IRCC, in its recent report, declared that Canada’s CITO commits to immigrating skilled professionals to benefit the labor market.
This shift in priorities will be reflected at both the federal & provincial levels. Well, this is now being taken one step further with the arrival of the new position, i.e., the Chief International Talent Officer (CITO). While not much is known about this role yet, IRCC has made clear that the responsibilities of the CITO entail the ability to impact a significant amount of annual immigration in Canada.
What Is The Role Of CITO?
As Canada’s CITO commits to immigrating skilled professionals, the main task of CITO will be to ensure that the immigration policies continue to align with the long-term skills & labor strategy. This broad strategy encompasses smaller obligations, which were further outlined in IRCC’s strategy & are discussed below.
Perhaps the most significant responsibility of CITO will be to monitor & understand the labor market needs while developing plans on how immigration can best solve them. This includes addressing present economic pressures & future considerations to Canadian sectors & industries encompassed within a longer-term sector-based strategy that the CITO will have to develop. In addition, IRCC has even identified the need for whoever takes the role of CITO to refine their procedures in this regard.
Furthermore, in order to enable the development of these strategies, the government plans on creating a holistic approach to forecast future skills needs. Well, the CITO will see to it & this will be intricately tied to numerous sectoral strategies focusing on areas like human resources, health, agriculture, etc. IRCC has expressed a commitment towards understanding regional requirements & accounting for the needs of Francophone minority communities in creating these holistic frameworks.
Furthermore, a new endeavor under the CITO’s jurisdiction is the organization of a global skills mission. These collaborative events will be organized with the requirements of government representatives, stakeholders, & employees in mind with a clear goal, i.e., to recruit the talent Canada needs to thrive. Serving as a platform to connect immigration with skilled individuals across the world, these global skills missions seek to present Canada as an attractive destination to settle. However, little is known yet about their format & organization.
A Skill-Based Future
While Canada’s immigration system will retain crucial humanitarian, refugee, & family streams for immigrants who need them, it seems clear by IRCC’s strategy that in-demand skills will continue to play a significant role in determining which economic immigrants will be given PR in Canada.
The CITO’s creation is just one part of this strategy. IRCC has also stated its commitment to further investing in foreign credential recognition & accreditation of skilled newcomers, thus emphasizing the significance of in-demand skills to international students who are hoping to settle in the nation permanently.
These new declarations come in the wake of measures the government has already taken towards a skills-first immigration approach. These include the introduction of category-based selections for Express Entry, the launching of a tech talent strategy, & continuing importance of PNP in IRCC’s broader immigration strategy.
How Can You Use This Information?
Applicants seeking Canadian immigration in the next few years might see increased success by paying attention to acquiring in-demand skills which IRCC will be searching for.
While not much is known regarding what these in-demand skills might be due to their stated goal of meeting key labor needs, we can speculate that many of them might correspond to skills required to fill key job vacancies in specific sectors. Healthcare & construction are two areas of labor that have seen continued job vacancies. Moreover, further indication might be derived from what sectors are being targeted by the federal government via category-based selections.
Finally, according to the new immigration strategy, IRCC will try to inform immigrants/ newcomers about what skills might be in demand in Canada. However, not much is known presently of when & through what medium this will happen.