Here's a newsflash item I lifted from the Radio Canada International site on August 15th. You've probably heard it all before:

• MONTREAL: LABOUR CRISIS LOOMS IN QUEBEC

  Quebec has been warned that a labour crisis is impending in coming decades. A study by the Desjardins Group investment and banking firm says that even a high birth rate and more immigration won't compensate for the droves of workers who will soon be retiring. The researchers predict that one-quarter of the population will be aged 65 or older by 2021. The study notes that Quebec trails Ontario and other provinces in the ability to attract and to retain newcomers. Desjardins recommends several remedies, such as making the work force more accessible to "atypical" workers, such as women with young children whom the government could accommodate by providing daycare centres open in the evening or during weekends. The study says the government could ease labour laws to create more flexibility for employers, as well as to enact measures to delay retirements. Employers across the country continue to complain about labour shortages. The Bank of Canada says that 40 per cent of Canadian companies think that the shortages are affecting their ability to meet demand for their products. 

What is interesting to me is that the example of the "atypical worker" is someone who is actually a typical worker. Most Canadian women with children over the age of 1 year are actually in tha labour force full time. Even though this story was filed under "immigration" it doesn't mention creating programs to help qualified immigrants find employment in their respective fields or to re-train them for the Canadian industry.

Canadians have been screaming and shouting for these kinds of programs for years. We've really had enough of waiting months for a doctor's appointment while hundreds of foreign-trained physicians are working as cab drivers and manicurists. And that's just one example. Engineers, dentists, and computer programmers are seeing their talents wasted while companies desperately need them.

Maybe it's time for Canadian recruiters to get serious about political activism on this issue. New immigrant professionals need spaces in localisation programs, introductions to legislative and governing bodies that regulate various positions and support while they complete them. It's time for us to tell the goverment exactly what that kind of support looks like.