Awareness

Este articulo esta simpatico, y como quien dice, mal de mucho consuelo de tontos. Pero es un claro indicio de lo que pasa:

Immigration backlog must go if skilled workers are to come

The Province

Monday, July 14, 2003
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British Columbians need more than money from Ottawa in order to pull off a successful Olympics.

The federal government has got to move with haste to unclog the massive backlog of skilled foreigners who have been waiting for permission to immigrate to and work in Canada.

While bureaucrats in federal Immigration Minister Denis Coderre’s office reported 30,000 visa applications pending, a federal court judge recently said the number was closer to 120,000.

Indeed, skilled workers in high-demand countries such as China and India are having to wait up to five years for word of acceptance.

The delay has compelled many to abandon their plans to move here, despite the fact they may have invested their life savings in the bid to provide medical certification and police checks.

Meanwhile, B.C. has a lot of building to do; dozens of major construction projects including a 400,000 square foot convention centre, an 8,000-seat winter sports centre, a 6,000-seat curling rink, a six-hectare Olympic village and a $102-million Nordic centre, all within the next seven years.

To give some idea of the enormity of the venture, the trade and convention centre alone is expected to generate 6,700 person-years of jobs during construction.

B.C. trades don’t have the numbers to handle the workload. We need an influx of skilled labourers to give local companies a hand.

But that’s not likely to happen until Ottawa commits the staff and resources to handling the explosion of existing skilled applicants — now required to meet tough new entrance criteria — never mind those who still dream of calling themselves Canadians.

The never-ending demand for construction and renovation crews, especially in Greater Vancouver, has already drained the pool of experienced work crews.

Toss in the need for thousands of skilled workers to build, supply and service scores of Olympic-related buildings and — as immigration employee David Manicom speculated — we may well be facing an impending crisis.

Ottawa, get a move on.

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