Have those questions been asked in their industry? Why? Why not?
Once upon a time, a PM said that workers would be paid more for learning English. Now we have a grand new statue of world leaders – these giants who have bent over backwards to help poor nations around the world, even though this does not help them economically.
So: translation skills for CEOs.
If this is a policy issue, let’s look at something that fits the bill. Could that policy push large companies towards H2B visa holders, which they clearly do – as of 2017, 54% of the H1B workers were visas for H2B workers – most of which are Indians? Could that push company policies for cross-border hires, including coaching Europeans? Would that push those companies to hire more Canadians?
A kind of dual intake program for high-skilled workers.
Great idea.
Immigrants have been great for Canada, hiring many business and knowledge workers. You also know Canadians who immigrated in the past few decades have been great for these immigrants.
But in the past couple of years, Canadians born in Canada’s greatest period of immigration have come under attack, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and politicians declaring it a national security issue and vilifying people who arrive in Canada for these purposes.
Could senior executives have actually been telling the PM that it made sense for Canadian executives to support immigration to these communities as well? Could this have been a “by the book” policy issue? And given the current conversation with American and British leaders, have they asked their CEOs to have this conversation in those countries?
We may never know, but this is a good idea, and could be a useful pilot program.
We must, as Canadians, fight our own stereotypes about immigrants and appreciate that many Canadians (and Canadians of Mexican origin) have embraced immigrants and immigrant populations. We must, as Canadians, challenge those who cast aspersions against immigrants and immigrants. We must, as Canadians, recognise this is the kind of initiative which the science suggests will bring real benefits to Canadians (we know over half of Canadian profits come from Canadian immigrants and foreign investment). And we must, as Canadians, encourage economic success of new immigrants and promote opportunities for these Canadians, especially in order to strengthen our economy.
We must embrace diversity in our workplaces, so that our people feel welcome in our society. I believe this policy could have a significant impact on our workplaces, and our society.
It could even generate ideas that have great potential to improve the lives of immigrants and immigrants’ communities.
Canadian companies like CB Scott have wonderful programs in place for helping newcomers, particularly refugee members of our community. Give them this kind of support, and these men and women – who have come from far, far away – can have the dignity of serving our customers, improving our planet and breaking barriers for all Canadians.