Consular Corps in Nova Scotia
Vision for cooperation with the provincial government on consular matters
Among the issues that most concern Canadian society today is the generalized shortage of labor; a global problem if we consider that Manpower Group has reported that more than 40 countries and territories are currently experiencing a growing shortage of talent. Moreover, more than 50% of companies worldwide are experiencing difficulties in filling vacancies (especially at skilled levels).
In the case of Canada, some analyses speak of between 1 and 1.5 million jobs currently open in the country. The provinces with the most serious complications are Quebec and British Columbia. However, Nova Scotia is also highly vulnerable to this phenomenon, due to its greater geographic isolation, the preponderance of small populations, an accelerated technological transition and economies dependent on local resources. This makes the province a less attractive destination for workers from other Canadian provinces and other countries. Atlantic Canada is also experiencing an aging population that has resulted in a reduction of about 60,000 active workers per year (3.5% less) due to its retirement rate. Nova Scotia had the most dramatic reduction in the ratio of unemployed to job vacancies, from 4.4 in 2020 to 1.9 in 2022.
In the agricultural sector especially, Nova Scotia will face a shortage of 2,600 workers by 2029 within an overall Canadian scenario that invites urgent attention to labour issues in food production. The Royal Bank of Canada reported that Canada is already experiencing, today, a shortage of 24,000 farm workers with a potential retirement scenario of 40 percent of its farm operators over the next decade. In the future, Canada will rely on immigration and temporary work programs, and Nova Scotia, within that dynamic, will have to find its own strategy to deal with this situation.
In contrast, Canada has significant potential to offer creative solutions to this problem. It has distinguished itself by managing immigration in a way that respects labor and human rights, and by channeling resources to the proper assimilation and greater success of newcomer communities across the country. In addition to its recognized socio-cultural flexibility, rule of law, good wages and strong democracy, there is a prevailing understanding of the positive importance of immigration and the existence of proven temporary work programs that have generally worked well over long periods of time. These programs constitute a legacy of experience and installed capacity to receive, attend and support the presence of workers in various sectors of its economy.
The government of Nova Scotia can find in the consuls (career and honorary) accredited to the province a source of information of particular relevance and ways to establish a dialogue with other countries that can be oriented to the following essential points to face the phenomenon with creativity and adequate controls:
Form working groups for reflection on supply, demand and complementary needs for economic processes, investment, best practices, successful attraction of migrants and temporary work.
Guide decisions on programs to attract migrants at various levels of specialization towards provincial and Canadian economic competitiveness.
Form a frame of reference on the subject that considers migration and the presence of temporary workers as an inevitable part of the solution.
Promote consultations and programs to tackle the pernicious incentives that encourage irregular migration channels and promote legal labor linkage channels; eliminate clandestine schemes by deactivating the incentives for seeking to fill job vacancies through irregular channels. - Build on and modernize existing avenues with bilateral government regulation and controls, such as the successful Temporary Agricultural Workers Program (PTAT) and the management of the unilateral Temporary Foreign Worker (PTET) program.
Encourage exchanges of official information on labor needs in Nova Scotia and the minimum requirements for meeting them.
Establish information mechanisms on the different recruitment processes existing in other countries, their differences and their genuine competitiveness.
Analyze the results (good and bad) of private and poorly regulated overseas recruitment and labor attraction schemes in Canada with negative consequences for the overall labor mobility scheme.
Establish campaigns to encourage worker self-protection against unscrupulous and fraudulent channels offering employment in the province, and against abuses and disturbing labor exploitation schemes that are beginning to emerge.
Promote greater knowledge and better legislation around recruitment companies, many with commendable practices, but many equally oriented to opportunistically take advantage of the demand for labor and the expectations of the foreign labor force.
Contribute to the establishment of minimum standards of behavior for recruiters so that they invariably offer full information and support on labor rights, health issues, insurance, housing, support for access to financial services, cultural assimilation and development, and improvement of language skills.
Encourage official and certified sources of information on employment opportunities and migration processes for dissemination in other countries.
Explore avenues for the creation of educational training programs prior to the travel to Canada of candidates selected for temporary work programs on essential topics such as: languages, safety measures, Canadian provincial and federal characteristics of the respective work activity to be performed and social, cultural and economic elements to be faced during their stay in Canada. This assures employers and workers success in the employment relationship to be established.
Exchange information on the sectors and activities that Nova Scotia is most interested in promoting for the labor participation of immigrants and temporary workers.
Coordinate consultations on administrative and legal issues that impact immigrant communities and the attraction of temporary workers, such as closed, sectoral or open work permits, the periods of participation of workers in their respective jobs, document management and legal defense against abuses.
Consolidate a mechanism for reporting irregular labor situations, abuses or possible legal infractions affecting migrant communities, and accompany it with a "focal point" to alert the relevant authorities and a "rapid response" team for cases that require urgent attention.
Promote a special working group with the countries of origin on the issue of attracting students, job opportunities for foreigners with study visas and programs for processing work permits for students after graduation.
The number of fraudulent mechanisms to take advantage of the interest, mainly of foreign workers and to a lesser extent of employers in need of workers, has resulted in various fraudulent schemes that should be of concern to Nova Scotia: fraudulent offers, workers abandoned at airports, direct payment to workers for supposed travel "services", "advice" and obtaining a job in Canada, among many others. These actions encourage the supply of workers without the corresponding skills, feeding mafias dedicated to facilitating the obtaining of employment in conditions that are close to human trafficking and the so-called "modern slavery". Intermediaries take advantage of and exploit the vulnerability and fear of migrants in Canada.
It is in the interest of Nova Scotia and the countries represented by their accredited consuls in the province that there be success in all processes of support for competitiveness and local economic growth involving the presence of members of the different communities that take Canada as their host country. It is in everyone's interest that there is the best flow of information so that economic opportunities of all kinds are fully known and expectations are generated in accordance with reality and with the great opportunities offered by a dynamic society such as Nova Scotia, a province with a clear international vocation in Canada.
The different levels of government in Canada and the countries that have such a friendly relationship with Nova Scotia are called upon to find ways of facilitating the new economic trends that mark the prosperity of the province and, within this, the issue of labor demand through regular channels considering the great comparative advantage that different countries may have in terms of information dissemination and support for appropriate recruitment systems.