Canadian Workplaces and Job Security to Immigrants

A recent survey depicted that people who are working in Canada are happy with their jobs. According to a poll by the famous job search engine, monster.ca, commissioned by the Labour Day 46% of people who work in Canada feel that they have more job security today than they did at the same time last year. Canadian workers in public sector felt the most secure at 53% compared with 42% of private sector.

The poll also showed that 88% of people working in Canadian firms were content with their jobs. These Canadian workers were also satisfied with their current employment situation. To a surprise Canadian workers living in Manitoba and Saskatchewan were the most secure with their jobs as compared to the rest of the country.

The unemployment rate in Canada at present is about 8.6% with many signs of its emerging from recession. Inspite the recession and economic turmoil, Canada has still given opportunities to skilled migrants who applied for Canadian visas and work permits. The strategy of which is still paying off.

The results of the survey were out standing. It was also found that 33% of people thought job security with their institutions was the top perk. Besides 31% of people said that best thing was that they could keep a balance between their work and personal life in their present jobs.

The survey was conducted by the Harris-Decima polling company on behalf of Monster.ca. "Although we've seen daily reports of layoffs and plant closures, Canadians are feeling pretty good about how they make a living," said Peter Gilfillan, general manager of Monster Canada. "Anxiety levels seem to be going down, and that's really encouraging."

Apart from holding polls and surveys, Canada is now trying to attract investors and foreign skilled workers to come and live in Canada as the country is short of skilled immigrants. Canada offers a bundle of opportunities to foreign immigrants who come to Canada in a hope to start a new life.
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Canada Attracts Investors while the World Economic Forum Rank its Banks the Soundest

The World Economic Forum has ranked Canada and its banking system as the ‘soundest in the world’ once again. Canada now hopes to attract foreign investors to obtain a permanent residence while they also help its economy to flourish further. The members of the Forum also voted Canada for giving the new immigrants enough ease to start their own businesses.

As obtaining a PR in Canada is always good news among Asian immigrants, this new option would be well accepted among wealthy Asians. The South Asia Mail quoted that the Immigrant Investor Program which would allow the rich people to get a Canadian visa if they invested in the Canadian economy in anyway would be a great option for them. People could invest by starting their own businesses or already established businesses besides they could also gain a PR status in Canada.

There are many advantages for people who wish to immigrate under the immigrant investor plan. The new immigrants along with many benefits would get a five year tax ‘holiday’ with a secured and permanent residency. Well-off business people hoping to take advantage of this category of Canadian Business Immigration can either seek their Canadian visa through the Federal Investor Program or the Quebec Investor Program. For both programs visa applicants are required to hold a net worth of CA$800,000 and must make a government guaranteed investment of CA$400,000. The sum is returned to the applicant, without interest, after five years.

The report by the World Economic Forum also cited that Canada has the world's soundest banking system, closely followed by Sweden, Luxembourg and Australia. UK, which had the top most position last year, has slipped to 44th place after El Salvador and Peru, while USA ranked 40th position in the charts. The Global Competitiveness Report by The World Economic Forum based its findings on many opinions by executives and handed banks a score between 1 and 7 ranging from low to highest respectively.

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Australian Immigration is now tougher with new Rules taking effects from Today

The sensation spread today when the immigration industry witnessed an updated report from the Minister, Chris Evans, Department of Immigration and Citizenship- Australia. The announcement stated that the Priority Processing will take effect from today, 23rd September. The document issued by the Minister for immigration and Citizenship, Chris Evans stated that there will be new ‘priority processing’ arrangements for certain Skilled Migration Visas from now on. Due to the rise in immigration fraud and genuineness of the cases, these new arrangements are designed to compensate those who suffer because of this.

Australia still suffers from skill shortages inspite of so many people immigrating to Australia every year. This brought the government in doubt and in order to address the needs of the skill shortage industry according to the Critical Skilled List the government came up with new rules and regulations. The updated priority processing directions would be commenced on 23rd September 2009.

What is more surprising is the fact that these rules would be applied to the cases in pipelines as well. The cases which are not yet finalised would also be treated with the updated priority processing directions and all the applications lodged on or after 23 September this year would be considered with the same instructions.

