HELPING IMMIGRANTS THRIVE IN THE SASKATCHEWAN WORKFORCE

The Province of Saskatchewan is committed to working with the federal government and local communities to not only attract more immigrants to our province, but also ensure that they obtain meaningful employment and thrive in their new communities after they arrive.

"Recent immigrants to Canada are having difficulty adapting to, and integrating into, the workforce at a level appropriate to their skills, training and motivation," Minister responsible for Immigration Pat Atkinson told the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which visited Regina today. "In the coming months, Saskatchewan will implement a number of measures that will begin to address some of the barriers facing immigrants who are looking for meaningful employment."

These measures will include:

• Working with the Saskatchewan Association of Immigrant Settlement and Integration Agencies to implement an improved system to assess the needs of immigrants to Saskatchewan;

• Implementing a new Enhanced Language Training initiative for immigrants, in partnership with the federal government. This program will work with immigrants to identify specific gaps in their transferable knowledge and skill base and will provide targeted workplace language training and mentorship;

• Implementing a new Internship Pilot Project that will extend language training, employment supports, and career mentoring to immigrants; and

• Helping foreign-trained medical graduates by creating four new residency positions at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine. These spaces will be reserved specifically for internationally trained medical graduates.

During her appearance before the Committee, Atkinson also stressed the importance of family reunification to the implementation of a successful immigration strategy.

"As a province with a small population, we see family reunification as a particularly important element in our efforts to both attract and retain immigrants to Saskatchewan," Atkinson said. "For this reason we would welcome any steps that the federal government might take to expand and facilitate family class immigration, including expansion of the definition of family and the reduction in processing times for family class applications."

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For More Information, Contact:

Brian Miller Government Relations Regina Phone: (306) 787-7151