Close X
Sunday, November 17, 2024
ADVT 
National

Express Entry, Not Foreign Workers, Should Be Top Choice For Business: John McCallum

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 09 Apr, 2016 11:45 AM
  • Express Entry, Not Foreign Workers, Should Be Top Choice For Business: John McCallum
VANCOUVER — Canada's immigration minister wants to make a federal program that fast-tracks permanent residency for skilled workers the top choice for businesses seeking employees from overseas.
 
John McCallum told a group of immigration lawyers in Vancouver that he wants to hear their input as the government continues a review of its express entry program.
 
He told the Canadian Bar Association's Immigration Law Conference that he recently met with businesspeople through the Ontario Chamber of Commerce who ranked the different streams they could use to bring in immigrants.
 
The minister said temporary foreign workers topped the list, while provincial nominees were in the middle and express entry was at the bottom — an order McCallum says he'd like to see reversed.
 
Express entry was launched by the previous Conservative government to meet Canada's labour needs by securing permanent residency for highly-skilled foreigners in six months or less.
 
 
McCallum previously announced that the new Liberal government is launching a review of the program and hopes to make it easier for international students to become permanent residents after they have graduated from Canadian post-secondary institutions.
 
"The challenge with me is to improve express entry to make it more flexible, more fluid, more accessible, more desirable for those businesses wanting to bring immigrants to this country," McCallum said on Friday.
 
He said the government is looking at a number of options, including giving more points to students under the express entry program, which currently prioritizes immigrants who are skilled workers.
 
"I think the best source of immigrants for Canada is international students ... because they know French and English, because they know Canada, because they're educated, because they're young," McCallum said. "We should court them. We should encourage them to come here."
 
McCallum said the government is also considering limiting or eliminating the use of labour market impact assessments under express entry. The assessments are documents employers can apply for to show there is no Canadian who can do a specific job. The assessments are worth a high number of points under the program.
 
 
The suggestion drew loud applause from the crowd, but McCallum stressed over the clapping that he was not committing to the idea.
 
However, he said changes to the way international students are assessed under the program were almost certainly going to happen and the minister said he hoped to move quickly.
 
"There is some urgency in this matter," he said. "Stage one, which I hope would be soon, would be to give more points to the students, and stage two, further down the road after more study, would be to do other things to improve express entry."
 
Stephane Duval, Canadian Bar Association national immigration section chair, said after the event that he was very encouraged by McCallum's focus on reforming express entry for international students, who lost a clear path to residency after the Conservatives introduced the program.
 
"We see better communications with the actual minister, with the actual government, than what we are used to since the last 10 years or so," he said. "So we're very happy and looking forward to more discussion with the minister."

MORE National ARTICLES

'You Sort Of Wish The Car Could Talk:' Vehicles Abandoned At Edmonton Airport

'You Sort Of Wish The Car Could Talk:' Vehicles Abandoned At Edmonton Airport
Parking staff at the Edmonton International Airport regularly patrol its vast lots and keep a list of vehicles that have been sitting in the same spot for too long.

'You Sort Of Wish The Car Could Talk:' Vehicles Abandoned At Edmonton Airport

American Astronaut Clicks Pics Of Massive Blizzard From Space

American Astronaut Clicks Pics Of Massive Blizzard From Space
In another photo, Kelly, 51, pointed out that the huge system moving from Chicago toward the east "clearly has a long way to go."

American Astronaut Clicks Pics Of Massive Blizzard From Space

With Warmth In Chandigarh, Modi, Hollande Get Down To Business

With Warmth In Chandigarh, Modi, Hollande Get Down To Business
Modi pitched for investment in India by French companies, saying India had a lot to offer in terms of skilled workforce and as a market for French products.

With Warmth In Chandigarh, Modi, Hollande Get Down To Business

Smart Cars That Share Revealing Info About Drivers Catch Privacy Watchdog's Eye

Smart Cars That Share Revealing Info About Drivers Catch Privacy Watchdog's Eye
The family car is learning more about who's behind the wheel — everything from where a driver likes to shop to how hard they brake — as automakers roll out new tech-savvy features.

Smart Cars That Share Revealing Info About Drivers Catch Privacy Watchdog's Eye

A Century Ago, A Savvy Political Campaign Won Women The Right To Vote

A Century Ago, A Savvy Political Campaign Won Women The Right To Vote
OTTAWA — "We were young and vigorous and full of ambition. We would rewrite our history. We would copy no other country. We would be ourselves, and proud of it." — Nellie McClung.

A Century Ago, A Savvy Political Campaign Won Women The Right To Vote

Liberals Look To Speed Up Spending Old Conservative Fund As Parliament Returns

Liberals Look To Speed Up Spending Old Conservative Fund As Parliament Returns
The majority government of Justin Trudeau gets down to business in earnest this week with a dozen competing priorities and a gloomy economic outlook.

Liberals Look To Speed Up Spending Old Conservative Fund As Parliament Returns