Employment and
Immigration Canada

Vol. 2 No.

Emploi et
Immigration Canada

Public Affairs
B.C./Yukon Region

U

January

Region Takes First Steps
Toward “Revitalization”
An article in the December 1983 edi­
tion of Panorama noted some ‘‘pro­
posed changes to the Employment
Service” developed by the National
Steering Committee of the Employ­
ment Service, of which Grant
Botham, Director General, B.C./
Yukon is an active member.

To support the DG and provide
regional participation, a Regional
Project Advisory Committee has
been set in place to review National
Steering Committee projects and
provide responses and comments.

The process to change or “revital­
ize” the Employment Service is now
underway. The principle behind
revitalization suggests that manag­
ers have flexibility within national/regional policy guidelines to plan
and deliver services according to
the needs of the local community.
Putting that principle into practice
is a complicated task.
The National Steering Committee
perceives the Employment Service as
having four main areas: labour
exchange activities; labour market

The Project Advisory Committee is
chaired by Bert Sabiston, Manager,
Employment Services, and mem­
bers include: Vic Buckley, District
Manager, Fraser Valley; Steve
Nowak, Chief, Employment Opera­
tions; Steve Bridger, Chief, Labour
Market Services Support; Jean
Shepherd, Manager, CEC East
Hastings St.; Andrew Lane, Man­
ager, CEC North Vancouver; and
Bob McFarland, Manager, CEC
Kelowna.

Each must work well to ensure that
the Employment Service can help
Canada’s workers and employers by
being able to respond to anticipated
changes in the labour market and
new technology.

The Regional Project Advisory Com­
mittee has reviewed the four compo­
nents of the Employment Service and
submitted responses to the National
Steering Committee.
Labour Exchange Activities

With such labour exchange activities
as jobs inventory, registration and
intake, selection and referral of
workers, the Region noted the impor­
tance of concentrating services
mainly on those employers who play
a significant role in promoting labour
market adjustment through, for
example, human resource develop­
ment and worker clients registered at
the CEC. Thus, each CEC should
develop a marketing strategy relevant
to the area it serves.

The following is their response to
the Panorama article. Further revi­
talization updates will appear in
future Info Access issues.
Director General Grant Botham has
stated that “field participation is
necessary in the revitalization pro­
cess. The National Steering Commit­
tee has generated a real interest in
obtaining regional and local CEC
input.”

information; human resource devel­
opment for workers; and human
resource development for employers.

Director of Employment and Insu­
rance Bill Gardner - - “districts are
now participating in revitalization
projects”.

With client registration, an in-depth
analysis may be necessary to deter­
mine the effectiveness of retaining
certain kinds of data. File search time
could be saved by colour coding dif­
ferent types of services applicable to
the client. If assisted referral proce­
dures are to be continued, a clear
continued on page 4

Women Being Trained in
Non-Traditional Occupations
Twenty-four year old Ingrid Lae
is the first woman in B.C. to become
a full-time, first class film projection­
ist and she’s delighted. So is her
employer, Leonard Schein, owner of
the Ridge Theatre in Vancouver,
where Ingrid has worked most of the
last four years behind the concession
stand.

According to Schein, the intro­
duction of computerized-automated
film projection equipment has led to
the current trend in the United States
whereby a film projectionist takes on
the dual role of theatre manager.
“Eventually, automation will be intro­
duced in theatres throughout B.C.
When that happens, opportunities
will arise for projectionist/managers.
With added responsibilities, these
positions will provide better pay,” he
added.
Women’s Seminars Underway

A believer in equal opportunities,
Schein says women in non-traditional
occupations are willing to work
harder to prove that they are capable.
He put his theory to test in 1982 after
receiving financial assistance under
the General Industrial Training
(G.l.T.) program to provide Lae with
20 weeks of on-the-job training.
Under G.I.T., employers training
women in non-traditional occupa­
tions are reimbursed up to 75 percent
of wages involved.

“Lae is by far the best projection­
ist this theatre has had.” added
Schein. “She is extremely conscien­
tious in her work.”
Since there is no formal class­
room instruction available for this
particular trade, a person has to be
on the job for 1,000 hours of training
prior to receiving his or her projec­
tionist license. The first class license
for theatres with an audience over
500 seats, is the hardest to achieve.

“I’ve had to take a couple of elec­
trical courses to master the mechani­
cal background necessary for the
job,” explained Lae. “ But in the years
I’ve worked in theatres, I’ve always
wanted to be a projectionist. I enjoy
working in the evenings and it’s excit­
ing to be able to put on shows for
large audiences.”

