Nick Noorani Website

Over the past several months there have been reports of shortages for doctors and nurses in several regions of Canada. In some cases, hospitals have been closing down beds on some days and some surgeries have been rescheduled.
The Calgary Health Region needs to close about 30 beds on most days due to a staff shortage, particularly of nurses. The chief executive of the health authority, Jack Davis, has reported that as many as 70 beds might be closed on any given day to ensure patient safety.

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Ontario Judge Cohen decreed that the Christmas tree must be removed from the courthouse because it represented a religion. I always thought that the tree was not just a symbol of faith, but a coming together of families to spend much deserved time together after a year of hard work. It represented to me good spirit, joy and giving. As a Muslim, these are not alien thoughts to my religion and are not certainly the prerogative of one faith! And many people believe that the origins of the decorated tree likely dates to pre-Christian pagan cultures in Europe.

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Citizenship requirements and security checks put many foreign-trained professionals out of the running for federal government jobs, say those who help immigrants find work.
Immigrant services providers such as Anca Sultana say immigrants in Ottawa have a tougher time finding work than do newcomers in other cities.
“[The] federal government … remains the biggest employer and new Canadians can’t have access to the biggest employer,” said Sultana, who heads the employment programs and other services at Vanier Community Services Centre.

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We’re nowhere close to fully exploiting the possibilities created by the mass influx of well-educated people into Canada. And millions more are on the way. By 2011, foreign-born Canadians will number nearly eight million — that’s 23.1% of the population, up from 18.4% in 2001.
Although 73% of arrivals aged 25 to 64 have a post-secondary education, many employers are reluctant to hire them for jobs that match their education level. That creates an opening for businesses to connect talented newcomers with employers and ease the worsening skills crunch by reducing the risk of hiring from an unfamiliar labour pool.

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In April 2004, when the first issue of the Canadian Immigrant Magazine hit the streets, we got an overwhelming response from readers, advertisers and people interested in Canada’s growing diversity. We had only been in Canada for five years, yet Sabrina and I dug deep into our meager savings to build the magazine to where it is today, often stretching our personal lines of credit, maxing out our credit cards and re-mortgaging our house several times.

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