Canada plans to recruit foreign nationals to fill up vacancies in sectors such as mining,a top government official said today. "Currently,there are about 6,000 vacancies in Saskatchewan and over the next five years,it is set to reach 80,000," Rob Norris,the Advanced Education,Employment and Labour Minister for the Canadian province of Saskatchewan,told reporters on the sidelines of a CII seminar here. "In the mining industry alone,there will be about 18,000 vacancies," he said. He said the mining industry was a strong resource in Saskatchewan and had tremendous growth opportunities. The government will follow a three-pronged strategy to develop its resources. "The strategies would be 'investing in the Saskatchewan','inviting expatriates' and 'allowing foreign nationals,'" he said. To a query,the minister said the immigration process for overseas applicants,particularly skilled and medical professionals was 'relaxed'. "The immigration process for skilled workforce would be at least 90 days,while for medical professionals,it would be 60 days," he said. The Canadian government also plans to enter into various tie-ups with Indian universities,the official said. "On April 29,2010,an International Council was launched to facilitate overseas students opting to study in Canada," Norris said. "This would not only give overseas students a chance to study in Canada,but also give Canadian students international exposure," he said. "Apart from trade opportunities. we are looking into partnerships with University of Madras,Indian Institute of Technology,Madras.," he said. The focus areas would be information technology and science and technology. Norris,along with various delegates,are on a 10-day visit to India to explore trade opportunities between the two countries. According to him,the current bilateral trade between Canada and India stands at five billion Canadian dollars,of which trade with Saskatchewan amounts to one billion Canadian dollars. He said Canada is evaluating the option to set up a 'representative office' in India. "We are currently considering our options in a representative office in India.," he said,adding that a decision would be taken during their visit to Delhi next week.
