Tue 12 Feb 2008
CALGARY
- Alberta’s booming economy and a continuing shortage of skilled
workers across the country will strain the existing workforce and
increase the reliance on foreign workers, according to a 10-year job
forecast released by Calgary Economic Development on Tuesday.
The study found the areas of professional services, health care, retail and construction need the most attention.
The Calgary region will require an additional 244,000 skilled workers
over the next decade. Included on the list of jobs in demand are retail
salespeople, nurses, financial auditors, petroleum engineers,
carpenters, electricians, teachers and computer programmers.
“The labour shortage is not an issue that only Calgary, Alberta
or Canada is experiencing. Basically every balanced economy is
experiencing a labour shortage and we’re all competing for that
labour,” noted Adam Legge, chief economist for Calgary Economic
Development.
Although some of the jobs will be filled through increased
access to education for young people, about half will probably have to
come from skilled immigrant labour, he said, and that is where Canada
is lagging behind.
Legge worries that other countries are succeeding more at
luring highly skilled immigrant workers, by reducing the timeframe and
quickly recognizing international credentials.
“Two countries that come to mind are Australia and New Zealand,
who are both aggressive in terms of recruitment fairs as well as the
time it takes to get someone in working on the ground in those two
countries.”
“We’re at risk of not attracting and recruiting the world’s
best talent. Right now they can go anywhere they want. They have a
ticket. If they’ve got the skills and credentials, they can go anywhere
in the world and it’s a very competitive landscape.”
Canada has so far done a poor job of adding qualified
immigrants to the workforce, says Concordia University professor Eric
Shragge, who has studied the issue.
“You see a general tendency of bringing in people, often with
high levels of university and other education and then over the long
term they end up being at the bottom of the labour market both in terms
of wages and the types of jobs they get,” Shragge said. “Partly that
has a lot to do with recognition of their training and skills.”
Shragge said the federal government seems more interested in
expanding the temporary worker program, where employees are brought in
for up to eight months and then return home.
“It’s bringing in workers for the short term, and when people
come like that, they aren’t covered by programs or have rights. Wages
are lower and conditions are worse.”
The expansion of the temporary worker program is also a concern of the Alberta Federation of Labour.
“Instead of creating an immigrant workforce for the future, they
are in the process of creating disposable, underclass workers which may
meet the short-term interests but will not do what needs to be done for
the future,” said federation president Gil McGowan.
“Real immigration is a big part of the solution to deal with
the labour force crunch, but so far the government has demonstrated
absolutely no understanding about what actually needs to be done.”
An official with Citizenship and Immigration said the
government has taken a number of steps to improve the immigrant worker
problem.
“There are measures that have been put in place to help
expedite the process and make it a little bit faster,” said Danielle
Norris, who pointed to a pilot project in B.C. and Alberta called
Occupations Under Pressure.
“There are certain occupations that are designated as extremely
important and they can’t fill from anywhere here in Canada,” she said.
“It has taken the recognition of credentials from five months to five
days and covers such occupations as plumbers, pipefitters, welders and
roofers as well as engineers.”
The government is also looking at ways to allow international
students within Canada who already have degrees or work experience to
apply for permanent resident status.
“We’ve trained them. They have the right experience so we’re
going to work hard to keep them here instead of sending them back,”
said Norris.
Bill Graveland, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Published Tuesday January 29th, 2008
Related Alberta Jobs:
- Trades contest boon for Calgary employers
- Shortage in qualified labour hits record high in 2007: CFIB
- Manufacturing’s Skilled Labour Shortage
- Wage Comparison Alberta and Newfoundland-Labour Shortage
- 2008 Employment Report Highlights Alberta Job Focus
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