Schein has already negotiated
another G.l.T. contract to train a
second projectionist in his theatre.
His positive approach towards
women in the labour force is ulti­
mately the type of attitude our Com­
mission is attempting to impress
upon employers. As part of this pro­
cess, Valerie Ward, the regional
Women’s Employment Counselling
Consultant, has co-developed a oneday seminar entitled, “The Workplace
in Transition: Integrating Women
Effectively.” Designed jointly with
Women in Trades, Kootenay Coun­
cil, this seminar will assist employers,
trade school instructors, supervisors
and employment counsellors in deal­
ing with conflicts and issues involved
in women’s increasing participation
in the trades and technology
workplace.
To augment the seminar, an
audio-visual presentation, “What
Happens to Women in Tradesland”
was also produced by the Women in
Trades, Kootenay Council. Accord­
ing to Ward, this is the only audio­
visual production in Canada designed
to address a primarily male audience
on this subject.
“We’ve held three seminars to
date,’ she added. “Additional group
facilitators will be trained in January
so that more presentations may be
given throughout this region.”
Both the seminar development
and slide presentation were funded
by the B.C. Provincial Council of Car­
penters, CEIC, the Carpentry
Apprenticeship Joint Board, Secre­
tary of State and the B.C. Human
Rights Commission. Additional fund­
ing for the slide show was provided
by the B.C. Ministry of Labour,
Women’s Office.

Positive Approach

“We are approaching the whole
issue of women in the workplace
from a different angle,” explained
Ward. “Most of the educational
resource material developed to date
is aimed at assisting women to cope
with the obstacles, the negative atti­
tudes and the outright harassment
they sometimes encounter in tradi­
tionally male-dominated industries.
Although it’s important that we teach
women assertiveness and communi­
cation skills to deal with these issues,
perhaps a better approach in the long
run is to prevent such difficulties by
educating and helping men under­
stand the job situation from a
women’s perspective.”
“The overall tone of the seminar
is positive. It assumes that men want
to be progressive but that they need
assistance in relating to women on
the job or in training. It’s an unfamil­
iar situation for many of them,” she
said. “Through our seminars, we
explore the myths surrounding
women’s capacity to work in the
trades and technology fields. By
creating an understanding, we hope
to bridge a gap which will enable us
to work together with men in achiev­
ing a common solution.”
Women’s participation in the
trades workforce is steadily increas­
ing. Statistics Canada reports that
there are 100,000 more women in
non-traditional jobs across the coun­
try during 1983 than six years ago.
For many, this shift has become a
matter of survival, for a number of
reasons. More women are now their
family’s primary breadwinner and tra­
ditional jobs are not only low-paying
but many are being phased out due
to technological changes.
Others like Lae, are turning to
the Women in Non-Traditional Occu­
pations (W.I.N.T.O.) program to
become electronic technicians,
body-shop mechanics, welders,
upholsterers, marine mechanics,
jewelry repairers, and heavy equip­
ment operators.
“Future demand is expected to
be high in these and a number of
other non-traditional occupations,”
Ward added. “Women entering these
fields would certainly seem to be tak­
ing a step in the right direction.”

Immigration Investigation is a Vital Function
Immigration law is a very com­
plex and sometimes controversial
subject and the large number of peo­
ple wishing to immigrate to Canada
puts a tremendous workload on our
Immigration Officers both here at
home and around the world.

As a massive country with a
small population, enormous resour­
ces and an undoubted future, Can­
ada is particularly attractive to
would-be immigrants. This country is
also looked on as a ray of hope to the
streams of people thrown up by civil
war, violence, starvation and mass
persecution.
As a result, policies have been
developed to deal with, firstly, the
many people who wish to settle in
Canada legally and, secondly, to see
that undesirables are prevented
entry, or should they gain entry,
ensure their removal.
Canada has a record second to
none for its attitude to the reunifica­
tion of families, refugee settlement

and in selecting skilled and talented
people who can contribute to the
country’s overall economy.
Visitors in the Millions

Anyone can apply to immigrate
to Canada at any Canadian govern­
ment office outside the country, but
visitors who decide they want to live
here permanently cannot do so by
remaining and applying from within.
Because there are obstacles to
obtaining permanent residence or
prolonging visits, many people
attempt to circumvent the regulations
by illegal means. Some are success­
ful and do manage to stay.

