Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - August 2010
The Federal Government has bowed to pressure from the provinces and agreed to raise the cap on foreign workers entering the country.
Earlier this spring, the government had indicated that they would be decreasing the number of workers accepted through Canada�s various Provincial Nominee Programs, which allow provinces to fast-track applications for workers whose skills are in particular demand.
The move to decrease numbers was motivated, the government argues, by long processing times, as well as a need to give adequate focus to other streams of immigration, such as the Federal Skilled Worker program.
Alberta, one of Canada�s strongest economic centres, had been one of the provinces leading the opposition to lower the cap on provincial nominations, and officials within the province were pleased to hear that the government was ready to listen.
�It [the cap increase] would be a move in the right direction,� said Alberta�s Minister of Immigration Thomas Lukaszuk. �We will be seeing more and more permanent labour shortages. We have to look to immigration to solve this problem.�
Alberta and Manitoba were the two provinces with the highest cap, set at 5,000 workers allowed entry this year. Saskatchewan will be able to nominate 4,000 workers and B.C. will be allowed 3,500 this year. All of the caps are higher than initially announced by the federal government.
Despite the good news, Lukaszuk does not yet consider the battle to be over, saying that the new cap is just a �start� in the complex process of addressing Alberta�s serious labour concerns in the near future.
Source: Calgary Herald
