SASK. CHAMBER WANTS MORE IMMIGRANT WORKERS.
REGINA — A one-size-fitsall national immigration policy doesn’t serve the needs of provinces like Saskatchewan that are seeing shortages of workers, both skilled and unskilled, and the lowest unemployment rates in the country, says the head of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce.
Accordingly, the chamber passed a resolution at its annual general meeting calling for the federal government to allow immigration levels to rise above the current limits to meet the increasing demand for labour in the province. Specifically, the resolution calls on Ottawa to “adjust national immigration targets so that it will not unfairly constrain the levels of immigration to non-traditional immigration areas like Saskatchewan.’’
The resolution was one of 26 passed at the chamber’s annual general meeting in Regina this week. The three-day meeting, which attracted about 75 delegates from around the province, wrapped on Wednesday.
“What we’ve asked for is a more regional-based immigration policy around the country,” said Steve McLellan, CEO of the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce. “We’re not suggesting ( Ottawa) give us all the immigrants to the disadvantage of other jurisdictions.”
But with record low unemployment rates and a strong economy, Saskatchewan has a “unique” problem filling jobs, McLellan said. “If we had every single available unemployed person in a job in Saskatchewan, we would still be looking for more people. Without temporary foreign workers, without the full spectrum of immigrants, we’re in trouble.’’
The chamber is calling for more effective monitoring of retention rates of new immigrants moving to each jurisdiction. “We only receive 4,450 nominations from the federal government annually for this program, so we need to make sure we help each one become a successful long-term Saskatchewan citizen,” added McLellan.
The chamber also wants to reverse the suspension of the temporary foreign worker program recently announced by the federal government. “It’s amazing to me that the federal government has recognized the flaws of their own management of the (temporary foreign workers) program and done this knee-jerk reaction (by suspending new applications for the food service sector). I think it’s a shame.’’
Other resolutions passed by the chamber include:
• Introduce entrepreneurship, business skills and personal finance education in elementary and secondary schools.
• Fully implement the chamber’s 2010 tax plan recommendations, such as reducing personal and corporate income and corporate capital tax rates.
• Fully implement the MacKinnon report recommendations to invest surplus non-renewable resource revenues into a Saskatchewan
Futures Fund, but lower the threshold for contributions of resource revenues to anything above 22 per cent of total government revenues, rather than 26 per cent.