The federal skilled worker se­lection system established in 2002 looks at the worker’s over­all capacity to adapt to Canada’s labour market. It measures each candidate’s score on a grid worth up to 100 points. The grid takes into consideration the candidates’ official language ability, their edu­cation, their work experience, their age, whether they have a job already arranged in Canada (arranged employment) and their overall adaptability (which awards points for things like previ­ous work or study in Canada, the spouse’s education and relatives in Canada).

A recent evaluation of the Federal Skilled Worker Program showed that, overall, skilled work­ers selected according to these criteria are faring well in Canada, but it also shows there is room for improvement. Based on recom­mendations from the evaluation, academic research and best prac­tices in other immigrant-receiving countries, Citizenship and Immi­gration Canada (CIC) is proposing changes to the selection system. These changes don’t alter the selection criteria established in 2002. Instead, the proposals be­low would affect the number of points assigned to the criteria and the way they are assessed.

Requiring a minimum level of language proficiency
A 2005 Statistics Canada study found that employment rates for immigrants increased with their ability to speak an official language. It also found that language proficiency had the biggest impact on their ability to find work in either a high-skilled profession or their intended field.
However, the current selection system only awards a maximum of 16 points (out of a total of 100) for high proficiency in the first official language. It is also possible for an applicant to be selected with little to no language proficiency if he or she scores well on other criteria.
CIC will consult on increasing the maximum points awarded for proficiency in the first official language from 16 to 20, and on establishing minimum language requirements, depending on the immigrant’s occupational skill lev­el. For example, managers or pro­fessionals would have a different requirement from tradespeople.

Placing greater emphasis on younger workers
Immigrants who arrive between the ages of 20 and 30 have been found to have the greatest eco­nomic impact on the receiving country. Younger immigrants have higher rates of employment and earnings than older immigrants. By contrast, immigrants aged 45 or older experience unemploy­ment rates almost double those aged 25–34 years.

The selection system currently awards the maximum of 10 points to applicants up to age 49. Ap­proximately 27% of federal skilled workers who arrived between 2000 and 2006 were over the age of 40. CIC will consult on the pro­posed changes to award a maxi­mum of 12 points until age 35, with diminishing points awarded until age 49. No age points would be awarded after age 50.

Making the program more ac­cessible to skilled tradespeople
Canada is facing current and predicted shortages of workers in certain skilled trades. Immigrants can help meet this need. Howev­er, skilled tradespeople currently make up less than 3% of all fed­eral skilled worker applicants. Education points are awarded based on the credential (such as a post-secondary diploma) and the number of associated years of ed­ucation. The latter is intended to help ensure the quality of the cre­dential. However, it does not take into account country-to-coun­try variations in school systems. Skilled tradespeople who have a credential in their trade, but not the required years of education, are therefore disadvantaged and lose points.
The proposal is to reduce the number of years of education re­quired to claim points for a trade or other non-university credential. This change would help improve access for skilled tradespeople, technicians and apprentices who have valid post-secondary qualifi­cations but not the required num­ber of years of study.

Redirecting points from work experience to other factors
The overall value of work ex­perience points in the grid rep­resents too large a share when compared to the overall value af­forded to work experience by our competitor countries. Currently, with as little as four years of for­eign work experience, an appli­cant has already earned 21 of the points required to meet the pass mark of 67.
CIC is proposing to reduce the total number of points that could be awarded for work experience from 21 to 15. The proposed change would also increase the years of experience required to achieve full points under this cri­terion. This change would better reflect the relative value Canadian employers place on foreign work experience, and ensure that ap­plicants have more experience to earn full points. It would also al­low points to be redirected to the criteria that better contribute to an immigrant’s successful estab­lishment, such as language profi­ciency.

Reducing the potential for fraudulent job offers
Arranged employment has sev­eral advantages for immigration purposes. It offers applicants an immediate 15 points on the grid, and waives the requirement to have a certain amount of money set aside to prove that the immi­grant is able to be self-sufficient in Canada. All of these advantages have made this part of the Fed­eral Skilled Worker Program sus­ceptible to exploitation by people attempting to immigrate with a fraudulent job offer.

The evaluation of the Federal Skilled Worker Program showed that people who immigrate with a valid job offer are doing very well in Canada, earning 79% more
three years after arriving than people without arranged employ­ment. Therefore, the program is important and should be used to help employers offering legitimate work. But a more rigorous up­front assessment of the employer and job offer is needed to curb the potential for fraud.

The proposed changes would establish clearer criteria for as­sessing the genuineness of a job offer, and could require employ­ers to sign a document attesting to their intention to hire the immi­grant. They could also include re­strictions for employers who don’t comply with this intention.

 

Excerpts a re taken from CICC Admission News.

A Canadian Certified Immigra­tion Consultant, Certified Senior Advisor and a Notary Public in the City of Burnaby, Editha Corrales Nelson’s preferred areas of prac­tice are Powers of Attorney, Wills Preparation, International Legal Documents, Name Changes, Affidavits, Letters of Invitation, Statutory Declarations, Draft­ing of Business Contracts and other notarial services. For an ap­pointment, please call: 604-777- 2757.

The following should not be construed as providing legal ad­vice and information in this col­umn is intended only as a general guide and should not be applied to specific circumstances without further consultation. For more in­formation on the subject, contact Editha Corrales Nelson at 604- 777-2757.

< Prev		Next >