortunate reality for newcomers is that only about 10 to
15 percent of all available jobs are ever advertised. Participating communities
must change this situation and bend every effort to improve upon it by
widening the posted list of available jobs, by spreading the news, and
by helping newcomers tap into the hidden job market. There are many useful
Web sites devoted to the posting of job opportunities, but these have
two common limitations: they depend on what they are supplied for posting,
and as a rule they are not confined to a "participating community"
(which in effect means they can be advertising the competition from other
communities). On some Web sites there are even links to other sites.[8]
It could prove useful for participating communities to have one community-focused
electronic database and search tool through which potential immigrants
could access accurate and current employment information about the community
itself, and where the community and its employers can advertise their
needs. It might highlight sector shortages and other relevant information.
The technology now exists to develop a localized tool in a cost-effective
manner. The time seems favourable for such a tool and it might be a good
idea for communities with sufficient interest. In addition, federal government
cooperation could provide access to existing employment data.
Credentials Recognition / Recognition of Prior
Experience
There is a national log-jam on this topic. It is widely condemned. While
everyone agrees that something should be done about the unfairness of
the current regime, it has not been a compelling priority for provincial
governments (in whose jurisdiction the matter generally lies) reluctant
to challenge the many governing bodies of professions and trades. Various
government, academic, or NGO-inspired studies have documented the complexities
of the problem, and all this paper can do at this juncture is identify
the issue.[9]
Any province that successfully resolves this issue will have an immediate
advantage in attracting skilled immigrants until others follow suit.[10]
This should be an inviting strategy for provinces that have an interest
in increasing the number of immigrants.
Community roundtables involving the provincial government, trade and
professional governing bodies, and the NGO sector also have an opportunity
to raise awareness of the issue, to work for quick recognition of the
credentials of newcomers, and to develop strategies to reduce the amount
of misinformation confronted by prospective immigrants before they come
to Canada.
In the meantime, while we lobby and wait for the impasse to be resolved,
there are things that participating communities can do. They can institute
mentoring programs, for example. These have a long and successful history
within the settlement sector, and have been implemented by some provinces.
They are an excellent way to teach recently arrived trades people and
professionals about their new home and to give them the information they
need to be able to deal with Canadian licensing requirements. Both governments
and corporations have used volunteer programs to introduce newcomers to
the Canadian workplace; where they are appropriate, they should be introduced
with the full cooperation of organized labour.[11]
Ontario is one jurisdiction that assesses the prior learning of newcomers;
participating communities should be aware of local resources for this
assessment and should tell newcomers about them.
Eligibility for Government and Community Programs
Participating communities must remove barriers that keep newcomers from
participating in community and local government programs, whether employment
related or not. There should be no barriers for immigrants that do not
exist for the general population. Real barriers that relate to length
of stay, or inadvertent barriers arising from gaps in knowledge, may encourage
newcomers to move. Communities should institute proactive reception techniques
that acquaint newcomers with available resources and opportunities.
The Role of Unions and Associations
Unions in the participating community need to share the community's goals
for more immigrants (and hence more workers). There must be a shared recognition
that community prosperity and new residents are intertwined. Unions and
trade and professional associations need to assess their own rules to
ensure that there is an openness to the addition of newcomers to their
ranks.
Workplace Supports
The participating community should ensure the availability of adult language-training,
including opportunities for access to workplace-related instruction in
English or French as a Second Language for new workers, and related day
care opportunities for their children. This involves a whole-community
response, particularly from employers. Language proficiency is an essential
part of employment preparation.
Income Support and the Work Ethic
Income support programs for newcomers need to be examined to ensure that
they are consistent with goals of self-sufficiency for the immigrant and
the family. It makes no more sense to penalize initiative than to encourage
dependency. Intelligent assessments of newcomer circumstances, when required,
need to be realistic and fair-minded when measured against the over-riding
goal of their retention by the community.[12]
Rules associated with resettlement assistance programs for government-sponsored
refugees, or with local welfare policies, have been seen to be disincentives
by many recipients because of the low threshold before deductions are
made on their support. Moreover, the time delay, especially where personal
earning levels fluctuate from month to month, means that some recipients
are without the basic support level for several weeks. Similar problems
exist with those receiving "top-up" support. Sometimes it takes
a while for a newcomer to develop full-time, independent income, but built-in
disincentives in social assistance penalize workers for earning more so
that sometimes they actually have less than if they continued to receive
support. These issues need to be examined as part of good settlement and
retention practice.
