Canada opens door to skilled trade workers: Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Building an Immigration System that Works for Canada -- New Federal Skilled Trades Stream to Begin Accepting Applications on January 2, 2013

The program criteria are built around four requirements that ensure applicants will have the right skills and experience needed to succeed here in Canada. In order to qualify, applicants will need to:

1.have an offer of employment in Canada or a certificate of qualification from a province or territory to ensure that applicants are “job ready” upon arrival;
2.meet a basic language requirement;
3.have a minimum of two years of work experience as a skilled tradesperson, to ensure that the applicant has recent and relevant practice as a qualified journeyman;
and 4.have the skills and experience that match those set out in the National Occupational Classification (NOC B) system, showing that they have performed the essential duties of the occupation.

Eligible occupations will include electricians, welders, heavy-duty equipment mechanics, and pipefitters, among others. CIC is currently working with the provinces, territories and federal government partners on the list of skilled trades’ occupations that are experiencing acute labour shortages and which will qualify under the program. This list will be announced prior to the program opening on January 2, 2013.

On the same shelf:

The Government of Canada Invests Record Funding for Settlement Services for Newcomers to Alberta

The Government of Canada Invests Record Funding for Settlement Services for Newcomers to Manitoba

The Government of Canada Invests Record Funding for Settlement Services for Newcomers to Saskatchewan

The Government of Canada Invests Record Funding for Settlement Services for Newcomers to Yukon

Attracting the best and brightest skilled workers

CIC Wins Technology Award for the Come to Canada Wizard

Canada welcomes largest number of parents and grandparents in almost twenty years

The Toronto Moment: Becoming Torontonian, Toronto Life

Extract:
Eight portraits of the educated professionals flocking to becoming Torontonian - Toronto Life (Nov 2012), By Carolyn Morris, Continue reading

On the same shelf:

Wilderness explored through Canadian immigrants' eyes in new ...canadianimmigrant.ca

Unfriendly Toronto? Toronto Life article, Philip Preville

Integrating Community Diversity in Toronto: On Whose Terms - CERIS by Myer Siemiatycki, Tim Rees, Roxana Ng & Khan Rahi

Immigrants against immigration? | building bridges

Immigration blogs: future academic sources?

The landed 'refugee': A new immigrant class? | CanIndia NEWS

Remembrance Day Canada: News from abroad

Lest we forget: From World War One to Iraq, huge sacrifice of one ... Daily Mail-10 Nov 2012

Remembrance Day 2012: Poppy Appeal 'Risks Glossing Over The Horrors Of War' Insists Ted Harrison Huffington Post UK-11 Nov 2012

A powerful symbol of war's cost, This is Leicestershire-9 Nov 2012

British news paper salutes Salute to a brave and modest nation - Kevin Myers, 'The Sunday Telegraph' LONDON -- (Reprinted here is a remarkable tribute written by Irishman Kevin Myers about Canada's record of quiet valour in wartime. This article appeared in the April 21, 2002 edition of the Sunday Telegraph, one of Britain's largest circulation newspapers and in Canada's National Post on April 26, 2002. soruce)

see much more @ Google news, from UK pages

Free library services vital for new immigrants - LIANZA

Thursday, 1 November, 2012, Voxy.co.nz
Public libraries are vital for helping immigrants find jobs and settle in New Zealand says the President of the Library and Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA) Heather Lamond.

... Ms Lamond said whilst many public libraries were able to provide free internet access through the Aotearoa People’s Network Kaharoa (APNK), a number still had to charge for internet use.

"If this bill was passed it would bring us into line with other countries such as the UK, Canada and Australia, who have laws protecting free library services. This is our chance to give all New Zealanders the opportunity to further themselves and participate in our democracy." continue reading On the same shelf:

Newcomers to Canada: If you are a newcomer to Canada, this inspiring session is for you! @ Surrey Libraries

Canadian Immigration issues in News -- Media monitoring

• New language rules to kick in for citizenship applicants Toronto Star-2012-09-28
• 
  Changes coming to language rules Chatham Daily News-2012-10-04
• New Language Rules for Citizenship Applicants, The Epoch Times-2012-10-01
• Ontario immigration strategy calls for more power to pick newcomers Toronto Star-2012-10-03
• Ontario wants greater power on immigrant selection Toronto Star-2012-10-04
• Ontario immigration strategy calls for more power to pick newcomers Hamilton Spectator - Oct 03
• Media Alert - How will changes to immigration policies affect Canada's future? A new Maytree report explores PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance - Oct 02
  
