Timmins Immigration Program highlights successes matching foreign workers with employers

Timmins finds success with immigration program Timmins immigration program highlights successes after one year of matching foreign workers with employers.

TIMMINS — Musharat Shaikh and Umang Preet are from India and moved directly to Timmins in search of creating better lives in Canada. They've lived here for close to five years.

"That was quite an adventure. My family-my mom and grandma-didn’t want me to come. They were like ‘hell no, you’re not going there, alone and everything’ but uh for my better future they decided ‘ok here you go’ and they see the results after four years," reflected Shaikh.

After getting her education at Northern College, she now works at Storks Daycare as an early childhood educator.

Preet, is also a Northern College graduate, and works at JL Richards and Associates.  He's working to become a mechanical engineer.

He said his college professors and employers are good to him and a main reason why he likes living here.

"The public is also really accepting and ... when people from ... all over the world come and work for Timmins and they are helping build the economy," said Preet.

Building the economy is one of the main goals of the Rural and Northern Immigration Program.

"If an employer knows that they want to look at immigration as a way to address their workforce challenges, they can come to us, let us know which occupation they’re needing to hire for and we can look either abroad or even within. We receive fifty plus inquiries every week," said Madison Mizzau, an employee with the Timmins Economic Development Corporation.

Over the past year, the Timmins and Economic Development Corporation has recommended forty-one applicants who are already living in Timmins on a temporary work visa for permanent resident status.