Canada has made the way easier for workers to come in.

According to a Canadian immigration expert, Canada is trying to attract young talents from countries like India by relaxing norms for visas.

Curtis Panke, director of global operations for the Ontario-based Global Placements Services, said that there is an acute shortage of skilled workers in Canada and the situation is bound to worsen in the nest five to ten years unless the government makes an effort to attract talent from a young country like India.

While pointing out that the retirement age for most occupations in Canada is 55 years, he said that in the next five years, more than 20 percent of the country’s engineers, professors and geologists would retire.

Panke told IANS that this huge void left by them cannot be filled with domestic talent alone and if the country does not attract talent from outside, there will be a vacuum of up to 70 percent in the next ten to fifteen years.

He said that keeping this in mind, the Canadian government has introduced several changes in its immigration policy and has relaxed certain norms for a Canadian visa in skilled worker category. Panke pointed out that the latest fast track processing of visa applications in the federal skilled worker category will ensure a Canadian visa in a period of just 6-12 months.

Currently, Panke is in Punjab to gauge the talent pool available and to conduct seminars throughout the state in collaboration with the city-based World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services (WWICS), which has sent 60,000 families and more than 250,000 individuals to Canada till now.

Panke stated that there are thousands of Punjabis in Canada who are doing extremely well in their professions and are positively contributing to the country’s economy. Comparatively, he said, Canada has more applicants from Punjab than any other Indian state.

Asked about the impact of global recession on the economy of Canada, Panke said that in a long run, a majority of organizations and companies in Canada would be unaffected by the recession.

He said that there is definitely some impact, but all this is a temporary phase and will soon be over. Moreover, he added that there is no impact on the openings available under skilled category and Canada is looking forward to employ skilled workers in a big way. Thus, according to him, there is no cause what so ever of concern for prospective immigrants.