High demand for Lankan skilled workers in Canada
Channa BANDARA WIJEKOON
The demand for Sri Lankan migrant workers in Canada is at a high
level, due to their smartness in executing jobs, innovativeness and good
work ethics.
|
Bandula Abeysinghe |
The biggest handicap of Sri Lankans who seek employment abroad is the
lack of English knowledge. The demand for Asian people, especially Sri
Lankans for skilled jobs such as electricians, masons, plumbers,
vocational instructors, accountants and nurses are at a high level.
However Lankans fail drastically in the short listing process, merely
for the fact they do not posses the required levels of English language
proficiency to match the set criteria, immigration consultant Bandula
Abeysinghe said.
Addressing a section of potential immigrants at a migration
information seminar Abeysinghe said immigrants to Canada each year as
permanent residents rose to 250,000 and over 30000 are temporary
workers. He said, in Toronto itself, there were one million minorities
in 1981 and it is five million at present. It is forecasted that these
numbers will go up to 14 million by 2031, making South Asians the
largest minority group.
Among them, Sri Lankans stand a comparatively greater chance of
entering into Canada, if they could acquire the required skills in
English language proficiency.
French too plays a vital role to have an edge over the others once
they are in Canada, Abeysinghe said.
The lowest wage for a skilled worker is Canadian dollars 10.25 per
hour. A nurse could earn around Rs 800,000 to one million a month.
Abeysinghe told potential migrants to be wary of crooks who appear as
migrant service providers.
Canadian migrant service could be provided legally, by a Canadian
lawyer or by a member of Canadian Society of Immigration consultants, he
said. |
