Canada Immigration Law Changed, Skilled Worker List Reduces to 29

[0x00FF00]

If the list at http://canadaimmigrationblog.com/skilled-worker-occupational... is correct:

New:

  0811 Primary Production Managers (Except Agriculture)
  1122 Professional Occupations in Business Services to Management
  1233 Insurance Adjusters and Claims Examiners
  2121 Biologists and Related Scientists
  2151 Architects
  3113 Dentists
  3131 Pharmacists
  3222 Dental Hygienists & Dental Therapists
  4151 Psychologists
  4152 Social Workers
  7216 Contractors and Supervisors, Mechanic Trades
  7241 Electricians (Except Industrial & Power System)
  7265 Welders & Related Machine Operators
  7372 Drillers & Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying & Construction
  8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service

Old:

  0111 Financial Managers
  0213 Computer and Information Systems Managers
  0311 Managers in Health Care
  0632 Accommodation Service Managers
  0711 Construction Managers
  1111 Financial Auditors and Accountants
  2113 Geologists, Geochemists and Geophysicists
  2143 Mining Engineers
  2144 Geological Engineers
  2145 Petroleum Engineers
  3141 Audiologists and Speech Language Pathologists
  3143 Occupational Therapists
  3151 Head Nurses and Supervisors
  4121 University Professors
  4131 College and Other Vocational Instructors
  7213 Contractors and Supervisors, Pipefitting Trades
  7217 Contractors and Supervisors, Heavy Construction Equipment Crews
  7241 Electricians (Except Industrial and Power System)
  7252 Steamfitters, Pipe fitters and Sprinkler System Installers
  7265 Welders and Related Machine Operators
  7372 Drillers and Blasters – Surface Mining, Quarrying and Construction
  8221 Supervisors, Mining and Quarrying
  8222 Supervisors, Oil and Gas Drilling and Service
  9212 Supervisors, Petroleum, Gas and Chemical Processing and Utilities

Unchanged:

  0631 Restaurant and Food Service Managers
  3111 Specialist Physicians
  3112 General Practitioners and Family Physicians
  3142 Physiotherapists
  3152 Registered Nurses
  3215 Medical Radiation Technologists
  3233 Licensed Practical Nurses
  6241 Chefs
  6242 Cooks
  7215 Contractors and Supervisors, Carpentry Trades
  7242 Industrial Electricians
  7251 Plumbers
  7312 Heavy-Duty Equipment Mechanics
  7371 Crane Operators

Note that this is the list of people who can apply for a work permit without a job lined up. Does anyone know if there are any restrictions for people with job offers? (Proof that no eligible Canadian can be found, etc.)

(EDIT: because I didn't read the formatting guidlines)

[Caligula]

The problem is that a lot of skilled people who come to Canada end up having a difficult time finding a job and not all skilled workers are the same. One example I read in the paper was someone from Africa who was an architect. They qualified as a skilled worker but two years later and he was doing menial jobs.

There is a shortage of skilled laborers and targeting that demographic over the next few years would be a good idea.

[sunir]

The analysis on HN is way off. The Skilled Worker program brings in skilled people without jobs lined up in the expectation they will find a job once they get here.

Computer related industries must not be hiring, or at least not hiring immigrants. Because having thousands of unemployed skilled workers in Canada is not the goal of the program, they delisted it as a category.

By the way, it's possible this happened because people don't want to hire immigrants despite competent developers being in high demand in Toronto. Here's a blog post I wrote about that a long time ago:

http://www.freshbooks.com/blog/2007/07/23/immigrant-quebecoi...

[jacabado]

I am thinking in going to Toronto to work in web development(C#, javascript with 2 years of experience). One of the reasons was because I see Toronto as a sophisticated city.

I'm portuguese, would I have a problem with my nationality/origin/accent?

I was not worried at all with this until I read your blog post.

[klipt]

That site looks a bit dodgy to me, but the same list can indeed be found on the official Citizenship and Immigration Canada website:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/skilled/apply-who-ins...

[budu3]

Looks like IT professionals were taken off the list.

[gauthr]

There are no engineers on that list, either--not even petroleum engineers.

[nkassis]

I don't know what the government is thinking but getting more skilled workers is the point not getting less of them. Were loosing a huge amount of them to the US and all they can think of is to reduce the amount coming in?

[peng]

That site's "Share the Wealth" widget is quite something.

[kranner]

I thought so too. I bet having so many options makes people share less, not more.

[huhtenberg]

Let's not forget the IT-specific "pilot project":

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/special-tech.asp

[ojbyrne]

xenophobia is an easy path to votes.

[ntownsend]

In 2006, nearly half the population of Toronto was a "visible minority". It's estimated that more than half are now. Similarly, half of the population is foreign-born.

[danudey]

Not in Canada though, or at least not in the big cities. If it weren't for immigration our population would be in decline (especially once the baby boomers start dying off).

[budu3]

How often is list revised?

[mkramlich]

programming is not a skilled profession? wtf?

i guess i'm just bashing these keys with my elbows randomly out of some primordial animal instinct, hoping the Python interpreter will consider it valid code.

[gaius]

It's not a list of skilled professions. It's a list of skilled professions that are in demand in Canada. Restaurants have to be managed in person. Programming is not on the list most likely because Canadian firms have been outsourcing it to India.

[jasonlotito]

Programming and technology jobs were under their own heading: "Information technology workers" and were given expedited processing, making the entire process fairly easy.