Thank you, Madam Chair.
Good afternoon. Bonjour. It's a real pleasure to be here with you today to share how colleges support the recruitment and retention of skilled immigrants and help improve labour market outcomes.
Colleges play a unique role in the immigration ecosystem. They interact at many key touchpoints in the immigration journey by attracting international students, supporting the retention of immigrants through partnerships with settlement organizations, and providing skills training on the way to citizenship and beyond through re-skilling and upskilling as the labour market evolves.
Given that 95% of Canadians live within 50 kilometres of one of our campuses, this role is doubly important in rural communities. In these communities, colleges become key partners with the municipalities and employers as part of regional economic development strategies, and help to attract and retain newcomers, among other things.
Colleges often custom-design short courses—and I may come back to this—to meet specific employer needs, including micro-credentials or what are known as micro-certifications.
For example, colleges currently support the rural and northern immigration pilot and the Atlantic immigration pilot.
My three recommendations to you today relate to the rural and regional pilots and the role of international student pathways.
First, as the federal government builds on the rural and regional pilots and considers other immigration strategies with municipalities, it is imperative to increase the recognition and engagement with colleges to strengthen the recruitment, the labour market integration and the retention of immigrants.
Second, engage Colleges and Institutes Canada and member institutions in the development and implementation of permanent residency streams for international students graduating from colleges.
Third, equip post-secondary education institutions to provide support to improve the labour market outcomes of international students.
I'm tabling today Colleges and Institutes Canada's policy brief that came out last week on the role of international students in supporting Canada's immigration objectives. The second paper on the role of colleges in Canada's immigration ecosystem will follow in September.
I will now turn to Mark Frison, who is the president of Assiniboine Community College in Brandon, Manitoba, with whom I'm sharing my time today. He is also a board member of Colleges and Institutes Canada.
Go ahead, Mark.