Canadian labour shortage concerns increase

In the first quarter of 2010, 40 per cent of small firms told the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) that they struggle to find the skilled workers they need to put their products and services to market.

This echoes the concerns pre-recession when in 2008 Alberta's small business sector was more concerned about labour shortages than any other issue, including tax. Small business has also by and large retained the same employment level during the recession, with nearly all of the net job losses in the recession occurring in big business.

The CFIB's Business Barometer shows a slow but steady increase in business optimism, and it is expected skills and labour shortages will again become an important public policy issue.

There are many measures needed to expand Canada's labour force, and Canadian immigration and the temporary foreign worker program contribute greatly to stopping labour shortages.

Citizenship and Immigration, and Human Resources and Skills Development have steadily improved portions of the temporary foreign worker program to reduce paperwork and processing times for a Canadian visa, although the CFIB is concerned that some proposed changes would make the program less useful for smaller businesses and limit the time a temporary foreign worker could stay in Canada.

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The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their Canadian Visa applications with the Canadian Embassy.