According to a recent report, the Government of the British Columbia (BC), Canada has designed a task force, particularly for the job of finding out the effective ways to attract overseas skilled professionals to the province. In this connection, the BC Premier, Mr Christy Clark was quoted as saying that there are a million job openings in the province, among which only two-thirds of them can be filled, for want of sufficient workforce. He added that the BC is facing a difficult situation, as economic development of the province is not possible, without people to fill the jobs that the government is planning to create.
Therefore, the BC Government is planning to boost skilled immigrants in the province, and cover this gap, which is very essential to strengthen the economy of this Canadian county. The task force will look at the present immigration programs of the nation, including the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), the Federal Immigrant Investor Program and the Canadian Experience Class; and also the manner via these programs are implemented across the BC.
Mr Clarke further said that the BC is a province and a state, built on immigration and it hasn’t changed. Initiatives in this process will include convincing the government to raise, or remove on the whole, the 5,000 cap on the PNP, and to find ways to invite more skilled personnel to the province, each year.
Stockwell Day, the former Conservative Cabinet Member is also a member of this task force with 9 other volunteers. The analysis and recommendations made by them will be presented in the final report in March, 2012.
Meanwhile, Mr John Yap, the Provincial MLA of the BC, was quoted as saying that this immigration task force is the initial step towards achieving the goal of creating a very competent and useful system of immigration in the province. He added for people, with higher level of skills, who want to come to the BC, the government will do everything that will help them to fulfill their dream of making BC their new place of residence.
