Plenty of jobs in Alberta call for better immigration schemes

Canada, 5th March: Alberta is having more jobs than workers required to fill them and this is becoming a cause of serious concern for the province.

Several Alberta businesses have urged the government to tackle the problem of labor shortage.

Thousands of jobs in Alberta—Alberta is facing a new wave of worker shortage while the number of new jobs to be created in this Canadian province in the coming period is stated to be around 114,000. So, the biggest worry of this Canadian province is not new jobs but lack of requisite workers to fill these jobs.

There are not enough people to fill jobs in Alberta, says president of the Alberta Enter-prise Group, Tim Shipton. Agrees vice-president of human resources and communications for CCS Corp, Mike Williams. The demand of workers in growing up due to increased number of anticipated jobs in Alberta, he maintains.

There will be nearly 114,000 positions of jobs in Alberta in the coming times but there are insufficient workers to fill these jobs.

While the economy is growing at a good rate, the number of people exiting the employment market is also going up, adding to the woes of the economy, Williams clarifies. And this shortage of workers is worst among skilled trades, he quips.

Ease immigration restrictions for Alberta--Comprising 19 businesses and groups, the Alberta Coalition for Action on Labor shortage has been formed to find an answer to this problem. It is becoming difficult to get people with right skills, says Paul Taylor of Edmonton All-Weather Windows. It aims to make Alberta easily accessible for those wanting to come and work here.

Alberta immigration norms should be made flexible to accommodate increased number of skilled immigrants wanting to come and work here. The government must work towards making immigration to Alberta easier and faster, states Richard Truscott of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.

Strategies underlined by the coalition to be followed by the government—

• Changes in Federal Skilled Worker Program to give importance to labor needs;

• Easier permanent residency for temporary foreign workers;

• Streamlining the process of application and approval of Temporary Foreign Worker program;

• Changes in National Occupation Codes for recognition of wide range of skilled occupations that reflect changing employer needs.

The current annual cap for foreign skilled workers allowed to come and work in Alberta has been fixed at 5,000. But, Alberta wants this cap to be raised to 10,000 annually.