  
  Visit the official sites for more info:

• http://www.ontarioimmigration.ca/en/index.htm • Federal Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration
• Federal The Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement

Newcomers forced to use food banks

Extract: MISSISSAUGA, September 21, 2012, Can-India New The number of university graduates and middle-aged recent immigrants, many who happen to be South Asians, now make up a significant and growing segment of food bank users. The report released this week titled, “Who’s Hungry: Faces of Hunger”, points to an ever-growing number of visits between April 2011 and March 2012. According to Meghan Nicholls, Marketing and Fund developer at the Mississauga Food Bank, “Up to a third of the 65,000 people served by the food bank is made up of people new to Canada. Many of them are not unemployed but do not have enough money left over for groceries.” “We have a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest that in the Peel region in particular, new immigrants are hit really hard. Many of these immigrants have part-time jobs as they are studying or aren’t able to find a job in their field and if they earn say $1300 a month, the average place rents at close to a $1000, forcing them to use our food bank,” she adds. continue reading

TPL's The eh List and National Posts' Look books ~~ Printed books are not dead...

Two current activities show that we are still prospering with printed books. Such a strategy, which some may call as push or pull for the printed book, is a good news for many who are not ready to read its obituary. The hype about ebook is then only true, to a point. Figures don't lie, they say--According to the Stats of TPL, printed title is the top most borrowed book: "Bestselling author Jodi Picoult’s new release in early 2011 topped the year’s adult fiction circulation charts with Sing You Home, a story that explores gay rights, coping with loss and finding love in unexpected places. The book was circulated an incredible 4,580 times in 2011!" (Source)
The good news also here is none of the following talks about e-book (aka digital, electronic book, etc.)

The eh List Author Series - Toronto Public Library

Look books: A survey of the season’s most stylish reading material Nathalie Atkinson | Sep 22, 2012 | Style | Life | National Post.

On the same shelf:

How to Read a Book by Shaykh Hamza Yusuf -- reading a book is for a) amusement, b) informational, and c) educational (reading to articulate, chewed and digested)

How to Read a Book (A Touchstone book): Mortimer J. Adler Mortimer J. Adler

The Future of Reading: Books Are Not Dead! « ALIA Information Online 2013

Library as a tool for integration

By PRADIP RODRIGUES, Can-India News, September 21, 2012 Extract:

I was at our Mississauga branch library over the weekend and as I surveyed the readers I realised that most looked South Asian, many of whom were new immigrants perusing books on resume building and writing cover letters. Others were searching and applying for jobs on the internet while others were reading technical material or studying for some exam or the other, and then I overheard a twentysomething South Asian in conversation with the librarian requesting her help in finding books about the history of Ontario with an emphasis on Toronto and Mississauga. I was intrigued, perhaps he was a research scholar, so later when I saw him hunched over a book and I enquired about his reading choice. He’s a landed immigrant who came here a little under a year ago and it was important that he understood the history and geography of his new adopted homeland. He wanted to travel across Canada with his family next year, over the summer he attended many of the free events in and around the GTA. He was on a quest to discover Canada, it’s people and history. Years ago I met an older immigrant who compared immigration to an arranged marriage. It’s the same principle. According to him, an immigrant’s home country is his or her’s first love, but something went wrong- you needed to separate and so you opted to live in a new adopted homeland which in his parlance is an arranged situation. Naturally there is an adjustment period and to be happy with this new homeland, you have to understand all aspects of it, be involved, do things together and eventually grow to love your new country. And the new immigrant in that Mississauga library was doing just that. continue reading

Top 10 Things You Shouldn't Include on Your Resume: Silicon India

PS. Most of these are common mistakes, new Canadian immigrants need to AVOID!!!

23 August 2012
Extract:
10. Using too many objectives
9. About Your Short-term jobs
8. Strange Hobbies
7. Revealing private matters
6. Writing the resume in extra pages
5. Writing the resume in the third person
4. Including references
3. Mentioning current company’s phone number or mail-id
2. Bad usage of English grammar
1. Attaching Photographs

Continue reading @ SiliconIndia
Info courtesy, Tripathi Online Educare

Young and old spend same amount of time job-hunting: Statistics Canada

By: Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press, 08/22/2012

Extract:
OTTAWA - Older unemployed workers spend as much time looking for a job as younger ones, according to a new Statistics Canada study.

