About the Project

Canada is anticipating a labour shortage mainly due to retirement of baby boomers and a low birthrate in Canada. To remain economically competitive with an efficient labour market, Canada has been taking steps to improve labour mobility both at home and abroad.  The objective of the Labour Mobility Study is to verify and address the skills shortages in the environmental sector by investigating reciprocal mobility between Canada and the European Union in related environmental occupations.

Agreements have recently been signed both at the provincial level, and between Canada and the European Union (like the French Quebec Agreement). The goals of these agreements are to improve foreign credential recognition, facilitate international labour mobility, and strengthen the Canada-EU partnership.

Initial research shows that, like Canada, Western European countries are also experiencing a labour shortage but there may be a potential labour pool in Eastern and Central European countries. To cope with their labour shortage, Western European countries are using the available workforce in Eastern and Central European countries. However, there is also a phenomenon of great attraction to North America among European workers, which might prompt them to immigrate to Canada.

Another major issue identified in initial research is the barrier faced by immigrants due to non-recognition of credentials for regulated professions in Canada. For newcomers whose credentials are not fully accepted and who face other barriers, information about Canadian standards and opportunities is important. The research will identify barriers faced by new immigrants in the environmental sector and ways to overcome the barriers.

Project Details

Start Date: August 1, 2009
End Date: July 30, 2010

Objectives:

1. To investigate whether agreements like Quebec France Agreement can facilitate mobility of environmental workers between Canada and EU
2. To investigate mobility of environmental workers within the EU and Canada
3. Gain a more detailed insight about the ‘Foreign Credential Recognition’  (FCR program) for new immigrants both at the federal and provincial level
4. Gain further insight about facilitating barriers to immigration for environmental workers
    

Deliverables:

1. Complete a scoping exercise to identify potential partnerships between Canada and the EU
2. Complete a Canadian Environmental Sector and Reciprocal mobility report identifying specific occupational needs, matching of foreign competencies, and identifying mechanisms that target potential candidates with environmental competencies and attract them to Canada
3. Create a document to facilitate the immigration process which can be used by ECO Canada to assist new immigrants seeking opportunities in the environmental sector

This project was made possible by the Government of Canada’s Foreign Credential Recognition Program through Human Resources and Skill Development Canada (HRSDC). 

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