By Lucy-Claire Saunders

In just one of many sweeping immigration changes, Canada has rolled out a new open work permit scheme to attract foreign students - a move that may keep students working in Canada and using their skills to ease the labour shortage.

Under the new scheme, announced by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) last Thursday, foreign students  will now be able to get an open work permit under a post-graduate program, with virtually no restrictions on the type of employment and no requirement of a job offer.

“The international students at UBC have been overwhelmingly positive about this change,” said  Regina Lyakhovetska, a student advisor at the International House at the University of British Columbia. “Immediately after making the announcement, we received dozens of e-mails from students with questions and expressions of joy.”

The I House held an informational session the day after making the announcement and with only 24 hours notice, 60 students came-- during exam time. UBC has just under 6,000 undergrad and graduate international students.

“In the past, when students  were only allowed to work one year, there would be a lot of resistance from employers to hire students for just one year especially for jobs requiring extensive training. This was major hindrance to getting a job,” said Lyakhovetska. “These changes are going to be a great way for them to contribute their skills and enrich the Canadian workforce.”

Skill shortages affect every industry.  It is the number one issued raised in all sectors, according to a 2006 economic survey by the B.C. Competition Council.

The Canadian public seems to be supportive of encouraging foreign students in their quest to remain in Canada and become a part of a booming economy. Nearly 66 per cent of Canadians polled by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada think foreign students in Canada should be encouraged to stay on and become immigrants.

With an aging workforce and fewer young people entering the job market,  B.C. will experience more than a million job openings over the next 12 years. 

The foreign student population seems a likely group to help alleviate labour pains.  Nearly 64,000 international students came to Canada last year representing a 4.6 per cent increase over the previous year. And, there are currently 27,000 international students in B.C. alone.

John Leschyson, human resource director of Go2, a tourism human resource association, says the permit changes are a welcome move for the tourism sector as well as for other booming industries.

“With the changes, the student now comes armed with a work permit before having a job offer.”

The B.C. tourism industry employs at least 5,000 foreign workers in the province and faces an estimated shortage of 84,000 new workers by 2015.

The new permit changes are a smart move, said the director of International Education at Langara College, Gordon McNiel, because international students are a safe way to increase Canada's working population. They have paid for their own education, have acquired a network of contacts and are already acculturated to Canadian customers.

“As Canada needs more immigrants, international students are a low risk highly productive source of labour,” he said. “As a result, we have finally taken a different, more holistic attitude to international students. This is long overdue, but to be fair to CIC, it takes time to work out all the kinks in the infrastructure and get everyone on board. The staff who work with international students feel this is long overdue.”

While the federal government looks to foreign students for long term employment solutions, post-grad permit changes are just one stab in an overall assault on an archaic immigration system.

Last month, the Conservative government introduced sweeping changes to the immigration system, allowing the government to eliminate the immigration backlog and to speed up the entry of skilled workers.

But critics say that among other things, the changes only serve as a quick grab for cheap migrant workers using a short term solution for a long term problem.

What really needs to change is the point system for landed immigrants –one that values trade skills and not just professional experience and education, said B.C. Construction Association president Manley McLachlan.
 
“Because of the allocation of points for professional training or education, someone with a trade background simply cannot get the points needed to become a landed immigrant,” he said. “That limits access to Canada for people have a background in trade.”

The construction industry estimates it has between 6,000 and 8,000 foreign workers in the province and faces a shortage of 38,000 workers by 2014.

Leschyson also believes that while the sweeping changes proposed by the Conservative government constitute just one approach, it is not the be-all and end-all to a long-term employment strain.

“A lot of the labour requirements we have in Canada and B.C. are systemic--growth and demographics-- which do not demand temporary jobs. But what we really need is immigration because these are permanent full-time jobs.

“In the meantime, the current changes allow the minister to establish priority processing for occupations. It's not the real fix but it's probably as good as we're going to get.”

In an effort to attract long-term immigration, the B.C. Construction Association and Go2 recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to collaborate on initiatives to entice families from across Canada and the world to relocate to B.C.

“This is a recognition that being able to offer jobs to both the secondary and the primary wage earners will attract more workers,” Leschyson said. “We both have labour shortages and a lot of growth expected so this is the perfect marriage.”

Together, they will face a shortage of more than 120,000 workers by 2015.

While the federal government injects both student and skilled worker blood into the immigration system,  the B.C. government is also enacting changes of its own.

Two weeks ago, Health Minister George Abbot announced a program that will help internationally educated physicians better navigate the health system.

The $258,000 B.C. Physician Integration Program will provide educated physicians with a one-stop, co-ordinated approach to practicing in the health-care sector.

Narciso Reyes, who came to B.C. in 1994 from the Philippines, calls himself one of the lucky few who was able to find a job as a pathologist assistant even though his Philippine credentials were not recognized by Chadian authorities.

Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver had posted the job online for months but because no one with the right skills applied, the job went to him.

“I was at the right place at the right time,” he said.

But just last year, he was told he would have to get the necessary credentials.