The agency says unemployed people aged 55 to 64 spent an average of 13 hours a week looking for work — the same as those between the ages of 20 and 34.

But the study found key differences in the way each age group looked for jobs.

Older people were more likely to look at job ads and less likely to use the Internet than younger job hunters.

Younger people were more likely to contact employers directly as their main method of finding a job.

Both age groups turned to employment agencies in similar numbers. continue reading

Ads coming soon to Toronto Public Library date-due slips

Daniel Dale, Urban Affairs Reporter, Toronto Star

Extract:

Don’t forget to bring back No Logo on time. And don’t forget the Golden Arches.

The Toronto Public Library has issued a request for proposals in search of a company to sell advertisements on the back of date-due slips. A second request for proposals seeks a consultant to “evaluate all library channels and vehicles” for other advertising opportunities.

Both requests were approved by the library board in February. The library system has never before sold ads outside its publication What’s On, though it allows companies to sponsor programs like the TD Summer Reading Club.

continue reading

How do you know you're in Toronto? It's the little things

By Laura DeMarco, The Plain Dealer, June 02, 2012, cleveland.com

Extract:

TORONTO, Ontario -- "You've got to try the boiled beef and cabbage!"

Well, I did want to get the flavor of Toronto on a recent weekend trip to the cosmopolitan city 300 miles to our northeast. But did I want to get the literal flavor -- from this "very Canadian meal" recommended by the server at Canadian comfort cuisine bistro Bannock (401 Bay St.) in the bustling financial district?

The heavy meal seemed too daunting, with a Friday evening of pub-and-club hopping planned. So I asked for some lighter, but still authentic, options. Continue reading: How do you know you're in Toronto?

How to Get a Job After a Year (or More) Out of Work

Extract from the same source:
Liz Wolgemuth, U.S.News & World Report June 10, 2010

8 Steps to a Job After a Long Unemployment

Stop blaming yourself (Sure, some companies are hiring again);

Stop wasting your time ("There's nothing that takes the place of a strategic and targeted job search," says Judy Conti);

Spend most of your time making new friends (Check out the Facebook and LinkedIn integrations offered by SimplyHired.com and Indeed.com);

Pitch yourself to your last employer ("Going back to former companies and even former bosses or coworkers, wherever they might have gone, is a great strategy," says John Challenger of outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas. These people know you and your work. That freelance assignment can help you fill a hole in your resume);

Find a project (You may not find paid work, but that doesn't mean this time is a complete wash);

Practice interviewing;

Sell, sell, sell yourself, you big discounted talent!;

Act hopeful (whether or not you feel like it). Continue reading Eight Steps

Info courtesy: localhelpwanted.ca April 28- May 12, 2012

Attributes that are most sought by Canadian employers

A job application requires two major components, viz., qualifications (education, work experience, etc.) and qualities (Character attributes or behavioral attributes).
These qualities, most-wanted by employers, include:

1. Attitude (your personal values)
   
2. Communication Skills (verbal and written)
   
3. Task-related Skills
   
4. Problem-solving
   
5. Decision-making
   
6. Interpersonal skills or Teamwork skills (the ability to relate with other people)
   
7. Commitment to the Job
   
8. Strong work ethic
   
9. Honesty and integrity
   
10. Motivation and initiative
    
11. Flexibility and adaptability
    
12. Computer skills
    
13. Analytical skills
    
14. Organizational skills
    

On the same shelf:

Job Seekers | Career Resources | Top Skills Employers Want

What Canadian Employers Want in Employees

EXTRACT: To be successful as an immigrant in the Canadian labour market you need to know what the Canadian employers want and are looking for. Then, you have to market yourself and communicate to the potential employer that you do have the attributes and skills they are looking for.

The CACEE Campus Recruitment and Benchmark Survey Report ...

Verbal communication skills and analytical ability are the dominant skill attributes that Canadian employers seek from their new graduate hires.

Character Development Initiative Ontario boards and schools

Figuring Out What Employers Want, YMCA of Greater Toronto

And don’t forget the following basic attributes of all great job candidates.

