Speaking notes for The Honourable Jason Kenney, P.C., M.P. Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism

At a Joint News Conference in Beijing to Announce the Expansion of the Canadian Immigration Integration Project
Beijing, China, September 14, 2010

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Good morning. On behalf of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Government of Canada, I’m pleased to join you today here.

Canada enjoys strong relations with China. Our countries have an active working relationship in international fora, such as the UN, APEC, and WTO.

During Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s visit to China last December, China granted us Approved Destination Status (ADS). ADS will allow our countries to build on our relations, increasing the flow of tourists, students and business people between both our countries.

Strong people-to-people ties also exist between us: over 1.3 million people of Chinese descent live in Canada. China has also been Canada’s top source country since 2008 and we continue to welcome more and more people from China every year.

And our government is committed to helping immigrants translate their credentials into jobs; we continue to work with provinces, territories and stakeholders to improve the foreign credential recognition process. We want to ensure newcomers can put their skills to use and work in their trained profession as soon as possible when they arrive in Canada.

In 2007, our government partnered with the Association of Canadian Community Colleges to launch the Canadian Immigration Integration Project. This project has helped assist immigrants preparing to integrate into the Canadian labour market while they are still in their country of origin.

CIIP has already helped thousands of immigrants, and I am pleased to announce today that we will be expanding this project to help provincial nominees as well.

Under the Provincial Nominee Program, provinces nominate individuals who want to immigrate to Canada and who are interested in settling in that particular province. This growing stream provides an important pathway to becoming a Permanent Resident.

In short, this expansion will target a broader group of immigrants, including both the federal skilled worker and provincial nominee categories and their dependents.

As of this fall, provincial nominees destined for the province of Manitoba will now be able to jump-start the credential recognition process and transfer their skills into the Canadian workplace soon after they arrive.

And we expect that this project will soon be available for provincial nominees in all Canadian provinces and territories.

In addition to orientation sessions on credential recognition, provincial nominees will have access to a wide range of services overseas as well as in Canada.

Pre-arrival services are an essential part of our strategy to help newcomers succeed. CIIP’s partnership with Manitoba to innovate and create province-specific information and services is an important next step in our commitment to better prepare immigrants before they arrive in Canada.

I actually had a chance to visit the CIIP office in India in 2009; it was a great experience and it was evident that this project has been a success.

This project also demonstrates our government’s ongoing commitment to foreign credential recognition. Since 2007, we have established a Foreign Credentials Referral Office, invested $50 million in foreign credential recognition through the Economic Action Plan, put credential recognition on the agenda at the first Ministers meeting, and established a Pan-Canadian Framework for the Assessment and Recognition of Foreign Qualifications with provinces and territories.

The Government of Canada wants newcomers to get a head start on the Canadian labour market and help newcomers integrate into their new communities before they even arrive.

The Association of Canadian Community Colleges has been successfully assisting federal skilled workers for several years. Immigrants who have been a part of this project have been better prepared for life in Canada because they understand the credential recognition process, the labour market and the overall settlement process.

CIIP has helped almost 9,000 people, and they are better prepared to contribute to Canada’s growing economy.

With today’s announcement, provincial nominees will now have access to these supportive resources.

These services help prepare immigrants for life in Canada. It is our hope that we will also help them succeed and continue to contribute to Canada’s prosperity.

Thank you.