MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino workers, including those who are already employed abroad, could apply for the estimated 160,000 jobs in British Columbia, Canada through the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, an official of Canada’s Labor Market Development for British Columbia (BC) said.At the same time, Mark Gillis, executive director, said that the jobs open for foreign workers in British Columbia were driven by the aging population and were unlikely to be affected by the global financial crisis. "Because a key driver is demographic, even if the economy slows down, we're still going to need more workers. But I can't predict today how the financial situation in the United States will impact on the global
economy…But again, with such a strong demographic driver behind the British Columbia job shortage, we expect that there will still be job openings that need to be filled," Gillis said. He said a BC study showed that by 2015, there would be 160,000 job openings there that could not be filled locally either by inter-provincial migration or improved labor participation by women, and youth. He said job openings for foreign workers were available in all sectors, especially in the medical profession like doctors, nurses, and laboratory technicians. Asked how OFWs from the Middle East who were interested in moving to Canada could apply for jobs there, Gillis said the workers would need to link up through DoLE, which has Philippine Overseas Labor Offices all over the world. He said those interested might also check details of the process to be posted soon at http://www.workbc.ca after the pilot pre-hiring interview of potential employees by three Canadian companies for some 100 jobs was finished. He said the three employers were representatives from the trucking, tourism, and hospitality industries. "[The hiring] is employer driven, so whatever we can do to link employers through DoLE/POEA to make those connections, it's up to employers to identify the needs. We're just trying to help facilitate those connections," he said. In general, Gillis said, OFWs outside the Philippines who would want to move to Canada could go through two processes of application -- through temporary foreign workers and provincial nominee process. "Both are employer-driven and they need to start the process. It's a matter of time to make those connections," he said. Workers, for their part, need to identify their skills, experience, background, and interests for employers of British Columbia. Gillis said he and other BC officials were here to "let information flow more efficiently." He said the Philippines was an attractive job market for BC because Filipinos spoke English and because of the educational and training infrastructures. Michael Chew, associate director of BC's provincial nominee program, called their job match-making between the needs of the employers in BC and the available skills of the employees in the Philippines. Chew said similar match-making activities have been done in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France. He said Canada has realized that the job market was very competitive. Job shortage "is a global phenomena across the Western world. We know that we have to compete with Australia, the United Kingdom, the New Zealand" for skilled workers, Chew said. Asked about the pay rates in BC, Chew said industry standards differed. He said entry-level, low-skill jobs like fast-food attendants get 11 to 14 Canadian dollars an hour, while union jobs get between C$25 to C$45 an hour. Chew said BC has one of the world's best standards of living where education was free and health care subsidized. Himself an immigrant, he said "the way of life [there] is definitely better." Asked about racial discrimination, Chew said Canada has a high tolerance for racial integration as its makeup was also multicultural. He said of the four million residents of BC, 35 percent were from Asia. Chew said he and other Canadian officials were planning to return to the Philippines next year for a bigger job fair, with more Canadian employers, offering more jobs. He said they might also take the job fair outside Metro Manila. | 