Communication: Candidates should actively listen, understand, and learn. They should be comfortable working with the text- and graphic-based written materials used in a particular role

Thinking: Great applicants know how to think critically and act logically to evaluate situations, solve problems, and make decisions. They use math skills to understand and solve problems, then make use of the results. They're comfortable with the technology of business, and can choose the right tool for the job

Learning: A commitment to lifelong learning can make a strong impression on a potential employer

Canadian Charter's 30th birthday - Media monitoring

The Charter was adopted during the tenure of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau when the Constitution was repatriated from the United Kingdom on April 17, 1982. Queen Elizabeth II attended a ceremony on Parliament Hill to sign the documents that transformed Canada from a parliamentary democracy to a constitutional one. -- source: World News Report, -- Free Smart Phone App of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms; and canadianlawsite.ca

  Is the Charter changing Canada for the worse? Toronto Star

  6 big changes the Charter of Rights has brought, CBC.ca

  At 30, the Charter of Rights has reshaped our society, for the better Toronto Star

  Why this year could prove to be the Charter's most controversial, Globe and Mail
‎

  Conservatives mark Charter anniversary, Toronto Sun
‎

  Every Canadian's eco-rights need Charter protection, Globe and Mail
‎

  Andrew Coyne: Canada’s Charter of Rights imposes vital limits on the discretion of government, National Post

  Liberals celebrate charter, TheChronicleHerald.ca

  A charter we can debate endlessly, London Free Press

From the bloggers world:

  I Miss My Childhood: Happy 30th Charter!

  Just Musing: The 30th Anniversary Of The Charter

  Canadian Daily Digest, INFORMATION and OPINION from ST. JOHN'S to VICTORIA.

  Whatever.com: Not Your Ancestor's Magna Carta


On the same shelf:

Federal budget 2012: Skilled immigrants urge investments into talents already in Canada

Nicholas Keung, Immigration Reporter, Toronto Star, Sat Mar 31 2012

Naseem Ahmed Pasha, 44, from India, finished medical school at Mysore University and practised for three years in India, followed by nine in Saudi Arabia. He's passed the Canadian exams but can't get into the requisite residency.

Every evening after dinner, Naseem Ahmed Pasha would don his dress pants and dress shirt, and say goodbye to his three boys, telling them he was leaving for work in hospital.

By the time Pasha, a family doctor from India, got to his worksite, he would change into his uniform, the uniform of a security guard, for his 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift at a Toronto condominium – for $8.50 an hour.

Before Pasha arrived Canada in 2006 under the skilled immigrant program, he was confident he would soon be able to use his skills and contribute to this country in a meaningful way.

After all, he has a medical degree from India’s University of Mysore and practiced medicines first in India and then in Saudi Arabia for 15 years. In his two years as a security guard here, he studied and passed all the qualifying exams and had his credentials certified.

Yet today, instead of treating patients and curing diseases, Pasha is sweeping floors and lifting heavy merchandise at a Toronto home improvement hardware store on survival wages.

“It’s a very tough pill to swallow,” said the 44-year-old, choking back tears. “I wasn’t prepared for this kind of jobs. But coming here, you have to survive and put bread on the table.

“I didn’t tell my kids because I come from a culture where being a doctor is an honourable and noble profession. Now my status has dropped, doing blue-collar jobs. It would have a bad impact on my kids.”
Continue reading

On the same shelf:

Marni Soupcoff: Why so many immigrant professionals are driving cabs . And what Jason Kenney can do about it, Mar 29, 2012 nationalpost.com

Extract:
The federal government’s new plan to hire a private firm to assess the educational credentials of potential immigrants is wise....

This is a far cry from a solution to Canada’s problem with smoothly integrating immigrants into the labour market, however.

In some ways, it’s beside the point since it has no impact on the biggest challenge for new Canadians seeking work: the protectionist provincial, municipal and professional occupational licensing requirements that make entering a trade or profession an unnecessarily long, expensive and difficult (if not impossible) process.

These regulations are more about raising government revenues and coddling industry insiders from competition than they are about helping the public.

The problem is that they get so little attention or scrutiny that they remain in place unchallenged year after year – at great cost to both the country’s economy and new Canadians trying to make a living for themselves and their families.

