Canada’s strong economic growth is now overtaking its ability to recruit and retain workers, according to a press release. Last month, Honorable Sean Fraser, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, announced that Express Entry draws will soon resume and that permanent residence application invitations will begin in early July.
Fraser also announced a new temporary policy that will grant the opportunity to recent international graduates with expiring temporary status to stay longer in the country, allowing them to continuously gain work experience and have a better chance at qualifying for permanent residency.
“With the economy growing faster than employers can hire new workers, Canada needs to look at every option so that we have the skills and labor needed to fuel our growth,” Fraser said in the release.
“Immigration will be crucial to easing our labor shortage, and these measures aim to address pressing needs in all sectors across the country while providing more opportunities for recent graduates and other applicants to build their lives in Canada and continue contributing to our short-term recovery and long-term prosperity,” he added.
Also, former international students in Canada carrying a post-graduation work permit expiring between January and December 2022 will qualify for an additional open work permit of up to 18 months beginning this summer.
The government is currently looking into a simplified and swift process for the measure and will release details as soon as they are available.
To help expeditiously introduce more skilled workers to the country, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada doubled the number of permanent residence decisions made in this year’s initial quarter versus last year, welcoming over 113,000 new permanent residents in the first quarter of 2022.
More than 100,000 work permit applications have also been processed in the first quarter of 2022, nearly doubling the number processed over the same time period in 2021.
The department believes that these measures will allow applicants to continue adding to the Canadian economy, helping take care of labor shortage as they gain work experience and prepare their Express Entry profiles.
Meanwhile, the British Columbia Lodging and Campgrounds Association (BCLCA) acknowledged the federal government’s latest effort and assured its members—campground and RV park owners and operators in the Canadian province—that it will continue to collaborate with the governing body and partners on addressing the lack of manpower.
“This welcomed policy change is one of many ways to address our industry’s ongoing labor shortage. We continue to work with our government and industry partners on other workable solutions and will provide updates as we can,” said the BCLCA in its latest newsletter.
Hey, did you know that Canada is prioritizing work permits for skilled workers to tackle the labor shortage? Awesome news for the economy!