Demand for skilled workers rising in Canada

Canada is fast emerging as a hot destination for skilled immigrants from the world over and India in particular.

Even if Canada accepts 2,50,000 immigrants every year, it  is estimated that there would be a demand for close to a million skilled workers in Canada by 2020.

B S Sandhu, Chairman, Worldwide Immigrations Consultancy Services, a leading immigration consultant, said, "the present demand for skilled work force in Canada is mostly in the areas of engineering, finance, stock broking and information technology."

Against a target of 300,000 immigrants per annum, Canada currently manages to attract only 100,000 immigrants.

Sandhu said that in the last decade, WWICS helped over 40,000 families emigrate to Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Last year, around 23,000 Indians moved over to Canada.  These numbers was second only to China. Around 33,000 Chinese emigrated to Canada in the last year.

Canada has an unique problem of a fast aging population and by 2020 is expected to have a negative birth rate of population.

The Canadian government,  concerned over the shortage of skilled manpower, has adopted a policy of letting in close to 300,000 immigrants every year.

Curtis Panke, the director of  Global Placement Service, a member of the WWICS group, said, "nearly 75 per cent of  Canadian population is concentrated  in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. There is a great demand for skilled manpower  in other  regions in Canada."

He added that farming, small businesses, IT and bio-tech are specific areas, where Indian immigrants can look for greater opportunities in Canada.

Starting a new business is also projected by the Canadian government as a lucrative proposition for the enterprising lot.

Panke said that cost of manufacturing is cheaper when compared to US. Thanks to NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) there is a ready and lucrative market for starting a manufacturing unit in Canada.

However, out of the 4,000 people WWICS helped in immigrating to Canada, only 50 started their own business.