Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, thank you for the invitation to appear today. My name is Wendy Swedlove. My day job is president of the Canadian Tourism Human Resource Council, but I'm here representing the Alliance of Sector Councils, which brings together a network of more than 30 sector councils.
I chair the immigration and FCR working group of the Alliance of Sector Councils. This group brings together councils that are working in this arena, to discuss issues related to FCR and integration of new immigrants and to share their best practices.
First I'd like to provide a little background on sector councils. I know there is not as much awareness as we would like out there about sector councils.
Each council unites representatives from business, labour, education, and government. A council's mandate is to identify solutions to labour market issues and to assist their sector in implementing solutions to those issues. Those solutions can range from the development of occupational standards, education and training resources, certification, credentialling programs, bridging programs, and career promotion, all the way to the successful integration of recent immigrants into that sector's workforce.
For sector councils, foreign credential recognition is key to effective integration. Probably 80% of employed workers in our sectors are from non-regulated occupations, and a significant proportion of those workers are in lower-skill occupations. For sector councils, FCR includes competency recognition. Competency comes not only from education and credentials but also from experience and informal training on the job and how it is that we recognize that.
Increasingly, employers in our organizations are concerned with what an individual can do. Tourism employers, for example, are also concerned with language capability, essential skills, and it's often articulated by employers as a need for Canadian work experience. That was spoken about in the last group, and I agree entirely with the speaker on that one.
Until a year ago, skill and labour shortages were a major problem for business. As the economy recovers, these shortages will reappear. In some sectors and in some parts of Canada, they have persisted even in this economic climate. Immigration is one solution to those shortages.
Several sector councils have worked with their employers in the immigration system to fill labour supply gaps. The temporary foreign worker program and the provincial nominee program have worked very effectively, and the pilot project for low-skill occupations helped a lot. The new Canadian economic class will also assist employers to retain temporary foreign workers but mostly still in higher-skill occupations.
Employers of individuals at the C and D levels would very much appreciate being able to bring in workers permanently when the labour supply and demand gaps warrant. For some sectors, such as retail and tourism, this could be very important in the future.
In an effort to help industry facilitate the integration of newcomers, councils have worked with the foreign credentials referral office at CIC and the FCR program at HRSDC in a number of ways. Resources have been developed for foreign workers considering coming to Canada, to identify opportunities and skill requirements.
The occupational standards developed by councils can help with communicating skill requirements. Credential recognition, as it exists in Canada right now, does not deal with the large number of individuals who can work without an academic credential. Council certification programs recognize those competencies as they have been identified in occupational standards.
Some initiatives that councils have undertaken involved the preparation of individuals and assessment of their skills in their home countries prior to coming to Canada. Several councils have certification programs and access to those programs online so that a Canadian credential can be acquired abroad, giving the potential immigrant an advantage when looking for a job in Canada. The environment and tourism councils both have well-developed programs in this area.
Resources have been developed to help employers connect with immigrant-serving agencies to find workers. Labour market information produced by councils also helps employers when requesting labour market opinions.
Resources have also been developed for employers to help newcomers adjust to their workplaces. The IT sector council has a comprehensive program connecting potential foreign workers to employers in Canada. There are resources and a mentoring program for employers and a bridging program facilitating integration.
The Construction Sector Council is piloting a program matching employment opportunities in the construction industry and landed immigrant skills in British Columbia. To date this has involved 500 immigrants.
Councils have produced guides for employers wishing to avail themselves of the temporary foreign worker program. Tourism and trucking are examples here.
The Alliance of Sector Councils has worked with FCRO to produce The Employer's Roadmap, and that's been mentioned several times already. The alliance will be holding workshops for employers across Canada on the importance of effective integration of immigrants to the Canadian workplace. Sector councils will all participate by inviting their employer communities to these workshops.
The alliance has also developed an online resource for newcomers and for immigrant parents in Canada so that those parents will have a better idea of career opportunities for their children.
In conclusion, we believe that sector councils can be effective partners in facilitating selection, preparation, and integration of new immigrants into the Canadian workplace. We've been working with both FCRO and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada as a bridge to the employer community. There is much still to be done, and we look forward to expanding these initiatives.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.