Monte Solberg, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration said today that some of Canada’s immigrants need to make greater effort to improve the whole process – becoming more fluent in English or French, learning the customs and practices of the Canadian workplace and learning and embracing Canada’s values.

Businesses too, the minister said, have a role to play in welcoming and integrating newcomers. They provide the jobs. But just as importantly, they need to ensure newcomers are made to feel welcome in their workplace.

Employers need to encourage immigrants to fit in, feel like part of the family, and feel that they are making a contribution to the business in line with their levels of skills and experience.

Business should also engage the professional accreditation bodies that their migrant employees belong to in order to:

• speed up the recognition of overseas credentials, and
• obtain guidance on how to upgrade their skills.

20 Mar 2006