简蕙芝：希望未来四年让国际学生人数增加50% 抢留学生拼就业
卑诗省长简蕙芝表示，国际学生为本省创造数万个工作机会，每年带来12亿5000万元经济产值，她希望未来四年让国际学生人数增加50%，中国等亚太国家将是招生重点，除成立专责机构并加强教育质量认证（eqa）外，未来也将透过驻外经贸办公室推展本省教育。她强调，国际学生大增不会影响本地学生就学权益。
省长简蕙芝继续在内陆地区为她即将在周四公布的就业方桉加拿大从这裡开始：卑诗就业计画（canada starts here: the bc jobs plan）进行暖身。20日她在甘露市（kamloops）汤普森河大学（thompson rivers university）宣布国际教育方桉。
简蕙芝表示，国际学生为卑诗省创造数以万计的工作，每年为本地经济带来超过百亿元产值，她说本省大学是工作机会的创造者，省府已设定明确目标，将在未来四年内将入读本省专上院校的国际学生人数增加50%。她也强调，这些国际学生将是未来卑诗省与世界各国建立紧密关係的助力。
省府指国际学生为本省创造了2万2000个工作，每年为卑诗省经济带来12亿5000万元产值，预估国际学生人数每增加10%，便可创造1800个工作职位，并让本省gdp增加1亿元。
为达成这个目标，省府将成立国际教育理事会（international education council），专责发展现有及新兴经济体的紧密关係，如中国、印度、巴西及沙乌地阿拉伯等。
省府也将利用驻外经贸办公室，行销卑诗省国际教育，并会加强教育质量认证（eqa），维护本省高等教育声誉，确保国际学生获得优质教育。
她强调国际学生大幅增加不会影响本地学生的就学权益，因为国际学生所支付的学费，让学区或学校能有更多资源增聘教职员及开设新课程，嘉惠本地学子。
她说某些连本地学生都很难申请到的科系，如卑诗大学（ubc）医科，未来也不会开放给国际学生申请，但如果某些大学，如北卑诗大学（nubc）医学相关科系有缺额，国际学生仍可试着申请。
当被问到最近几年前来本省就读的国际学生人数增加率仅3%到6%，省府所订的四年五成目标如何达成时，简蕙芝强调，达标的唯一方法就是专注。
她举林木产品为例，由于省府过去几年集中精力在中国拓展市场，终于开花结果，让出口中国的林木产品数额呈现爆炸性增长。
未来只要有卑诗省经贸办事处的地点都是拓展本省国际教育的重点区域，特别是中国、南韩及印度等地。经贸办事处不仅要行销木材，也须行销卑诗省教育。儘管中国已是本省最大的国际学生来源地，但她认为仍有极大的成长空间。
British Columbia needs to immediately increase the number of skilled immigrants it receives to fill urgent labour and skills gaps, and sustain business development and competitiveness across the province, according to a report from the British Columbia Task Force.
Over the next decade, there will be more than one million job openings, according to the BC Labour Market Outlook 2010. Current B.C. workers and new graduates will only be able to fill two-thirds of those openings, while immigrants will be needed to fill the remaining 33,333 openings.
Beyond general labour shortages, skills shortages are already prevalent in many regions of the province and will become more acute over the next decade.
Immigration System Not Meeting B.C.’s Needs: Task Force
The Immigration Task Force, appointed by B.C. Premier Christy Clark in December 2011, spent three months meeting with various stakeholders, including employers, industry, sector associations and settlement service providers, to discuss how to improve various economic immigration programs so they can better meet labour market and economic development needs.
The programs discussed include the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP), the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and the Federal immigrant Investor Program (FIIP). The report found the current immigration system is not meeting B.C. labour market needs
B.C.’s Economic Immigrants Declining
While economic immigration has increased on a national level since 2005, B.C.’s share of economic immigrants has fallen over the same time frame, mostly due to a decrease in the number of admissions under the FSWP.
Even if more FSWP immigrants came to B.C., the program still doesn’t meet the province’s labour market needs, states the report. The priority occupations on the federal list don’t match up with B.C.’s most in demand occupations (most especially those in the skilled trades) and immigrants under the FSWP often choose to settle in the Lower Mainland even though labour market shortages are most acute outside this area.
Boost Provincial Nominee Program Numbers
Conversely, the PNP allows for more specific selection based on the province’s current labour market needs and ensures immigrants are settling in regions where job openings are available. As such, the report recommends the BC PNP cap be increased to 5,000 in 2012 and 6,500 in 2013.
Overall, the report proposes a series of 28 recommendations for the B.C. and federal governments to increase immigration and ensure programs are adapted to attract and retain more immigrants with the skills required to build the province’s workforce and economy.
Recommendations Most Relevant to Employers:
- Immediately increase B.C.’s economic immigration levels
- Set immigration levels based on B.C.’s actual labour market and skills needs
- Allow the B.C. government to select all economic immigrants to the province
- Increase the BC PNP cap to at least 5,000 in 2012, and 6,500 in 2013, to respond to labour and skills shortages across British Columbia
- Increase the number of occupations eligible for the FSWP to better reflect B.C.’s regional and province-wide skills needs
- Provide employers one-stop access to information on economic immigration programs
- Ensure employers and prospective immigrants have access to the status of their applications
- Exempt employers from obtaining a Labour Market Opinion for essential job openings that have demonstrated shortages
- Allow more international students from authorized institutions to stay in B.C. after graduation without a job offer and allow all international students from authorized institutions to work in BC during their studies and after graduation
- Market regional business opportunities to potential entrepreneurs overseas and set up business mentorship programs
- Consider allowing entrepreneurs to pool their investment in larger-scale businesses
- Ensure effective settlement and integration programs are available in communities across the province and continue to fund these programs commensurate to immigration levels
- Investigate barriers to foreign qualification recognition and help employers understand foreign qualifications and work experience