REFUGEE WARNING FOR THE ECONOMY

Don’t cut skilled worker numbers, Ottawa urged

• Provinces and businesses keen to bolster their workforce are worried the push for Syrian refugees this year will lead to a cutback in foreign workers.

The government admits a set number of i mmigrants each year. In 2015, for example, the Conservative government planned to admit up to 285,000 immigrants. Of those slots, 66 per cent were reserved for economic immigrants; 24 per cent of the slots were for the family members of i mmigrants; and the remaining 10 per cent were for refugees and other humanitarian entrants.

The federal government is supposed to provide its i mmigration admission numbers by Oct. 31 each year. Because of last fall’s federal election, the numbers for 2016 haven’t yet been published. The government now has until March 9 to come up with its plan.

But with tens of thousands more refugees being admitted this year compared with 2015, and with t he Liberals’ c ampaign promise to make it easier for immigrants to reunite with their parents and grandparents, the number of slots reserved for economic immigrants may be reduced.

( Economic immigrants are foreign workers, includi ng business people and skilled tradespeople, who are allowed into Canada on a permanent basis. Those admitted through the controversial temporary foreign worker program fall into a different category.)

Immigration Minister John McCallum said l ast week he has consulted with industry, as well as refugee groups and other organizations about this year’s immigration l evels. But he wouldn’t say whether the government is considering reducing t he number of economic immigrants allowed.

Critics often accused the Conservatives of turning Canada’s immigration system into little more than a hiring program, with refugees and f amilies being given short shrift. In 2007, foreign workers represented only 60 per cent of immigration admission targets. with 26 per cent family members and 14 per cent refugees.

Given the state of the Canadian economy, with unemployment rising, some question whether the government should continue to admit tens of thousands of foreign workers, including business people and skilled tradesmen, on a permanent basis.

But provinces, industry associations and experts say economic immigrants are essential for meeting Canada’s labour needs. Some bring skills that are in short supply in Canada, while others are willing to do jobs Canadians won’t. The country’s low birthrate also threatens long- term labour force supply.

“We really need immigrants to drive economic growth,” said Sarah Anson-Carter, director of skills and immigration policy at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “Economic i mmigrants make up about 30 per cent of new entrants into the labour force each year.”

Dan Kelly, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, said economic immigrants are even more important now given that the temporary foreign worker program has been effectively frozen while the Liberals review it.

“The small business community does not want to see economic immigration drop in this country,” he said. “TFW has been rendered l argely useless for small businesses.”

Provinces are also counting on the government to keep the levels where they are. One provincial official, speaking on background, said provinces loudly protested when federal immigration officials recently suggested that the number of economic immigrants could be scaled back this year.

“Our hope is it would remain the same or have a modest increase,” the official said.

One option the government could pursue is an overall expansion of the immigration program. Some wonder if t he Liberals will become the first Canadian government to admit 300,000 new immigrants in one year. They say such an expansion of the immigration program wouldn’t be prohibitively expensive now that new computer systems at the federal immigration department have reduced the administrative burden.

“I think the government will have its cake and eat it too,” said Vancouver- based immigration expert Richard Kurland. “It will have the political bragging rights that it is the first government to deliver 300,000 immigrants. And the beauty is the operational costs would be low because everything is being done online.”