» Recruitment & Retention

Workforce Mobility and its importance to Canada’s future

Stephen Cryne

When the Honourable Preston Manning delivered the keynote address at the Canadian Employee Relocation Council’s (CERC ) annual conference in 2007, he affirmed the important and crucial role of the relocation industry. “I cannot think of a line of work that has been more a part of the Canadian experience,” said Manning.

Immigrants and migrant workers have built our cities, railroads and industrial heartlands. It will be skilled and knowledge workers that will build the Canada of tomorrow.

Relocation and the mobility of Canada’s workforce are vital to our economic success. In a global economy there is an ongoing need for a workforce that is adaptable and available to deploy both within Canada and internationally.

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In British Columbia the demands for labour and skilled workers are acute and unprecedented. Many projects have stalled because of shortages of trades people, managers and administrators. Red tape and government bureaucracy have created unnecessary delays in accessing foreign workers through various government programs.

This is a reality that all Canadian provinces need to prepare for in the very near future. Canada’s workforce is ageing and it is estimated that in the absence of increased immigration, Canada will be unable to sustain any growth in its workforce as early as 2011. Between 1991 and 2001, immigration accounted for 70% of the growth in the workforce.

Our unemployment rates are at the lowest levels in decades and we have about two thirds of all Canadians between the ages of 16 and 64 in the labour force. This rate will decline as more workers retire.

The answers to the challenges are complex and multifaceted. And, its not only business that will be affected, government and public services also will be dramatically impacted. From immigration, to skills training and more open mobility within Canada there are several areas where governments of all stripes can work to reduce barriers and build cohesive frameworks to meet the challenge head on.

On the immigration front CERC is working to impress on Government the need to change Canada’s current approach to immigration policy. Our legislation and administrative practices are out of step with the business needs of today. Policies and programs were designed in an era to keep people out of the country, and that must change.

A case in point is the situation of foreign students who graduate from Canadian Universities. Under current rules students have 90 days after graduating to find a job in their field and get a work permit. Hardly enough time since data suggests that it takes home grown graduates almost six months to land the job.

In 2005, (the latest annual data available) according to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, there were 262,236 immigrants. Of those, 61,614 were economic principal applicants; fewer than the 65,275 economic newcomers in 2001. The number of entrepreneurs, the class we so much want to entice to Canada dropped from 3,208 in 1996, to just over 750 in 2005. Economic immigrants, including their families, accounted for about 60% of all immigration in 2005. In British Columbia immigration declined from a high of 52,000 in 1996, to about 45,000 in 2005.

Other countries are streamlining their systems and use immigration policy as a recruitment tool. For example, New Zealand’s minister for research, Peter Hodgson, said of his country’s approach: “We no longer think of immigration as a gate-keeping function but as a talent attraction function necessary for economic growth.” This is something that Canada should be actively working toward.

Blue Print for change

What should our governments be doing to address one of the most pressing issues in Canada’s modern history?

• Address the huge backlog of economic immigrant applications estimated at some 550,000, many of whom will have skills, education and knowledge Canadian industry badly needs
• Harmonize professional licensing and accreditation programs across the country
• Modernize rules for foreign students
• Implement new technologies to streamline applications, and focus CIC resources on areas of compliance
• Adopt a national immigration system as an alternative to the current framework of Federal-Provincial agreements
• Establish open labour mobility agreements between ALL provinces

Stephen Cryne is presenting "Relocation Policies for Your Recruitment & Retention Toolbox" on Thursday, May 1st as part of the Recruitment & Retention track of the 46th Annual BC HRMA Conference & Showcase. For more information on this and other conference sessions, please visit www.bchrma.org/conf2008.

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