I'll refer to one specific example we have right now that we're looking at, which is the truck driver situation in New Brunswick. We have a fairly large contingent of truck drivers who are here on temporary work permits simply because the process for getting a work permit is faster than an immigration process. The needs of the employers are immediate, so by going through the work permit process the drivers are here sooner.
The vast majority of these drivers are interested in being permanent and using a nominee program to change their status from temporary to permanent. This is the type of worker we would like to look at in the pilot project, because when you do a pilot you have to keep it simple to see whether it works and whether it can be applied in other areas as well.
So I think we could start looking at issues such as the ones with truck drivers, where we know the families are here, the children are here, and the spouse can apply for a work permit only after we have nominated them. But we cannot nominate people immediately, because we want to make sure that first, the driver likes it here, and second, that the employer is interested in making a long-term relationship. So we have to let a few months pass to get the comfort level up on both sides. Then we use the nominee program to move on this to make it permanent.
This period from arrival until we do a nomination is very important because this, in most cases, is the most difficult period, when they have to adjust to their new life, when the spouses and the children of the drivers are most affected. Not only do they have to grapple with the changes they face in a new country, but they also feel isolated because they cannot participate in life in those areas the way their neighbours can.
We have mentioned this to Citizenship and Immigration on several occasions. It's not only in New Brunswick, by the way. Other provinces have mentioned it as well. We really feel that we should look at this through a pilot project to see whether it works, what the pros and cons are in the end, and whether a nationwide program could be implemented, based on our experience.