Canada facing acute shortage of skilled workers

October 8th, 2007: Canadian Industry has been facing acute resource crunch for the past about 24 months when it comes to getting the trained and qualified manpower for its business. The shortage is especially pronounced in IT sector. Rarely have Canadian employers have fixed interview timings before the individual lands in Canada, but now employers seem to be making concession for IT people where even persons with Canadian visa are allowed interviews over email or phone.

Most Canadian businesses think Canadian immigration brings a boost of diversity and innovation to their operations, according to the latest research released this week. Canada is experiencing a severe IT skills shortage and qualified people with Canadian visas are in demand.

In a recent survey conducted by Xerox Research Centre, about 80% of the respondents out of 1,000 workers interviewed revealed that inducting immigrants gives Canada an advantage in fostering innovation. Half of respondents said exposure to different cultures helps creativity. About 50 percent of the Xerox manpower constitutes immigrants from 35 different countries.