Now the question arises as what is priority processing and why did it take place? According to the section 51 of the Migration Act 1958, the Minister for immigration and citizenship has the powers to consider and finalise visa applications in an order of priority in which way it is considered appropriate. The ministerial directions must be followed by the departmental officers. It would be valid to the new applicants as well, along with the old applicants waiting for a decision from the same. One would wonder that why these processing are changed, then, it is purely a directive response to the needs of the Australian economy.

The directions for the priority processing would give priority to people who wish to immigrate to Australia with the required skills and qualifications, whose nominated occupations fall under the current CSL (critical skilled list). The following amendment would take effect from today, and also applies to the applications which are already been lodged and are yet not finalised with the department. The present directions would be applicable equally for onshore as well as offshore applications.

The occupations that are not included on the CSL would not be considered as priority processing unless the applicants are directly sponsored by an employer under ENS or RSMS. The applications already in process would be put on hold if they do not come under the ‘priority processing’ list as high priority cases would be processed with urgency.

The application under priority processing would take about 12 months from the lodgement date to be considered, given that they come under CSL list. The occupations that are non- high priority would not be finalised before the end of 2012. If the present applicants with their ‘nominated occupations’ in non- high priority list do not wish that their applications would be processed any further till 2012, they can simply withdraw their applications, however, only in limited circumstances their visas fees would be refunded.

The updated priority list highlighted the occupation of an Accountant in the CSL list. With the minimum eligibility criteria, it is made notable that a person applying for immigration must have a proficient IELTS test result with a minimum of 7 bands in all the four components. Applicants with the same or higher score would be considered as high priority.

The Minister has set priority processing arrangements which apply to the following visas from 23 September 2009:
Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS)
Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme (RSMS)
General Skilled Migration (GSM) visas except for:
Skilled – Recognized Graduate Subclass 476
Skilled – Designated Area – Sponsored (Residence) Subclass 883
Skilled – Regional Subclass 887.

Under the Ministerial Direction, the following processing priorities (with highest priority listed first) apply:
1. Applications from people who are employer sponsored under the ENS and the RSMS
2. Applications from people who are nominated by a State/Territory government and whose nominated occupation is listed on the Critical Skills List (CSL)
3. Applications from people who are sponsored by family and whose nominated occupation is listed on the CSL
4. Applications from people who are neither nominated nor sponsored but whose nominated occupation is listed on the CSL September 2009 1 of 6 September 2009 2 of 6
5. Applications from people who are nominated by a State/Territory government whose nominated occupation is not listed on the CSL
6. (i) Applications from people whose occupations are listed on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL) and
(ii) Applications from people who are sponsored by family and whose nominated occupation is not listed on the CSL.
7. All other applications are to be processed in the order in which they are received.

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written by Varsha Negi
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Recession brings Downfall in Immigration Trends, suggests a Report

A recent report by Washington based Migration Policy Institute of the BBC World Services, stated that since 2008 very less number of people are immigrating abroad which has resulted in reduction of the number of people going overseas to live. However, since the global economy is now recovering the trend of less number of people immigrating abroad is going to change with the improvement of the same. The report suggested that since 2008, there have been many changes in the pattern of immigration across the globe. Some of which are following:

Ø Some countries such as Malaysia, Australia and Russia have reduced the number of work visas they issue. However, Australia overall still encourages immigration.

Ø Almost half of the 1.4 million Eastern European workers who came to United Kingdom between May 2004 and March 2009 from European Union accession countries had returned by the end of 2008. Some former Eastern-Bloc Countries have managed to cope quite well with the economic downturn. The good news is that more and more people are optimistic about the UK economy. There has been a significant increase in UK share prices recently.

Inspite of this, some countries such as Australia and Canada has constant level or even higher numbers of immigrant population. As a matter of fact over all levels of immigration are still going up. By 2050, it is projected that 230 million people would be foreign born. In a comparison, it was 75 million in 1965. In a longer perspective the immigration industry would witness a significant growth as the numbers of immigrant wishing to go abroad would gradually increase.

The report however looked at immigration trend throughout the globe. As per the Chinese figures, within the country 140 million left rural areas to look for better prospects in urban and more industrial cities. However, due to recession, millions returned back to countryside and very fewer then returned back to the cities.

The situation in China however is not typical and limited to the country only. The overall trend is visible across the globe. For example, the number of Mexicans moving to the United States has fallen sharply - down 40% since 2006. The drop is even greater in the case of Romanians and Bulgarians moving to Spain. Their numbers have fallen by 60%. But, it is estimated that with the improvement of economy, the rate of immigration, internationally, is ever going to increase. The possibilities of new scopes and opportunities would attract people from across the world to venture out in search of better openings.

