More than one-dozen workplace initiatives achieved since 2005
Alberta has implemented many successful initiatives over the past five years to help immigrants find jobs that meet their skills and experience, according to the Alberta Immigration Progress Report 2011.
The report focuses on four areas: attracting newcomers, helping newcomers settle in, helping newcomers find jobs and building welcome communities.
In the last five years, 120,000 immigrants have made Alberta their home and 85 per cent of them stay in Alberta once they arrive, according to the report.
Immigrants accounted for 20 per cent of Alberta’s working age population in 2010, the third highest percentage among the provinces. And the government’s initiatives to make Alberta a welcoming destination has seen the number of immigrants choosing Alberta increase by 58 per cent in the last five years, said the government.
Some of the initiatives introduced in the past five years that support work for newcomers include:
•A Foreign Qualification Recognition Plan (FQR) introduced in 2008 that includes online facts sheets for 31 regulated occupations and compulsory trades and provides funding for professional regulatory organizations to increase their capacity to assess and recognize foreign qualifications.
•The launch of the online tool Working in Alberta that helps newcomers find the jobs they are trained to do and helps Alberta employers find the labour they need manage their businesses.
•Completed international education guides for the Philippines, China, United Kingdom, Russia, India, South Korea, Nigeria, Pakistan and Columbia. The guides provide comprehensive profiles of the educational systems in other countries and show how they compare to educational standards in Canada.
•The International Qualifications Assessment Services (IQAS) issued 6,234 assessment certificates to immigrants. Since 2005, 25,559 assessments have been completed. IQAS issues certificates to immigrants in Alberta to indicate how foreign education compares to Canadian educational standards for entry into the labour market.
• Temporary foreign worker information booklets, available in 14 languages, were developed for both employers and foreign workers to ensure they have a better understanding of their workplace rights and responsibilities.
For more on the Alberta Immigration Progress Report 2011 and the government’s immigration policy Supporting Immigrants and Immigration to Alberta, visit www.employment.alberta.ca.
