Is Canada moving away from attracting immigrants with advanced degrees or highly accomplished professionals to skilled-trades people such as plumbers and welders?
It would appear so, going from the latest statement from Canada’s Minister for Citizenship & Immigration, Jason Kenney.
In a statement, Kenney says he will launch a month-long public consultation process across the nation to ascertain the views of Canadians to his proposal to change the Federal Skilled Worker Program.
Kenney says the input received during the consultations will be taken into account in the development of new regulations.
Some key points of the proposed system are:
- Bringing in more younger people who could work for a longer time frame
- Allowing more skilled trades people
Kenney has also been quoted as saying that the current language proficiency system might have to be looked at again: for example, while someone wanting to work as a doctor in Canada will need a higher standard of English, does someone wanting to practise welding or electrical trade need the same level of language proficiency?
The Trades People vs. Professionals Debate
At the core of the debate seems to be a question what type of immigrants does Canada need – the highly qualified doctors and engineers, or the plumbers and electricians.
While some argue that globalization demands a strong knowledge sector and that can only be strengthened by highly qualified immigrants, some others claim that a country also needs trades people. They also point out to the fact that Canada will be facing a crunch in trades people as the current ones reach their retirement age.
The government it seems has wisely decided to make it a mixed basket.
The government’s immigration plans and numbers have been under scrutiny in the past couple of weeks.
Just as Kenney announced that the number of immigrants who came to Canada last year – almost 281,000 – was a 50-year record high (see below for SmartCanadian article), published reports also said the government plans to reduce the number of visas issued for parents and grandparents to join their families in Canada by a third, and those coming under the Federal Skilled Worker Program by a fifth.
The government has denied these reports.
Related articles
- Canada’s 2010 Immigration Highest in 50 Years (smartcanadian.ca)
- Youth, tradespeople take focus in new immigration proposal (theglobeandmail.com)
- Tories propose new immigration point system (ctv.ca)
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