Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - May 2008
In a speech given to members of Canada’s building industry, Canada’s Minister of Human Resources, Monte Solberg, assured listeners that his government is fully aware of the looming labour shortage and is fervently working toward policies that will offset the threat to the economy.
The latest statistical data shows that Canadian employment is at an all-time high, with over 80 per cent of the working age population currently employed, and over 300,000 new jobs created last year. This, despite thousands of layoffs within Canada’s struggling manufacturing industry.
With so many new positions being created each year, Canada’s birth and immigration rates are just not able to keep up with labour demands, according to many analysts.
“Our demographics are working against us,” said Solberg in his speech to the Canadian Building and Construction Trades’ Legislative Conference, “Baby boomers are set to retire and our low birth rate means demand for workers will soon outstrip supply.”
Furthermore, the labour shortages will not only be restricted to the booming west. Statistics show that within the next 25 years, the province of Ontario will have over 500,000 job openings, while Quebec is projected to have over one million openings within the next eight years alone.
The Conservative government will use this data to support its controversial proposal to change Canadian immigration policy such that certain workers are allowed to be fast-tracked if their skills are in dire need.
Source: CanWest News Service
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=d728c3e5-c1af-4636-89c4-6c86e64308f2&k=3622
