2004/05 - 2006/07 Service Plan -- Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services

Goals, Objectives, Strategies and Results — Continued

Goal 5: The social and economic benefits of immigration and multiculturalism are maximized.

Core Business Area:: Aboriginal, Multiculturalism and Immigration.

British Columbia immigrant landings in recent years have remained stable, ranging between 34,000 and 38,000 a year over the last five years, constituting approximately 15 per cent of the national total. Immigration provides the largest source of population and labour force growth, playing a lead role in meeting skill requirements, attracting investment and expanding consumer demand. Immigration also brings many social benefits. The Province is working to promote cultural diversity and multiculturalism, which will attract more immigrants to British Columbia as a safe, welcoming place in which to invest and raise families.

Given increased global and inter-provincial competition for "economic" immigrants, the Provincial Nominee Program will be expanded to help the Province meet key skill shortages, attract business immigrants who can potentially make the greatest contribution to investment and job creation, and facilitate immigration to smaller communities in British Columbia.

Regional dispersion of immigration (also a federal priority) can contribute significantly to regional development goals as the Province's heartlands strategy unfolds. The Province will collaborate with the federal government to expand the Provincial Nominee Program and access new funding available for federal priorities (e.g., labour market language training and foreign qualifications recognition).

The pieces of work noted above combine together to form a comprehensive immigration framework for BC. One of the key priorities for the Ministry is to develop and articulate a high level strategy designed to maximize the social and economic benefits of immigration and cultural diversity to the province. Because this strategy is related to each of the three objectives which follow, it is included with output measures directly under Goal 5 (rather than under one of the Objectives).

Strategy:: 1. Develop and implement a comprehensive cross-ministry strategy to maximize the social and economic benefits of immigration and cultural diversity to the province of BC.

Performance Measure	Baseline 2003/04	Target
Performance Measure	Baseline 2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07
Output: Strategic framework for maximizing economic and social benefits of immigration	Individual programs and performance measures exist	Strategic framework completed and implemented	Implementation continues	Implementation and evaluation

Objective 1:: Stronger communities through action on racism and greater awareness of multiculturalism.

Through community partnerships, the Province can support a growing local commitment to anti-racism and multiculturalism. These local efforts are able to mobilize multiple contributors and ultimately will lead to community-based approaches to dealing with and preventing racism and supporting diversity.

Strategies:: 1. Facilitate and empower communities to mobilize against racism and to promote multiculturalism.¹¹; 2. In cooperation with the Ministry of Small Business and Economic Development, develop a document capturing a multicultural theme around the Olympics.; 3. In consultation with the Multiculturalism Advisory Council, examine mechanisms for delivery of anti-racism and multicultural initiatives through partners.


¹¹	Supports the 2004/05 – 2006/07 Government Strategic Plan strategy to "Provide supports and incentives to promote good health and prevent racism and violence".

Performance Measures	Baseline 2003/04	Target
Performance Measures	Baseline 2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07
Output: Anti-racism or multiculturalism initiatives funded	25	25 in total	25 in total	25 in total
Outcome: Community level commitment toward the promotion of anti-racism and multiculturalism, as measured by the number of communities with anti-racism protocols in place	8	4 new 12 in total	4 new 16 in total	4 new 20 in total
Output: Olympic multicultural theme document		Document developed	Input from partners and communities; Initiate implementation	Continue implementation
Output: Report and make recommendations on anti-racism and multicultural initiatives		Report complete	Implement the initiatives in partnership with communities	Continue implementation with partners

Objective 2:: Accelerated settlement of immigrants allows them to realize their full potential and contribute to the economy.

Enabling and expediting settlement of immigrants will have direct benefits to local communities, as well as to immigrants themselves. The strategy below enables communities to provide new immigrants with the tools and supports they need to flourish in Canadian society and BC communities.

Strategy:: 1. Build community capacity to support new immigrants and refugees through settlement, language training and adaptation programs.

Performance Measure	Baseline 2003/04	Target
Performance Measure	Baseline 2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07
Output: Number of persons receiving language training¹	10,000	9,000²	9,000²	9,000²


¹	Language and settlement services are provided to people through the awarding, funding and monitoring of 135 contracts with third party providers. The number of contracts with service providers was included as an output measure in last year's service plan. In an effort to streamline, the performance measure is now focused on services received by clients.
²	Targets are lower than the baseline due to the anticipated reduction in federal transfers and immigrant and refugee landings in BC.

Objective 3: The contribution of immigrants and temporary residents to the BC economy is expanded.

The strategies below are geared to attracting and keeping immigrants who are best able to contribute to British Columbia's economy. This multifaceted approach will result in a greater number of qualified immigrants who are able to fill critical skill shortages (such as in nursing or engineering) or potentially invest in local economies. It will also support immigrants with an international professional or trade designation to practice in BC. A regional immigration strategy will support heartland communities in attracting and retaining skilled workers, students and business immigrants in support of local economic development interests.

Strategies:: 1. Negotiate and renew the Canada-British Columbia Agreement for Co-operation on Immigration.; 2. Expand the Provincial Nominee Program.¹²; 3. Accelerate career attachment opportunities for immigrants in the professions and trades.; 4. Identify and facilitate investment through the business immigration program.; 5. Develop and implement a regional immigration strategy.


¹²	Supports the 2004/05 – 2006/07 Government Strategic Plan strategy to "Ensure British Columbia has the skilled workforce to support economic growth".

Performance Measures	Baseline 2003/04	Target
Performance Measures	Baseline 2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07
Outcome: Skilled immigrants are employed in British Columbia's skill-shortage sectors as measured by the number of skill-shortage sector jobs filled by applicants of the Provincial Nominee Program	250 new	300 new	350 new	400 new
Outcome: Employment of skilled immigrants under the Provincial Nominee Program is distributed among the regions of the province as measured by the per cent of rural area employers hiring skilled immigrants	20%	25%	25%	30%
Outcome: Employers and nominees are satisfied with the Provincial Nominee Program as measured by the per cent of respondents satisfied in annual evaluation surveys	75%	75%	75%	75%
Outcome: Business investment is maximized as measured by the number of business immigrants entering BC through the Provincial Nominee Program¹	25	45	50	Increase


¹	Business immigrant nominees must fall under one of the following two categories: Lower Mainland — must invest one million dollars or more resulting in the creation of five or more jobs; Rest of BC — must invest $300,000 or more and create a minimum of two jobs.