How do you recruit foreign skilled workers? German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Labor Minister Hubertus Heil traveled to the North American country to get answers to this question from a Canadian perspective.

There, they exchange ideas with Sean Fraser, who is responsible for immigration issues in the Canadian government. According to a report by the German Interior Ministry, an exchange with companies and authorities will also take place as part of the trip, which will take Faeser and Heil to Ottawa and Toronto.

“Canada is a model”

“We want to create a modern immigration law so that foreign skilled workers can come to Germany more easily and get a good start here. Canada is a model we want to learn from,” Faeser said before the trip.

Scoring procedure: training, language skills, professional experience

Canada uses a points system for immigration that has been in place since 1967. When applying for a residence permit, education, language skills and professional career are factors that influence the assessment and ultimately the decision to apply. acceptance or refusal. Canada, for example, caters to both Anglophones and Francophones according to its official languages. Anyone who masters both can get extra points in the process. It is also important to know if there are vacancies in Canadian companies. If the immigration permit is granted, after three years of residence in Canada, it is possible to apply for citizenship of the country.

“Canada is showing how a successful immigration policy can be a victory for society, the economy and immigrants,” said German Labor Minister Hubertus Heil.

Canada has introduced expedited procedures

In order to shorten the application process, which can sometimes take years, Canada has created a fast-track procedure for professionals. The authorities advertise, among other things, with the promise“Once selected, full applications are processed in six months or less.” Again, points are awarded to rank applications based on factors such as age, education, work experience, and language skills. Canada has borrowed Australia and New Zealand from this accelerated approach.

However, even with a selection through the Canadian fast-track procedure, there is not automatically the possibility of being able to stay in Canada permanently. This is limited to those who obtained the highest score during the selection process.

As a benefit of the process, it is believed that Canadian authorities usually screen applications every two weeks. Your own score can also be increased after you have already submitted an application, for example if you have a job offer from a Canadian company or if you improve your language test scores (English, French).