Thousands of jobs are going unfilled in Ontario with many of them being right here in the Quinte region.
And Thursday morning the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli announced a pilot program that aims
to help solve the problem.
The cities of Belleville and Quinte West, along with Chatham-Kent and Cornwall have been selected to receive around 50 skilled immigrants
each over the next two years.
The program is known as the Regional Immigration Pilot.
“Before we took office the Liberals had made Ontario too expensive for business to operate”, said Fedeli. “We immediately changed regulations, taxes, fees and all kinds of red tape. In total by sometime next year we’ll have reduced the cost of doing business in the province by $5.4 billion. And now the province is leading the way in the creation of new jobs. Since we were elected there are now almost 218,000 new jobs in Ontario and that is the reason we have such a serious skilled labour shortage.”
Should the Regional Immigration Pilot be successful the program will be expanded into other areas.
Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation, and Trade Vic Fedeli. (Photo: John Spitters/Quinte News)
Fedeli said the government will continue to provide education and job training to people born here but says immediate needs have to be addressed so communities can grow and thrive economically.
Suitable immigrants will be fast-tracked through the system.
The Mayor of Belleville Mitch Panciuk and Deputy-Mayor of Quinte West Jim Alyea both expressed gratitude for the opportunity to fill job shortages and take part in the pilot.
The announcement was made at the Quinte Business Development Centre.