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Australia suspends 200 student visa agents for suspected behaviour

To keep a check on genuine student visa agents Australia suspended about 200 agents working in and outside India after the government of Australia received reports of fraudulent applications and low rate of visa approval cases. In order to re-gain the access to the online student visas system, the Australian government has asked the agents to ‘show cause’ and ‘justify’ their behaviour because they are simply meant for helping students with their application procedure to obtain a student visa which allows them a right to live and study in Australia.
The stir by the Australian Government Department is welcomed by the Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI). Welcoming the decision, The Association President stated, ‘We have been lobbying with the Australian Government to take action against the fraudulent agents in India, as well as to keep a check on the conduct of onshore agents in Australia and also their sub-agents in India.’
The Association President stated, “In addition to this recent crack-down, the AAERI is hoping the government will begin making more thorough checks to make sure international students have the means, in terms of financial capacity, to live in Australia and study at their chosen course”. Inspite of that, there are concerns over a lack of student visa checks to ensure if genuine students are living and studying in Australia through legal means.
In addition to that, The Australian Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Senator Chris Evans has announced that Australia would ensure the quality of students willing to study in Australia. The authorities would make sure that the student coming to Australia does not have fraud documents and have the financial capacity to live and study in Australia. To address the issue he said, “These measures will reinforce Australia's standing as a high quality education destination for all genuine students". The preventive measures would include upgraded interviews with the students and restricted online access to the Australian e-visa system to only genuine agents.
The Senator further said that the overall student compliance rates remain high. But he acknowledged that there are elements of concern within what is a very large caseload requiring targeted measures such as terminating or suspending agents because of evidence of fraud or poor approval rates to protect the interests of all genuine students. "The Australian Government takes allegations of fraud in the student visa program very seriously", he added.
Apart from that the Australian government is continuing to work with its state counterparts to inspect the universities, colleges and schools to make sure that Australia provides high quality education to every student remaining a top notch education destination.
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Canada should Invite more International Students to boost the Economy- suggests a Report

As per the statistics is concerned about the number of Indian students immigrating abroad on student visas, USA tops the chart with about 80,000 students in a year on an average with Australia coming second with about 40,000 students and then UK with 25,000 students a year. Canada however lags behind with about 4000 Indian students per year. A recent report suggested that to overcome the trend, Canada should invite more international students to study in Canada.

While many foreign universities are encouraging more and more Indian students to come and study in their premises, Canadian universities however takes on a very small portion of international students than other foreign universities abroad. Quoting that professor Mr. R.M. Touhey who published a study on this subject titled, “A New Direction for the Canada – India Relationship” analysed that Canada is lagging behind in taking sufficient number of international students than other developed countries. In the study he also revealed that the international student industry is worth approximately $300 billion dollars.

In his report, Prof. Touhey explained that Canada needs to take a notice of what Australian economy has accomplished by inviting more and more Indian students to study in Australia. The nation dramatically increased the number of Indian students in schools from 800 students in 1994 to 40,000 in 2008. All their advertising efforts and the “Brand Australia” campaign directed by the Australian Indian Council remain a success.

Further Prof. Touhey elaborated that the increasing number of Indian students in Canada would benefit the Canadian economy in enormous ways. Apart from just economic profit, the country could also promote in short term and long term political benefits. As Canada has been looking for making up deals with India in nuclear industry therefore politically speaking it would be a benefit to Canadian people.

The report outlines three such areas that should be emphasized to develop an underdeveloped and under-articulated relationship:
Canada must strengthen its meagre public diplomacy/advocacy efforts in India. A Canada-India Council that will work to enhance the flow of knowledge and people between Canada and India needs to be created. Such an organization would facilitate advocacy and Track Two efforts with other interested organizations.

Post-secondary linkages with Indian students, universities and colleges must be strengthened. To achieve this goal, the federal government should consider the following: Closer coordination with the provinces and higher-education sector actors engaged in India alongside the creation of a federally-funded program to develop and enhance bilateral education dialogue and linkages. Increased levels of federal funding for international scholarships that are available for Indian students. Conducting a national mapping study to identify the main academic institutions operating in India and catalogue their successes and failures to date.
Canada and India should bolster their nascent science and technology (S&T) linkages through the following means: Increased funding for the current Canada and India S&T program. Long-term funding stability. Develop an S&T India Program led by the National Research Council to strengthen capacity building in India, particularly amongst higher education facilities.

