Canadian Province Pursues Immigrants

The Canadian province of Alberta, facing an unprecedented shortage of workers to meet the demands of ongoing efforts related to its oil sands projects, is aggressively recruiting foreigners. Government sponsored recruiters for the Province of Alberta and the city of Calgary have been overseas, taking part in an effort to find desperately needed foreign workers who can fill labour shortages. One of the countries targeted is the United Kingdom, where the Alberta Employment and Immigration Minister has been proposing the province as a possible destination.

Alberta has also targeted US citizens and foreign workers in the USA. While Canadian unions feel more may be done to attract US citizens, the province is proposing to Nominate certain foreign workers in the USA - those with H-1B, H1-B1, H-1C, or E-3 status - with at least one year of work experience in that country. If nominated, a candidate who promises to reside in that province can experience faster processing of a permanent resident application.