Policy & Positions Manual

Provincial Issues - Jobs, Tourism And Innnovation

Filling Labour Shortages in Northern BC - Obstacles to International Hiring (2011)

Canada is emerging from the worse global economic recession this generation has ever seen and the demand for labour will skyrocket throughout the next decade. As Northern BC experiences unprecedented growth in its already burgeoning natural resource industries, faced with severe recruitment and retention challenges, the ‘breadbasket’ of the province is beginning to panic.  One of the few available sources of skilled labour in the future will be from beyond Canada’s borders.  As the demand for temporary foreign workers increases, government must accommodate the changing needs of businesses, which are looking to fuel their accelerating human resource needs, by increasing support for immigration services in order that the Canadian economy may flourish.

There are several hurdles and challenges that make international hiring particularly difficult for Northern employers:

  1. Lack of an Immigration Office Located in Northern BC.

As immigration services have been pooled into call centres located in the Lower Mainland, northern communities lack direct access to immigration services which make telephone and online requests for application updates, information, and processes a frustrating experience often leading to exhaustion and dead ends.  Without specific northern representation, immigration officers often lack an understanding of the regional issues faced by northern employers, which differ greatly from those in the south.

  1. New Canadian Workers Settle in Metropolitan Cities

The waves of newcomers arriving in BC only go so far as the shores, to cities like Victoria and Vancouver, where ethnic cluster communities exist.  The ability of northern communities to attract and retain new Canadians and/or Temporary Foreign Workers is hindered in part by our vast geography which physically separates the few new Canadians we have living in the region, as well as the lack of services for Immigrant and Multicultural residents which may encourage them to make northern British Columbia their home.

While positively noting the recent announcement by the Province to inject a $15-million boost to community gaming grants from BC Lottery Corporation proceeds, it is imperative that some of these funds be used to support the settlement, multicultural, and labour market participation services in Northern BC.

THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS

That the Provincial Government:

  1. work with the Federal Government to re-open a northern immigration office; and

  2. place greater emphasis on labour market information and integration by informing immigrants of labour opportunities throughout the province through the Welcome BC program.