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Australia as a Multicultural & Secure Society

Monash University, Australia, carried out a study from regional and metropolitan areas of Victoria surveying about 120 people to learn about the multiculturalism of the Australian population. The study report highlighted that the Australian citizens are fully supporting continued immigration since they are content to live in a multicultural society.

The Parliament Secretary for the multicultural affairs and settlement services Mr. Laurie Ferguson, said, “The Monash University report, ‘Perceptions of Multiculturalism and Security in Victoria’ will be used by the Australian multicultural advisory council and Australian Government in the development of new cultural diversity policies”.

As per the present newsflashes about racial attacks in Australia, about it being a state where people are being racially discriminated, the report by Monash University comes with an insight about such matters as it also highlight the multiculturalism of the state. The survey report is also good news for Australia’s economy since Australia needs a lot of skilled immigrants to fill critical skilled shortage lists.

The multicultural attitude of Australian population, in the report is defined on many factors. Being an Australian is not limited to the definition of being ‘born Australian’ but on many other factors like the behaviour of people who are living in Australia, inspite of the factor that they had come from foreign lands. Ethnic origin wasn’t considered as an important factor in determining the ‘originality’ of people living in Australia. If the immigrant population from overseas obeyed the law and order, respects the people living around them and also learns a reasonable amount of English so that they can communicate well with the population around them are considered as ‘original Australians’ only.

Apart from that the minority groups in Australia like the Islamic and Sudanese communities were being critically portrayed by the media for which the report showed concerns. Concerning that Mr. Ferguson said, “Overall the report reminds us of the need to stay vigilant to protect our democratic approach to diversity. It is essential that we continue programmes to bring opportunity to all Australians and support their active participation in community life. We must stand united and reject all forms of racial and religious verifications”.

“The Monash University report, ‘Perceptions of Multiculturalism and Security in Australia will be used by the Australian Multicultural Advisory Council and Australian government in the development of new cultural diversity policies”, quoted Mr. Ferguson.

Further the people who participated in the survey report considered Australia as a ‘fluid and dynamic’, diverse, supportive and optimistic about the country’s ongoing potential for maintaining and strengthening social harmony.

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Rising Job Opportunities in Australia

It’s a good time for those who seek work in Australia. Australia is on its maximum to import man power from all across the world that suits the skilled immigrant category list.
As it is visible from all across the news and internet buzzing about skilled immigrants needed in Australia since the number of job vacancies has been going up recently. The expansion in job vacancies is the maximum recently in sixteen months. The Sensis Consumer Report on consumer confidence is also at 39 percent which is the highest level in fifteen months.

Ever since the world is under economic recession, job seekers have been struggling hard to find a suitable job. The economy is now improving with a sigh of relief among many job seekers. Consumers as well as businesses now feel that the world economy will pick up in the next 12 months. While investors are looking for confidence in businesses, businesses as well need confidence to invest in their own businesses. Both require faith and security with each other. The investors or consumers would only invest if they have a constant source of money coming their way, which is based largely on job security.

The economy of Australia has shown a great improvement as for the latest GBP figures are positive. If you check the current foreign exchange rate, the Australian dollar is at a 12 month high against the US dollar and European Euros and it is at a thirteen year high against the British pound which is now about two Australian dollars to one British pound. To develop the regional Australia, there have been many job appointments for the same. In construction jobs, the Housing Industry Association and the Australian Industry Group figures show that the building industry is still contracting. However, the decline is at a lower rate than in the past and there are shortages in many tradesman occupations.

