PCA is involved with a high-level group of national construction industry stakeholders in examining the means by which the Construction Sector Council’s “Labour Market Indicator (LMI)” resource can be kept alive and well, following the news that CSC funding will cease in 2013.
Additionally, PCA is exploring ways to voice the frustrations of its member contractors, who experience unnecessary delays and red tape when securing the services of international craft construction labour. One substantive area of involvement in this regard is PCA’s participation on the “Alberta Coalition for Action on Labour Shortages” (ACALS) group. Along with this large and influential gathering of construction industry associations, PCA is advocating to:
- Change the point system of the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) to place greater emphasis on labour demand and validated employment offers
- Expand opportunities, such as the Provincial Immigrant Nominee Program and the Canadian Experience Class, to turn temporary workers into permanent immigrants
- Change National Occupation Codes (NOC), used in both the permanent and temporary streams, to reflect employer needs and recognize a broader range of existing skilled positions
- Reform Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) processes to recognize employer pre-qualification, cross-industry based shortages of workers, and streamline the application and approval process