Toronto: Citing flaws with the current system of immigration, a top Canadian minister said that employers, not bureaucrats, needed to decide who comes to the country and the government was considering hiring an agency to assess educational credentials of potential immigrants.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney the government cannot afford to recruit people, who could not justify their skill level on arrival. Employers are going to do a much better job at selection than a passive bureaucracy, he said.
The Minister was addressing over 150 Indian and Chinese Entrepreneurs here today at a function organised by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) and Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs (ACCE).
Kenney said: We're bringing over 250,000 people every year, majority of them from India, China and Philippines, into the country to end up, many of them, unemployed or underemployed in an economy where there are acute labour shortages.
He said the government wanted to transform the immigration system within a year and a half to allow international companies and Canadian business organisations to recruit newcomers who can effectively contribute to the Canadian economy and live a better quality of life in the country.
The Minister said the government was considering hiring an outside company to assess the educational credentials of newcomers before they arrive in Canada in a bid to keep foreign physicians, lawyers, and other professionals from having to drive cabs when they arrive.
Kenney said the government will issue a request for proposals within the next two months in the hope of selecting a third-party organisation that can begin conducting these overseas assessments before 2013. Satish Thakkar, ICCC President said that the Chamber was committed to strengthen bilateral trade, economic and cultural ties between the two countries.
It has a tradition of being the catalyst for forward movement and momentum on the Canada-India Trade Relations. Alan Kwong, President and CEO of the Association of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs, said both organisations have decided to work together for mutual benefits.
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