House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration—Atlantic Chamber of Commerce Testimony

Honourable Chair and Committee Members,
 
My name is Brandon Ellis and I am the Senior Manager of Policy for the Atlantic Chamber of Commerce. Today I am also joined by our Chief Executive Officer, Sheri Somerville. The Atlantic Chamber of Commerce represents 94 chambers of commerce and boards of trade and the interests of 16,000 businesses across the four Atlantic provinces.

Throughout the pandemic and in the time pre-dating it, we have seen immigration play a vital role in the economic stability of our region. Immigration programs have allowed Atlantic Canadian communities to grow their population and has seen businesses to diversify the skillsets within their workforces.

The Atlantic Chamber is pleased to see the recent commitment by Government to increase immigration targets by over 400,000 per year for the next three years. We also are pleased to see former leaders such as The Rt. Hon. Brian Mulroney making positive contributions to the discussion on immigration with his recent commentary suggesting that Canada needs to triple its population by the end of the century.

In order to grow and to have a robust workforce, we must begin taking down barriers for employers and newcomers. Labour Market Impact Assessment processing times have generally decreased throughout the pandemic, yet many employers, particularly in agriculture, have said that more communication from government is needed as travel restrictions continue to evolve. It has also become more costly to employers to recruit immigrant workers due to the rising costs of flights, quarantine hotels, food for workers, and mandatory two-week quarantine restrictions across Atlantic Canada. All of these costs are, in most cases, at the expense of the employer.

Furthermore, LMIAs and slow permit processing times have contributed to an increasingly burdensome process for recruiting entry level workers. While “Express entry” programs can see immigrants come to Canada in a relatively short timeframe, there are examples of employers attempting to recruit entry level workers that do not qualify for the express entry category taking between 12-18 months. It is not only permit processing that adds to administrative length and burden. Additional factors include needing to establish an account with Government of Canada’s Job Bank, getting vacancies posted, then the required one-month advertising period and then LMIA processing.

Government should establish collaborations with business and communities to assist immigrants and international students as they attempt to connect with the workplace. There must also be an increase in resources to help immigrants settle in their new communities. Immigrants will be put in a position to succeed when they are welcomed as members of a community and to facilitate that, there must be adequate resources that are allocated to ensure long term success.

The Atlantic Chamber believes that immigration will be instrumental in the economic recovery of Canada.  Government must focus on programs to increase experiential learning, accelerate immigration, recognize foreign credentials, simplify seasonal worker programs, enhance settlement services, and retention strategies. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, we must ensure that we have a robust labour market with access to qualified workers. This will ensure that we not only recover, but also grow.

We would like to thank Government of Canada and the Citizenship and Immigration Committee for the important work that you are doing. Immigration is vital to the future of Canada and we all must work collaboratively together to ensure that immigrants are in a position to succeed upon arrival, but we must also actively work to reduce regulatory burden and wait times for immigrants and employers. We welcome any questions that the committee may have.
 
Thank you, Chair.