Guy Quenneville
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, June 5, 2008

INUVIK - The GNWT will look into launching an immigration nominee program similar to one in Yukon in order to battle the territory's chronic labour shortage, said Premier Floyd Roland last week.

"We're starting to have discussions with the federal government to see how we can make it work in the NWT," said Roland while attending a breakfast meeting with several Yellowknife small business owners, all members of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), at the Explorer Hotel last Friday, one day after the unveiling of the new budget.

The Yukon's Skilled Worker Program, like that of many provinces, gives immigrants with a job lined up in Canada a chance to relocate.

"It's not, in a sense, that we've targeted money for it," said Roland. "It's a matter of just getting down to do the work."

The remark came after Yellowknife Tim Hortons owner Greg Barton asked about the Yukon nominee system. Barton currently employs a number of temporary immigrants through a system that is both costly and time consuming, according to Janine Halbesma, a senior policy analyst with the CFIB.

"You have to get a Labour Market Opinion (before the immigrant can arrive), and that just shows that there is a shortage in the North, that you couldn't find anyone locally," said Halbesma.

"That process is very long. It can take about seven months, depending on which country they come from."

The location of the CFIB meeting was telling. The Explorer Hotel hires 50 per cent of its staff from outside the territory, from places as far away as Germany, according to manager Carlo Barrile.

"Of course employers would like to hire locally. But there just isn't that pool," said Halbesma.

Roland, in his speech to CFIB members, acknowledged the shortage.

"The growth of the territories means we need to look at bringing in people from other parts of the country and the world," he said.

But Halbesma said she was disappointed Roland's acknowledgment didn't translate into any budget spending.

"The labour shortage wasn't really highlighted in the budget. And when you talk to these business owners, that's the top concern for them," she said.

"The GNWT's approach to the labour shortage, at this point, is very much focused on the training side."

Roland said the GNWT plans to refocus its attention on apprenticeship programs as a way of growing the workforce.

"The government used to be great at apprenticeships," said Roland, a former mechanic. "I came out of the system myself. I heard an automotive apprenticeship position was open in Inuvik and I walked across the street and put my application in and I became an apprentice. Had 14 years in the trade.

"We're putting more emphasis on that side because we've heard from business that we need skilled workers."