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Skilled Refugee Economic Immigration To Strengthen Canada's Economy

Blog posted on by Evelyn Ackah in Immigration, Immigration Law, Economic Immigration, Refugee Law, Permanent Residence and Provincial Nominee Programs

Skilled Refugee Economic Immigration To Strengthen Canada's Economy

Canada's economy is showing signs of strength and growth, yet employers are facing continued skilled worker labour shortages. On June 20, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Ahmed Hussen discussed the benefits of accepting more skilled and educated refugees with employable skills and opening Canada's economic immigration streams to refugees.

Statistics Canada 1st Quarter 2019

The Canadian economy showed signs of strength in May as it added 27,700 jobs and the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since comparable data become available in 1976.

- The Star

At the same time, Canadian employers are facing labour shortages for skilled workers due to an aging population and the increasing number of Canadians who are reaching retirement age. Statistics Canada reported:

  • over 500,000 jobs went unfilled across Canada in the 1st three months of 2019
  • nearly 80% of the unfilled jobs were for permanent positions
  • 1st quarter of 2019, Canada had 506,000 job vacancies - an increase of over 44,000 vacancies from the 1st quarter of 2018

The Economic Mobility Pathways Project (EMPP)

In partnership with Talent Beyond Boundaries, RefugePoint and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), EMPP is a pilot project to evaluate whether skilled refugees in Kenya and the Middle East can access Canada’s economic immigration programs. Through the EMPP, eligible skilled refugees registered with the UNHCR are referred to Manitoba, Ontario, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and the Yukon for consideration for a provincial nomination (PNP) for permanent residence based on local labour needs.

More Economic Refugees
While few refugees have immigrated to Canada through the EMPP, on World Refugee Day Hussen said he would like to see more economic refugee immigrants and for the program to grow "massively:"

"Instead of thinking of refugees as people who just want resettlement and people who are passive recipients of aid, how about re-imagining refugees as people who have assets to contribute, who have talents and skills that we need in Canada?"

It can be helpful to consult an experienced immigration and refugee lawyer to evaluate your unique case and advise you on the best option for your case.


Evelyn L. Ackah, BA, LL.B.

Founder/Managing Lawyer

Ms. Ackah is passionate about immigration law because it focuses on people and relationships, which are at the core of her personal values. Starting her legal career as a corporate/commercial ...

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It is one thing to earn a living; it is another thing to make a difference in the world.

This is our formal thank you note to Evelyn Ackah and the Ackah Law Team for all the effort they put into helping us navigate and finally resolve the hurdle that was Canadian Immigration back in the spring of 2012.

A friend referred us to Evelyn; he assured us that Evelyn would take good care of us. Our friend was confident we were in good hands and said Evelyn would do her very best to help us and she did! At the time we did not know that his referral would go far beyond finding us help. Slowly we realized that it would become our own personal story of how we received grace and were reminded of the power in paying it forward

We wrote a detailed page of our dilemma, explaining how we came to be in the position we were in (overwhelmed with the hurdle that was Canadian Immigration and the uncertainty that we faced as a young family in Calgary). Evelyn agreed to take on our file with her team. They found the time to personally call us and listened intently and understood the details of what we were dealing with. They gave us their time, an honest opinion and provided clear direction which proved to be invaluable advice. Months went by but in time, we received word from Ackah Law that the Immigration office had finally reviewed our file and a decision had been made allowing our family to finally put the immigration matter to rest. We were finally able to focus again to live our lives without fear or pending doom.

Looking back now, even the sun appeared to shine a little brighter that day. At first we didn’t know whether to bake them a cake, drive out to meet their team, find their offices and personally thank them with a mighty hug or simply cry out to the heavens in thankful relief. Instead we emailed them to express our heartfelt thank-you and we hoped that they would know deep in their hearts just how grateful we were for all of their help.

Even though we relied on emails and phone conversations to communicate with them that year, we will always remember their constant professionalism, their kindness and understanding at a time that brought us so much pain not to mention fear. As if all their hard work wasn’t enough, Evelyn then then casually mentions that all their work was done pro-bono! We were thoroughly humbled!

To this day we are still eager to share how wonderful they all are as human beings but even more than that, we continue to pay it forward in honour of them, their service to us and their continued dedication in helping others.

Eternally thankful

– The Brummunds

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