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British Columbia\u2019s government has created a task force to look at ways to boost skilled immigration to the province.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith a million job openings and only two-thirds of the people available to fill them, we have a looming problem and we cannot grow the economy if we don\u2019t have people to fill the jobs that we hope to create in the province,\u201d said Premier Christy Clark.<\/p>\n
Immigrants are expected to make up this gap.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is crucially important to making our economy work.\u201d<\/p>\n
In this vein, the task force will examine current Canadian immigration programs and how they are implemented in BC, including the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), the Federal Skilled Worker program, the Canadian Experience Class, and the Federal Immigrant Investor program.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a province and a country that was built on immigration, and that hasn\u2019t changed,\u201d said Clarke.<\/p>\n
Initiatives include lobbying the government to increase, or remove altogether, the cap of 5,000 on the PNP, and otherwise finding ways to attract more skilled workers each year to BC.<\/p>\n
The task force includes nine volunteer members, including well known former Conservative cabinet member Stockwell Day.<\/p>\n
Their analysis and recommendations will be delivered in a final report in March of next year.<\/p>\n
Provincial MLA John Yap said: \u201cThe immigration task force is the first step in realizing our goal of a more efficient and effective immigration system.<\/p>\n
We know that people from all over the world with diverse skill sets and talents want to come to our province, and we want to do everything we can to bring them here so they can make British Columbia their new home.\u201d<\/p>\n
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