Whereas the Province of British Columbia is predicting significant labour shortages in the coming years due to retirement and immigrants make up approximately 33 of the workforce in the healthcare, technology, entrepreneurship, and essential services sectors; And whereas due to funding cuts, immigrants who are already part of our communities are increasingly unable to access employment skills training, including credential recognition and language services which are needed to reach their full potential and support our communities fully: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM petition the Province of British Columbia to collaborate with the Settlement Services Sector to investigate bridging gaps in supports for training and language services for newcomers including, but not limited to: - sustained access to settlement services for immigrants who have not been able to use them within the prescribed timelines or need access due to extenuating circumstances; - connection to language training services, particularly level 5 and up, potentially through WorkBC Assistive Technology Centre; and - programs to support system navigation and credential recognition.