At a minimum, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney should commit to assembling statistics on the economic impact of the country’s professional licensing requirements.

Here is a small sampling of Ontario’s occupational licensing regime and the hoops through which foreign-trained workers have to jump in order to get a job in the province:

Someone who wants to do any teaching, researching, selling or giving advice about crops or livestock must register with the Ontario Institute of Agrologists as a “professional agrologist.” ...

Someone who wants to work as a dietician must register with the College of Dietitians of Ontario.

Someone who wants to work as an accountant must become a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario.

Is it any wonder there are so many immigrant professionals driving cabs?
Continue reading

Will a library strike affect you -- cp24 poll

What do the people say @ CP24.com:

Yes (24 %) 830 votes
No (76 %) 2573 votes

NEWS UPDATE: Toronto’s Public Library workers on strike as talks stall, National Post
Extract: We entered this negotiation with the goal to protect workers and the services they provide — we were not seeking major gains,” Maureen O’Reilly, president of the Toronto Public Library Workers Union, says.

on the same shelf:

Libraries need to evolve The Queen's Journal

Close libraries? Nonsense, say supporters, Belleville Intelligencer
‎

Closing libraries not simple story | Toronto & GTA

Story time to go: Libraries try to reach kids who aren't being ... The Washington Post

How to cut council spending without closing libraries The Telegraph

Blackburn library users face reduced hours Lancashire
‎

Library union brought to book: Levy, The Sun
‎

Immigrants the proudest Canadians, poll suggests

Environics Institute survey 1st to probe Canadians' views on citizenship
By Kazi Stastna, CBC News Feb 15, 2012; and Environics In The News Feb 15, 2012 , ERG

Extracts:
..."To be a good citizen, it means to contribute to the society, to obey the laws of the country, to help other citizens, to volunteer, and it's a rewarding feeling when you do all those things," said Sara Jhangiryan, an Armenian-born resident of Toronto who became a Canadian citizen last year.

...Usha George, dean of Ryerson University's Faculty of Community Services, says the survey's findings confirm a lot of what those working with new Canadians know already.

... "Canadians who were not born in Canada are more proud than naturally born Canadians simply because we had the choice of being Canadian," said Vikram Kewalramani, who immigrated to Canada in 2006 from India. "It wasn't something that, literally, was a birthright. We consider it a privilege."

... Tolerance of others who are different was among the top five behaviours survey respondents considered a "very important" part of being a good citizen.

... "I am equally proud of both citizenships," said Natasha Nikolovska-Angelova, 32, who became a Canadian citizen last April. "Macedonia is more like my mother … the country where I was raised, and Canada is the country I chose to live in. It's like the spouse you choose.… It's the country of my future."

On the same shelf:

Children of Immigrants: Their surprising perspectives revealed, CBC

14th National Metropolis conference, 2012 Feb 29-March 3, sessions on immigrant children, youth & families: immigrantchildren.ca

The 14th National Metropolis conference theme is Future Immigration Policies: Challenges and Opportunities for Canada. It will be held February 29 – March 3, 2012 at the Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto.

Emerging trends in Canadian immigration - Media monitoring

What's up and what's down at the beginning of 2012 @ Welcome to Canada?
One answer is in the emerging trends in immigration in Canada. This weeks media and news headlines give a clue:

Five trends in Canadian immigration, vancouversun.com ... Ethnic enclaves expanding; Canadians will heighten debate over the “limits of tolerance;” More economic anxieties will boil to the surface; Temporary foreign workers will be spotlighted; Inter-ethnic relationships will grow

CICA Granted Federal Funding to Help Immigrant Accountants Become CAs http://nexuscanada.blogspot.com - extract from CAmagazine.com

Immigrants struggle to land quality jobs in Canadian cities http://nexuscanada.blogspot.com ... original article at http://www.canada.com

Why Chinese-only signs aren't good for Canada vancouversun.com

Time right to look at immigrants, their legacies, http://www.ugnayan.com/ca -- original here: Winnipeg Free Press
‎

Immigration fraudsters exploiting new rules vancouversun.com

The new Office of Religious Freedom - Straight Goods -- Protecting religious minorities should start at home, not abroad... Geeta, Koran and Kirpan are realities of life in Canada that shouldn't be ignored in policy