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PG Strategic Plan Needed To Attract Skilled Immigrant Labour

By 250 News

Export North Manager Charles Scott speaks to a full house at the Ramada

The Manager of Export North says one "piece of the pie" in dealing with a shortage of skilled trade workers in Prince George is to launch a coordinated approach to attract highly-trained immigrants.

Speaking to a Chamber of Commerce gathering of approximately 60 people, Charles Scott says the current "pinch" being felt by some employers is only going to get worse as a number of factors continue to collide -- a shrinking base of young people entering the work-force, competition from outside communities like Kelowna and Fort McMurray, and the construction boom in the run-up to the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Scott says a number of local service providers including the City's Inter-cultural Committee, the Innovation Resource Centre, and Community Futures have been laying the foundation for a coordinated strategy to attract immigrant workers.  Now, he says, it's time for the business community to jump on-board and fine-tune just which skills need to be targeted.  Scott says a joint effort is far more effective than individual businesses going off "helter-skelter".

He points to the community of Winkler, Manitoba as an example.  Winkler, with a population of 7900, launched a coordinated recruitment strategy in 1999 and by 2004 had "grown" its population by 1800.  Scott says the community targetted Germany, Mexico and Latin America, bringing in highly skilled immigrants.  He says average incomes have grown 24%, construction starts have more than doubled and municipal assessments have also been boosted.

The Export North Manager says the service providers have laid the groundwork.  He says federal funding exists and it's time to move from "here's a study on it" -- to "here's an action plan." 

Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Sherry Sethen, says she plans to circulate a registration form to all those in attendance, via e-mail, to get the plan moving forward.


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