Meeting BC’s Workforce Needs Helping employers hire and retain skilled immigrants Sohee Ahn Executive Director Labour Market & Immigration Division Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training September 2012

 40,000 immigrants per year – 3,500 through the Provincial Nominee Program  70,000 temporary foreign workers per year  1 million job openings in BC to 2020 – 1/3 will need to be filled by immigrants  BC needs the full utilization of immigrant skills – huge source of untapped human capital and source of economic growth Slide 2 IMMIGRATION IS ESSENTIAL TO BC’S LABOUR MARKET

Slide 3 KEY PRIORITIES TO MEET NEEDS OF EMPLOYERS BC Government is taking action to increase labour market attachment and improve outcomes for skilled immigrants and employers IECBC found employers experienced difficulties assessing credentials and qualifications, navigating the plethora of information and resources, and that a lack of Canadian work experience was a barrier to hiring more immigrants Immigration Task Force found challenges recognizing foreign qualifications and work experience by regulators and employers prevent economic immigrants from fully contributing to BC’s labour market

Slide 4 IMPROVING INTEGRATION: FOREIGN QUALIFICATIONS RECOGNITION Defining Foreign Qualifications Recognition – The process of determining that the knowledge, skills and work experience obtained in another country are comparable to the standards established for professionals and tradespersons in BC Provincial legislation 62 regulators 260+ regulated occupations

Priorities for improving BC’s FQR system for employers Upgrade immigrants’ skills to Canadian standards Slide 5 IMPROVING INTEGRATION: FOREIGN QUALIFICATIONS RECOGNITION Implementing recommendations from FQR Review Competency based assessments Pre-arrival information

WelcomeBC.ca helps 1 million visitors each year Slide 6 IMPROVING ATTRACTION: WelcomeBC.ca

Toolkit for employers to hire and retain internationally trained workers– March 2013 Tool to help employers identify the right program to find skilled workers Checklists to guide employers through the hiring process Webinars with experts to help employers walk through process of different hiring options Slide 7 IMPROVING ATTRACTION: WelcomeBC.ca

Slide 8  How can current efforts to help employers hire skilled immigrants be improved?  What else can government do to support employers hire skilled immigrants? Government’s role: facilitate an efficient system Employer’s role: provide opportunities to immigrants How can we improve?

Slide 9 Contacts Sohee Ahn Executive Director Labour Market & Immigration Division Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training Shannon Renault Manager Labour Market & Immigration Division Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training