SHARING OF IMMIGRATION FACILITIES IN BRITISH COLUMBIA (2007)

The Province of British Columbia is facing a dramatic labour shortage that is hampering the continued growth of the economy of British Columbia. With this limited labour pool, our economic initiatives are focused on attracting skilled and semi-skilled foreign workers to meet this labour shortage.

The Provincial Nominee Program and the Temporary Worker Program have proven successful in attracting foreign workers with the desired skills to meet the current labour shortages in the Province of British Columbia. It has, however, become apparent that obstacles are delays are being encountered as people try to access information and/or services through Immigration offices.

The governments of British Columbia and Canada share a mutual interest in maximizing the contribution of immigration to the achievement of the social, demographic and economic goals throughout British Columbia and Canada.

Chambers of Commerce have been vocal at the national level in working to expand the location of passport offices to regional centres. Sharing of facilities that offer a full slate of immigration services would be a cost effective method for both levels of government to enhance levels of immigration services.

In other parts of the country, the provincial and federal governments have entered into a shared facility arrangement with great success in dealing with economic initiatives. In New Brunswick for example, provincial and federal staff working on economic initiatives in Saint John and Moncton have benefited from this form of close cooperation.

The objectives of these immigration policies and programs are to meet the needs of our labour market in a timely fashion. This model of close cooperation would be of mutual benefit in streamlining immigration services both within the Province of British Columbia and across Canada.

THE CHAMBER RECOMMENDS

That the federal government work with the provincial government;

1. to explore the benefits of sharing facilities and offices in an effort to improve the delivery of programs and services.

2. to launching pilot projects of shared offices in key regions throughout British Columbia and Canada.