Economia de Alberta em busca de mais imigrantes

De acordo com a reportagem abaixo, os relatórios do último Census revelam que a Economia de Alberta continuará liderando no Canada, mas para se manter mais sustentável, a província precisa de mais trabalhadores qualificados. Para isso estão até pensando em criar um programa de imigração exclusivo para Alberta, similar ao processo do Quebec.

Editorial: Census reveals challenges facing Alberta

Although there are larger metropolitan areas, Calgary has become the third largest Canadian city after Toronto and Montreal.


In a world rattled by economic uncertainty, new national census figures released Wednesday are enough to give anyone a serious dose of Alberta envy. Calgary is the fastest growing major city in the fastest growing province in the fastest growing G8 nation. Edmonton is the fastest growing metropolitan region. And, Alberta has eight of the 10 fastest growing mid-sized urban centres in the nation, led by Okotoks, which grew an amazing 42.9 per cent since 2006.


Jurisdictions around the world would die for similar statistics. Yet, with success comes enormous challenge, as anyone who was in Alberta in the frenetic period of 2005 to early 2008 can attest. Despite the influx of people into Alberta as shown in the new census, the critical issue facing the province in the coming decade will be people. Last year, the Alberta government estimated a labour shortage of approximately 114,000 workers through 2021.


The census data is certain to frame debate around issues ranging from electoral reform to immigration. On the latter, there are strong arguments that Alberta should assume greater control of its own immigration, similar to Quebec, to ensure we meet the economic needs of the province.


A case in point is Balwin Villa, an Edmonton facility for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients that was recently caught short-staffed when Ottawa refused to extend the one-year work visas of 13 nurses from the Philippines. The nurses had been recruited as temporary workers with the goal of earning provincial LPN certification. The denial of visa extensions means the nurses have 90 days to apply for alternate reasons to remain in the country.


In 2007, Alberta and Ottawa reached a new agreement to give Alberta more control over its own immigration file. The government that is closest to the people is best equipped to determine its own needs, yet the Balwin Villa case shows that issues remain.


The Temporary Foreign Worker Program under which they arrived has been plagued by its share of issues, forcing the province to bring in new regulations last year. There are now more rigorous assessment of the genuineness of job offers and a two-year foreign worker hiring prohibition for employers who have failed to meet commitments to workers on wages and working conditions.


As the census data shows, Alberta is under unique pressure on the job front. Saskatchewan, now a full partner in the resource boom, is also competing with Alberta for labour. With Newfoundland’s resource development also on the rise, Alberta can no longer rely on that province as a labour pool, and Newfoundlanders certainly deserve the opportunity to work close to home. Given all these factors, more collaborative work needs to be done with Ottawa on the immigration file.


The census data also reaffirms that Alberta is deserving of six additional Commons seats under a democratic reform plan recently announced by the Conservative government. For the first time in Canadian history, the proportion of the population living west of Ontario, 30.7 per cent, is greater than the number of people living to the east (30.6 per cent).


Although there are larger metropolitan areas, Calgary has become the third largest Canadian city after Toronto and Montreal.


The West is now truly in. The challenge is to see it remains that way, with enough people to keep us ticking.


© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Fonte: http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Editorial+Census+reveals+challenges+facing+Alberta/6122805/story.html#ixzz1lwfAzrWs