Hugo Chesshire, director of policy and government relations with the Greater Niagara of Chamber of Commerce, is excited to see how a new immigration program from the Canadian government will help grow the region. – Satbir Singh

The Greater Niagara Chamber of Commerce (GNCC) is excited by a recent announcement from the Canadian government that will fulfil a need the organization has been advocating for many years.

In his most recent mandate letter at the beginning of the new year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau instructed Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino to start conducting a program that will help local communities bring in new immigrants based on labour market needs.

GNCC’s director of policy and government relations, Hugo Chesshire, says the program will not only fulfil labour needs, but also strengthen the economy in Niagara.

“We don’t know exactly how it’ll look, but the way it’s supposed to shake out is local communities, local governments and stakeholders are going to be part of a decision-making group for targeting immigrants,” said Chesshire.

Many immigrants tend to come and stay in Toronto, Vancouver and other bigger markets, says Chesshire, so this program will help communities like Niagara and northern Ontario.

“I would like a program that you can essentially target a local community to a specific group of immigrants that you want to attract,” said Chesshire. “So, you identify what the gaps in your labour market are and then you say where you can find those people and market to them.

“It’s beneficial to the immigrants as well because if they’re looking to come to Canada to start a new life, one of the most important things is finding work.”

The GNCC doesn’t expect the program to be completed any time soon with the government running pilot studies and other practices to get it right, but Chesshire says this gives Niagara a chance to prepare.

“We can’t think about it in too much detail right now, but it’s a heads up this is coming,” he said. “This is something we’ve been advocating for awhile and we’ve been saying there should be more targeted programs for a number of years.”

He pointed out that the Niagara region and some municipalities have discussed implementing programs that will promote inclusion based on immigration, and such plans will go hand-in-hand with the future program.

With slower population rates compared to other regions and an aging population, adding to the labour market through immigration is a way to create a vibrant economy and decent tax base, according to Chesshire.

“You need to have younger people in the economy as well working and paying taxes to support the older generation,” said Chesshire.

This program will particularly help Niagara fill its labour needs in a much faster timeline rather than having to train workers, which can take a few years to do.

According to the mandate letter, the program will create 5,000 new spaces.

“We’re certainly happy the government is listening to the needs of smaller communities,” said Chesshire.

by Satbir Singh

Email: [email protected]

Original article:
https://www.niagarathisweek.com/news-story/9807294-new-immigration-mandate-will-help-niagara-bridge-labour-gap-chamber-says/