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Alberta looking for more workers |
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Alberta plans to increase the number of immigrants it takes each year
by 50 per cent, to deal with an expected shortfall of 100,000 workers
over the next decade, according to a television news report.
The province used to take in 16,000 immigrants a year, but it will now
take 24,000, according to CTV. The province currently draws about seven
per cent of Canada's immigrants.
"The economic prosperity that Alberta enjoys today was built by
generations of immigrants and Canadians from other provinces, who
seized the opportunities that Alberta provides," Ed Stelmach, the
province's Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations,
said in a news release.
The new "Supporting Immigrants and Immigration to Alberta" policy aims
to attract and retain more foreigners to the province to fill a
shortage of skilled workers. It includes encouraging foreign students
to stay in the province after graduating, improving services helping
immigrants adapt to Alberta life, and marketing Alberta abroad as a
place to live.
The program promises to speed up the processing time for foreign
credentials, and boost skills and language training to help newcomers
succeed in the workplace and community.
More than half of Alberta's occupational groups report a jobless rate
of less than three per cent – indicating a shortage of skilled workers.
The province came up with the policy after consulting with employers,
businesses, immigrant services agencies, and post-secondary
institutions.
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