Cross-cultural Training for Workers and Employers
With the current sources of Canadian immigration, it is possible that
there will be cultural and experiential differences between immigrant
newcomers in typical participating communities and others in the workplace.
The racism that results in extreme cases inhibits the successful integration
of newcomers and makes it less likely that they will stay in the same
job or community. Community resources for cross-cultural training should
be identified (or developed if they do not exist) and then made available
for the workplace. The settlement NGO sector is a frequent source of such
expertise.
Employer Participation in Immigration Initiatives
Because employment is such a crucial factor, there are a number of opportunities
for employers to participate in initiatives to attract and retain newcomers.
The newly developed (and developing) Provincial Nominee Programs (see
New Initiatives section, below) may provide creative opportunities for
employers in participating communities to offer employment as part of
a qualification and selection process, such as is done in Manitoba.[13]
This will require collaboration between the provincial government and
the participating community's employers.
Another excellent opportunity for converting temporary residents into
permanent residents lies in the long-established work-permit program.
A cautionary note is in order: the vulnerability of temporary workers
must be monitored so that they are not abused and exploited during the
time that their mobility is restricted by terms of their temporary permits.
Foreign and international students have limited permission to work in
Canada following graduation. Employers can help them become permanent
residents as well, subject to the immigration rules that apply to them.[14]
Self-employment Opportunities
When surveying employment opportunities for newcomers, participating
communities should not overlook self-employment. Many immigrants have
been or became entrepreneurs or re-established themselves as independent
practitioners in a trade or profession.
Skilled Immigrants
Canada's immigration policy has been referred to as a "labour market
strategy," especially as it relates to the classification now called
"Economic Immigration." Official advocacy for this policy has
usually focused on the need for "skilled" immigrants, without
offering a precise definition. Perhaps one can be inferred from the so-called
"points system" used in qualifying applicants in this classification.
The terminology "skilled" is convenient in that it serves the
political need to assuage fears of, or prejudice toward, immigrants in
some quarters. But the terminology is troublesome in that it may occasionally
be an inadequate means for meeting Canada's labour needs. Some current
writing [15] has suggested
that developed countries actually need "unskilled" workers,
but again this may be limiting and unfortunate terminology.
The new Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (2002), as well as recent
remarks by Federal Immigration Minister Denis Coderre, reflect a welcome
if subtle shift in thinking in this area. The Temporary Worker program
has frequently brought to Canada persons with less-sophisticated skills,
as has the refugee stream. Participating communities surveying their employment
needs should assess the options available through Temporary Worker, Provincial
Nominee, and Refugee Sponsorship programs that might not be available
through the stricter interpretations of the federal selection processes
for economic immigration.
Index
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[8] Canada WorkinfoNet, for example,
is a pan-Canadian partnership of 13 Web sites providing visitors and members
with job search information, labour market information, job listings,
entrepreneurial information, financing options, as well as training and
education links. Back
[9] An industry-NGO collaboration in Manitoba
known as "The Blue Sky Group" has developed a workable solution.
Back
[10] On October 3, 2002, the Government
of Manitoba announced "Development of a Government-wide Strategy
to Address Qualification Recognition of Highly Skilled Immigrants"
Back
[11] Some communities have organized databases
for volunteer opportunities. Back
[12] When large families immigrated to one
community and were not able to be supported by the wages initially earned
by the immediately-employed family wage earners, community assistance
through the local food bank was provided, understood in the context, and
supported as a practical response. Back
[13] The Manitoba provincial government
gives priority to those applicants under its Provincial Nominee Program
who have both a job lined up and relatives in the province. Back
[14] The New Brunswick Provincial Nominee
Agreement has recently extended a student’s right to remain in Canadian
employment after graduation, from one year to two, as a pilot project.
Back
[15] Thinking the Unthinkable (the Immigration
Myth Exposed) by Nigel Harris, 2002, I.B.Taurus & Co Ltd, 6 Salem
Road, London W2 4BU; ISBN 1 86064 671. Back
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