Presentation at the Recognizing Learning Conference, Winnipeg
October 21, 2003
In recent years, immigration has become a major contributor to the country’s population and labour force growth. To achieve its full potential, Canada and in particular its cities must attract, maintain and effectively utilize this growing pool of internationally-trained skilled workers.
In Ottawa, as in many other urban centres across the country, recently-landed immigrants have a considerably lower labour force participation rate and a significantly higher unemployment rate than Canadian born workers.
In an effort to address these labour market integration issues, the Ottawa Internationally Trained Workers project has been developed under the partnership of United Way/ Centraide Ottawa, the Canadian Labour and Business Centre, and LASI World Skills. The project’s overall goal is to develop a community-based strategy aimed at facilitating the accreditation and integration of internationally-trained workers into the Ottawa economy.
This presentation outlines the project, focusing on its objectives, research findings, challenges identified, and recommended next steps.
