SHORTAGE OF LABOUR IN ALBERTA

A shortage of labour was cited by a roundtable of energy companies in Alberta as their key business challenge. Easing immigration rules has been put forward as a possible partial solution. Alberta having the highest employment growth in Canada, and the fact that oilsands production (based in Alberta) is expected to climb from 1.6 million barrels a day to 3 million in 2020, point to growth in both the economy and population of Alberta.

According to an article in the Postmedia news, “more than 30 percent of the [oil and gas] industry’s core workforce is expected to retire within the decade as the first baby boomer’s turned 65 in 2011.” These workers all have to be replaced.

There are a variety of immigration and temporary status programs available in Alberta with the goal of helping to alleviate these labour shortages. These include:

• The Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW):The list of 29 qualifying occupations, has several skilled and semi-skilled occupations relevant to the energy industry.

• The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP):Fast-track options for engineers, as well as criteria for semi-skilled workers such as truck drivers and those in the hospitality industry that can complement the energy industry.

• Temporary Work Permit Options:That can eventually lead to permanent residency.

HRSDC REPLACED 2006 EDITION OF NATIONAL OCCUPATIONS CLASSIFICATIONS

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada has reported that On January 31, 2012, [HRSDC] and Statistics Canada replaced the 2006 edition of the National Occupation Classification (NOC) with a 2011 version.

NOC codes reflect federal employment standards and are used widely for immigration. They describe, amongst other things, job duties, recommended qualifications, and prevailing regional wages for over 40,000 jobs in 500 occupational groups.

The NOC matrix is updated approximately every five years, drawing from new data gleaned in Canada’s national census as well as consultations with leading economic stakeholders.Foreign workers who plan to or are in the process of applying through an economically driven immigration program (such as Federal Skilled Worker, Provincial Nominee Programs or Temporary work permits�may be directly affected by these changes.For individuals whose Federal Skilled Worker applications were received at the Centralized Intake Office before January 31, Citizenship and Immigration Canada has confirmed that they will be assessed according to the old NOC system. Those received after should conform to the 2011 guidelines.

Top 5 Common Mistakes Made in Canadian Permanent Residency Applications:

The following are the top five most commonly made mistakes when submitting an application for Canadian permanent residency.

1. Miscalculating Points.

2. Incomplete or Inconsistent Forms.

3. Incomplete or Missing documents.

4. Wrong NOC Code.

5. Picking the wrong visa office

Temporary Residents For Canada Biometrics Project:

CIC is making progress towards its goal for 2013 of introducing biometrics into its immigration stream for visitors, students and workers seeking to visit Canada on a temporary basis. Biometrics is the measurement of unique physical characteristics, such as fingerprints, for the purpose of verifying identity.

Tests now required for language points under Quebec Skilled Worker Program:

As of December 5th, new candidates to the Quebec Skilled Worker program who want to receive points for language for French and/or English, will have to submit test results along with their application. 

For French, only the following tests are valid: 

1. Test d'évaluation de Français (TEF) 
2. Test d'évaluation de Français adapté au Québec (TEFAQ) 
3. Test de connaissance du français (TCF) pour le Québec 
4. Diplôme d'études en langue française (DELF)/Diplôme approfondi de langue française (DALF) 

For English, only the following test is valid: 

• International English Language Testing System (IELTS) 

Only in the case of French can a spouse be awarded points, and in this case he/she must also take a French test from the establishments mentioned above, and submit results along with the principal applicant's results. This change is not retroactive, so applications received at Quebec Immigration visa offices before December 5th (or postmarked before December 5th) do not need to submit language test scores. 

However, the Quebec Ministry of Immigration and Cultural Communities suggests that all candidates whose applications were received before December 5th also submit test scores to confirm their language skills in French and English; this can help the candidate and accelerate the processing of their application.