The South Australian Immigration agencies have recently updated their Skilled Migration Occupation Demand List as they now need more skilled workers in various fields. Apart from South Australia, there are many skill shortages in Australia that remain vacant and need to be filled. With the recovery from economic recession, world, as well as Australia would witness an outbreak of job opportunities. With the improvement of the job scenario, Australia would need more skilled immigrants.
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More Skilled Immigrants are required in South Australia

As quoted by the Business Chief Executive of South Australia, Peter Vaughan, “The region needs to embrace more immigrants who want to get jobs in Australia in order to boost the region’s ageing workforce in future”.
According to the business expert, the south Australian region is deprived of population which is under 30 years of age. To overcome this problem Australian government would have to award Australian visas to skilled immigrants from outside the country with young families to help the economy of South Australia. He further explained that with constant lack of skilled labour in the region, the development is seriously going to suffer. To overcome that there has to be an influx of constant immigration. He said, “We have fewer people with tertiary qualifications per capita than anywhere else. That's a perfect-storm combination if you combine our population structure and our skills base."
He emphasised that without an influx of immigration, the region could find itself in trouble. “Over the next 50 to 100 years South Australia will develop economically if young families are encouraged to move to Australia to work. He explained, "we can't survive without the critical mass and we need to use these people to settle our current and looming skills shortage.”
Further elaborating, Vaughan said that the southern region of the country needs to “broaden its outlook” and welcome a higher number of immigrants to live in Australia and encourage them to take up jobs in industries suffering skills shortages.
As it is a quite visible pattern the regional Australia requires a lot of manpower to reach the optimum levels for development. The government has allowed many immigrants from different countries to immigrate to Australia since decades. The South Australian government has given many opportunities to immigrants immigrating from around the world. Since South Australia has a very low population, it becomes necessary to have enough manpower in the state to help develop the area. Immigrants from abroad who look for a change in lifestyle and personal growth often opt for the immigration South Australia option.
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The Long Term Australian Immigration Report Plan

The Australian Federal Government is planning to encourage upto about 230,000 immigrants to relocate to Australia every year for the next 40 years, suggested a report on skilled Australian Immigration as presented by the Australian Immigration Minister. The report was labelled as ‘Select Skills: Principles for a New Migration Occupations in Demand List’. The report stated that Australian Immigration should be maintained at maximum levels to cope up with the skill shortages in regional areas. As per the report, the minimum rate of immigration intake as recommended should be 150,000 people per year. Since the population of Australia falls all under the ageing workforce category, the report suggested that the numbers recommended must be met to compensate to keep a balance. The number 230,000 as suggested in the report relates to the number of people who took Australian Immigration last year.

The Australian Immigration Minister, Senator Chris Evans, addressing the report remarked that the recent changes in the Australian Skilled Migration rules are going to help fill the critical skill list gaps. “A properly targeted immigration programme will ensure that we have the right sized and appropriately skilled labour force”, commented the Senator. The senator also emphasised on attracting the right immigrants as the report stated, “Within the Framework, it will be important that those skilled migrants we choose are not only young and healthy, but also have a high level of education, language and skills.”

Adding to that Andrew Metcalfe, Secretary of the Department of Immigration Australia commented on the long term immigration plan and said, “In terms of the future, we are trying to lift ourselves away from year-to-year decisions to a 50-year vision”.
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A Summary of Immigration to Australia- till now

Australian immigration had been very popular among Indians especially Punjabis since past centuries. It is rumoured that the first Indians immigrated to Australia on Captain Cook’s ship in the 18th century. When the gold rush took place in 1851, many Punjabis from India took part in the Victorian fields till 1861. Later the early 19th century, a small number of Indians were sent to Australia as convicts transported by the then British Colonial Government in India. Many of them included servants brought by wealthy purchasers. Later in the century more Indians came seeking work mostly as labourers, domestic help and street hawkers. Since India was also a British colony the workers were welcomed in Australia. By the starting of 20th century the Indians in Australia were almost about 1800. Later many policies came into practices which restricted further Indian immigration to Australia. In 1966, following the relaxation of Australia’s restricted policies from 1966; a flow of Indian population to Australia again became prominent. The major professions that Indians adopted in Australia were of doctors, teachers, engineers and many of the blue and white collar jobs. Later in the 1980s due to skill shortages in Australia many employment opportunities came into being. Australia witnessed increasing numbers of Australian immigrants with technical and advanced computer skills. By the end of millennium over 30,000 Australians were of Indian origins.

Today, the Indians in Australia are culturally diverse, outgoing and adaptable. Due to skill shortages, Australia is looking for many Indians who are skilled professionals in their fields. Many leading industries like IT, engineering, Catering and accounting- are employing more and more Indians. Apart from that Australia has witnessed an economic roar because of student immigration in the past decade. Australia prefers international students since they pay higher tuition fees than domestic students, thus contributing in the income of the universities. Australia has thus opened its door for people who seek a better life outside India.
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