Ontario Government Expands Programs for Newcomers in York Region, GTA
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/November2006/21/c6979.html?view=print
Invests $1.75 Million to Link Employers to Newcomers

MARKHAM, ON, Nov. 21 /CNW/ - The McGuinty government is investing
$1.75 million to expand programming to help employers tap into the wealth of talent and skills of newcomers, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Mike Colle announced today."Businesses need a skilled workforce to keep up their amazing growth, and newcomers have the global education and experience that make a huge difference to the bottom line," said Colle. "We're expanding on proven models of success to connect employers to skilled newcomers. That's a win-win for everyone here in Markham, throughout York Region, and the GTA."

In the past three years, more than 32,000 newcomers have settled in York Region. More than half are internationally trained skilled workers.

The Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) will coordinate projects, which will help employers connect with skilled newcomers. The projects will include supporting companies with onsite assistance to make their recruitment and human resources practices more effective, a database of job postings, an information campaign, enhancing the web site www.hireimmigrants.ca and using job developers to steer employers to the appropriate resources. Participating employers will also be able to attend free workshops on assessing international credentials and work experience from the G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education at Ryerson University.

"This funding from the Government of Ontario will help us reach small and medium sized businesses, where most new jobs are created," says Ratna Omidvar, Executive Director of TRIEC and The Maytree Foundation. "We will be able to provide the tools and resources to help small and medium sized employers better recruit and retain skilled immigrants." (quote provided by TRIEC)

ONTARIO IMMIGRATION FACTS

• The Canada-Ontario Immigration Agreement signed on November 21, 2005, will increase  federal funding from about $800 per immigrant to about $3,400 per immigrant.

• Ontario spends $109 million a year on programs to help newcomers settle, get language training, and find jobs. This is more than any other Canadian province spends on  immigration programs.

• More than 125,000 newcomers arrive in Ontario each year. That’s about the size of the  population of Prince Edward Island.

• More than half of all new immigrants to Canada, settle in Ontario. Quebec receives just over
  17 per cent, B.C almost 16 per cent, and the rest of Canada, 11 per cent.

• 84 per cent of Ontario’s new immigrants settle in the Greater Toronto Area, and about 50  per cent in the City of Toronto.

• There has been a 54 per cent increase in the number of newcomers to the 905 area. This is approx 13,000 new immigrants since 2002.

• Almost half of Ontario’s new immigrants are from five countries: India, China, Pakistan, Philippines and Iran.

• More than 40 per cent of these newcomers speak one of the following five languages: Mandarin (13 per cent), English (10 per cent), Urdu (8 per cent), Arabic (6 per cent), Punjabi (6 per cent).

• Over 70 per cent of Ontario’s adult newcomers have some post secondary education or training.

• Currently immigration accounts for an estimated 70 per cent of Ontario’s net labour force growth, and it will account for all of the net labour force growth within the next 6 years.

TORY RELEASES PLAN TO HELP INTEGRATE ONTARIO'S SKILLED IMMIGRANTS
November 20, 2006
http://www.ontariopc.com/news.asp?ID=550

Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Leader John Tory today released a comprehensive plan to address the issues facing Ontario's skilled immigrants with a call for action to implement 14 recommendations.

"The status quo is unacceptable," said Tory. "The lack of a real strategy to help our skilled immigrants is a real problem requiring serious and immediate action. We need to take a comprehensive approach that involves speeding up the process, getting to work sooner while immigrants are overseas waiting to come to Canada, providing increased assistance to newcomers once they have arrived and assisting newcomers enter the workforce."

Tory released the report at a Queen's Park press conference accompanied by two of the many new Canadians who have faced challenges integrating themselves into our workforce. The report is a result of a yearlong process of consultation by John Tory, Frank Klees and the PC Caucus. Over the past year a PC task force has met with organizations of professional immigrants, associations providing assistance to skilled immigrants as well as members of the post-secondary education community.

The 14 recommendations focus on three broad categories: speeding up the process, helping newcomers once they have arrived and integrating them into our workforce. Some of these recommendations include:

* Building a really useful, cutting edge web portal that provides accurate credentialing information and opportunities for potential immigrants before they move to Canada. The same portal could and should deliver courses to help people Canadianize their credentials.

* Expand the Ontario Student Assistance Program to make loans available for new Canadians bridging or upgrading their training.

* Provide more supports for ESL training - to lower the language barriers that stand in the way of so many new Canadians' success.

* Use the platform of TVO to provide effective general language, training and integration information to help new immigrants to adjust to Canada. Training materials produced by TVO would be available on-line to people waiting to come to Canada.

* Leverage on our existing system of colleges and universities and support them in providing training opportunities overseas.

* Expand bridging, mentoring and work experience programs for new Canadians by including more small and medium sized businesses. These programs must be attractive, accessible and affordable for smaller enterprises.

"There are many unanswered questions as to why it is so difficult for us to properly integrate skilled immigrants into our workforce," said Tory. "I believe that the most significant real barrier comes from a lack of will. We must take the first step of acknowledging the problem and then deploy all of our resources together to fix it."

"The status quo is not just dashing the hopes and dreams of skilled immigrants but all Canadians," said Tory. "We face looming and mounting skills shortage across a wide range of professions. For us not to do everything we can to quickly integrate skilled newcomers into their trained professions is a loss to all of us. We must not let the current situation become some sort of permanent fact of life and I am committed to making sure that doesn't happen."

ENDING MANDATORY RETIREMENT IN ONTARIO
http://www.labour.gov.on.ca/english/news/2005/05-71b1.html

The McGuinty government has introduced legislation that would, if passed, end mandatory retirement and give Ontario workers the right to choose when they want to retire. The government plan would achieve this objective without undermining early retirement rights or existing benefit and pension plans.

Mandatory Retirement in Ontario
The Ontario Human Rights Code (code) prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of age. For the purpose of employment, the code defines "age" as being 18 years and older, but less than 65. As a result, workplace policies can force workers aged 65 or older to retire.

Like many other countries, Canada has an aging population. People are living longer, staying healthier and remaining independent past age 65. Many want to continue to be active and productive in their individual pursuits, including paid employment and community involvement. According to Statistics Canada, the number of Canadians aged 65 and over is expected to double from nearly four million in 2000 to almost eight million by 2028. In 2001, 11.8 per cent of the Canadian population aged 65 to 69 was employed. While there is a trend towards early retirement, more than 20 per cent of workers aged 45 and up plan to retire after age 65 or not at all.

As well, groups such as recent immigrants and women may be disadvantaged by the current mandatory retirement policies. Immigrants often enter the Ontario workforce later in their careers. As a result, they may have to work longer to ensure their financial security later in life.

Many women temporarily withdraw from the workforce for family or other reasons. As a result, they may lack adequate funds to retire and would like to continue in paid employment past age 65.

Ending mandatory retirement would allow workers to choose when they want to retire based on their lifestyles, circumstances and priorities, and allow those who wish to continue to work past age 65 to do so.

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