Category Archives: Federal Skilled Trades Worker

Details of Revised Federal Skilled Worker Program Released

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Skilled tradespersons in eligible vocations like construction work will be able to apply for Canadian permanent residence under the new Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) (Paul Keheler)

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) unveiled information on Friday about the new Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) that will be launched in the new year.

The revised program will have more demanding language requirements, more selective credential assessment, and will give preference to Canadian work experience over foreign work experience, among other changes.

CIC placed a temporary freeze on the acceptance of new applications for the FSWP on July 1st to give the immigration department time to instate change that it said were needed to address shortcomings in the program.

The following are the major changes to the FSWP that were announced in Friday’s release:

  • Increasing the maximum points awarded for proficiency in an official language, from 16 to 24 points
  • Awarding a maximum of 12 points to applicants aged 19 to 35, and decreasing the points awarded until age 46
  • Reducing the maximum number of points awarded for foreign work experience from 21 to 15
  • Eliminating points awarded for spousal education and awarding points for spousal language proficiency instead
  • Awarding a maximum of 10 points for Canadian work experience
  • Awarding points for foreign education credentials based on an assessment of the foreign credential’s equivalent value in Canada as assessed by an organization that is designated to provide credential assessment and authentication

New Federal Skilled Trades Worker Program

In addition to the changes to the FSWP, CIC also announced the details of a new Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP) that will be open to tradespersons skilled in eligible trade occupations.

The requirements announced for the FSTP are:

  • An offer of employment of a duration of least one year from up to two Canadian employers or a Certificate of Qualification from a provincial or territorial Apprenticeship Authority.
  • Proficiency in an official language
  • At least two years of work experience in an eligible skilled trade in the last five years
  • Required qualifications in the skill trade as described by the National Occupational Classification (NOC)

Changes to the Canadian Experience Class

As forecasted by CIC earlier in the year, the Canadian work experience required to qualify for the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) program will be reduced from 24 months to 12 months, to allow temporary foreign workers in Canada to more quickly qualify for Canadian permanent residence status.

Massive Shale Oil Prospect Discovered in Northwest Territories, Could Increase Demand for Foreign Labour

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The Canol shale formation ranges from the Mackenzie River, pictured above, in the east, to the MacKenzie Mountains to the West. (David Adamec)

A new shale oil prospect in the Northwest Territories potentially rivals the Bakken formation under Saskatchewan, Montana and North Dakota in its recoverable oil resources.

The Canol shale formation could contain two to three billion barrels of recoverable oil according to David Ramsey, Minister of Industry and Transportation for the Northwest Territories. If the estimates are proven accurate, it would increase Canada’s total proven oil reserves by over one and a half percent, to 182 billion barrels.

The find has the potential to create significant economic opportunity for Northwest Territories communities and those ready to brave Canada’s subarctic north. First Nations communities are hopeful that the development will bring jobs to the region, while also concerned about the damage it could do to the pristine northern wilderness.

Temporary foreign workers could play a big role in the extraction of the new oil find, given oil and gas companies are already not able to meet their labour needs in remote and inhospitable resource basins, ranging from northern Alberta to central Saskatchewan, to oil platforms off the shore of Newfoundland.

Last month, the federal and Alberta provincial governments jointly announced a pilot program to expedite the issuance of work permits to foreign workers skilled in in-demand trades like welding, and the federal government is planning to add a skilled trades stream to the Federal Skilled Workers Program to allow more people with the skills demanded by Canada’s resource sectors to become permanent residents.

Federal Government to Place Moratorium on New Skilled Worker and Investor Immigrant Applications

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Tradespeople like welders will be given greater preference in the revamped Federal Skilled Worker program after the moratorium on the program is lifted

Postmedia News has reported that the federal government is going to place a moratorium on accepting new applications for permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Worker and Federal Immigrant Investor programs, which were set to begin accepting applications for the year on July 1st.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) plans on revamping both programs to maximize their contribution to the Canadian economy, create a faster application review process and deal with the backlog of applications that have not been processed, before restarting the program, which it expects to do by January 2013.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney has previously said that the Federal Immigrant Investor program’s $800,000 minimum investment requirement for applicants, which was increased from $400,000 in 2010, is still too low, and that the type of investment should be changed from the current no-interest five year loan to a permanent investment into the Canadian economy.

Last year, the 700 applicant annual quota for the investor program was filled in 30 minutes, with wealthy foreigners chartering private planes to be the first to submit their applications to the Sydney, Nova Scotia intake office. Mr. Kenney says that given the demand, the federal government will be able to increase the price of permanent residency status in Canada for wealthy foreigners.

The revamped Federal Skilled Worker program meanwhile is expected to get a new stream for skilled tradespeople which will replace formal education requirements with a requirement for applicants to be skilled in trades that are in demand in the Canadian economy, particularly in the resource sectors.

 

Immigration Canada to Create New ‘Skilled Trades Worker’ Program

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The federal government will be creating a new Federal Skilled Worker Program specifically for tradespeople later in the year, that is intended to help meet Canada’s shortage of skilled trades labor.

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney remarked that “we are facing huge and growing labour shortages in Canada, particularly here in the West and in Alberta” at a construction site in Calgary earlier in the month.

The current Federal Skilled Worker Program scores immigration applicants out of 100 points, with a passing score of 67. The criteria the score is based on are English/French language ability, education, work experience, age, the existence of a Canadian job offer to them, and their adaptability.

The assessment criteria have been unfavorable to skilled tradespeople, who generally score lower on language ability and education than skilled professionals, resulting in skilled tradespeople making up only three percent of those accepted under the current Federal Skilled Workers Program.

The new skilled trades immigration class will put more emphasis on practical training, as opposed to just formal education, and will favor trade workers skilled in construction, mining, transportation, manufacturing and services.