Pathways to Prosperity: Canada

Conference Overview

Immigrants are a critical source of talent for Canadian employers. Newcomers to Canada have always contributed to our national fabric and identity. They are instrumental in driving innovation, providing advanced skills for the economy, and creating many of our largest companies and employers.

Yet, today employers are experiencing challenges finding and hiring immigrants with the right skills—when they need them. In addition, many organizations are not yet taking full advantage of immigrants’ skills, talents and expertise to optimize corporate performance and growth.

Western Canadian Immigration Conference 2014: Enhancing Canada’s Immigration System—from Invitation to Integration features an outstanding lineup of expert speakers to share best practices and strategies on how we can enhance our immigration system to respond to the needs of Canadian businesses and communities. The goal is to make us more globally competitive in attracting, retaining and integrating new Canadians.

A combination of interactive presentations, panel discussions, and delegate-expert sharing sessions will give conference participants the latest insights on how to attract the best and the brightest to their organizations and better harness the innovative talents of immigrants to drive corporate success.

Conference delegates will also be invited to take part in a special consultation session to identify key immigration challenges and barriers facing Canadian firms that will help guide future research by the Conference Board to identify potential solutions.

Conference Themes

The conference will focus on the following themes:

1. The Immigration Imperative—what Canada and Canadian companies gain—and stand to gain—from immigration economically, socially and culturally.
2. Building an Immigration System Responsive to the Needs of Business—strategies and programs to enhance Canada’s immigration system to better meet their needs, today and tomorrow, and make the most of the talents of immigrants.
3. Streamlining Immigration for Skilled Trades People—identifying how the immigration of skilled trades people can be streamlined to help overcome the significant labour shortages employers are experiencing in Western Canada.
4. Short and Long-Term Impacts of Two-Step Immigration—exploring the growing number of temporary workers in Canada and the emergence of a two-step immigration system, and what these trends mean for businesses and communities in the short and long-term.
5. Consultations on Enhancing Canada’s Immigration System—leaders from government, business, education, immigrant-serving agencies, regulatory bodies, professional associations and other experts will have an opportunity to contribute to a discussion on an enhanced immigration system.