One of the main difficulties of
the Immigration Enforcement Offic­
ers is in dealing with the sheer
numbers who come to Canada each
year.
Out of an average of 85 million
entries each year, 40 million are vis­
itors, with almost four million of that
total coming to B.C.
Detecting Illegal Entrants

Future Chefs Receive
Enhanced Training
B.C.’s hospitality and tourism indus­
try is getting a boost from an
enhanced culinary apprentice pro­
gram recently announced under the
National Training Act. Fifty new
apprentices seeking to become
chefs will be recruited and trained,
while another fifty, already inden­
tured, will receive skills upgrading.

There are many thousands of
documents produced to establish
identity and purpose of visit, but not
all are genuine. Pages of a passport
may be substituted, photographs
changed. Canadian Social Insurance
cards and other documents are easily
purchased in pubs, from unscrupu­
lous agencies and from the under­
world.
Many of these documents are
stolen, loaned to friends or relatives,

or lost by their owners.

Sophisticated methods have
been devised to detect false docu­
ments. The use of “Black Light” can
detect alterations and erasures. Mod­
ern electronics provided computer­
ized storage and retrieval of
information on known undesirables.
There is a high degree of control
at the various ports of entry, and Visa
Officers overseas accomplish the
same purpose with a high level of
success.
Immigration officers have the
powers of arrest for Immigration pur­
poses and work closely with other
law enforcement agencies. Hearings
are held frequently to determine
whether a person should be removed
or allowed to remain in the country.

These violations by aliens car be
very costly to the taxpayer and those
working illegally may be taking jobs
that could be held by Canadians

There is no doubt that there will
be continuing pressure on Canada to
absorb large numbers of people from
all parts of the world in the future. But
with improving controls from within
the Commission and the continuing
support of other agencies and the
public, the success of preventing
undesirables from entering Canada
will continue to increase.
Further information of the role of
the Immigration Investigation Unitsis
available on a slide/tape audio visual
presentation from Regional Head­
quarters Public Affairs.

Cost-shared by the federal and pro­
vincial goverments and co-ordinated
by the B.C. Hospitality Industry
Education Advisory Committee
(HEIAC), the $800,000 program will
fund 60% of training costs, includ­
ing trainee wages, with the balance
coming from participating employ­
ers
Employers using the program range
from the Holiday Inn on Broadway
in Vancouver to Peachy Keane’s
Restaurant in Victoria to A & F Cat­
ering in New Westminster. Thirty
new apprentices have already been
placed, twenty-three of them with
new establishments.

“We’re going to need these people,
especially when Expo ’86 arrives,”
said Ken Lee, Supervisor of the
HEIAC program at Tenth Ave. CEC.
“The key is to start training now.
This is a forward thinking program.”

A family undergoes part of the
scene at Vancouver Airport.

immigration procedure in a typical

continued from page 1

regional policy should be in place to
identify job ready or target clients.

Labour Market Information

The Region confirmed the impor­
tance of providing necessary labour
market information to workers, to
employers and institutions, but
agreed that a set of minimum data
requirements should be developed
nationally.
The Region also supported an NHQ
proposal to disseminate employment
market information with particular
emphasis on self-service, differentia­
tion between information giving and
counselling, and computerization of
information.

Human Resource Development for
Workers
There are three proposed levels of
service:

— regular (referral, file search,
dispensing labour market informa­
tion to job-ready clients)
— enhanced (assistance to
clients in developing occupational
goals, job search or job mainte­
nance skills).
— special service (assisting
clients with serious employment
barriers in life skills, job search,
occupational skills, specialized
marketing and job referral).
A regional policy will be required to
address the service needed for the
potentially large number of clients in
each of the three levels. In addition,
equality of access to employment
services must be ensured in register­
ing special needs and target group
clients.

Human Resource Development for
Employers
This component also proposes three
levels of service:

— regular (selection and referral
of suitable clients to fill job vacan­
cies, provision of labour market
information).
— enhanced (assistance to
employers requiring recruitment
strategies, work force planning,
provision of in-depth labour
market information).
— special (assisting employers
with serious personnel problems).
The Region feels that flexibility is
required in identifying services to
employers. Obviously, as previously
stated, the Commission cannot be of
service to all employers. However,
there is a need to make the levels of
service recognizable. Details of the
levels will depend on local commun­
ity conditions and the size of the
CEC. Much of this decision-making
should be left to the CEC Manager.
Revitalization of the B.C./Y.T.
Region

The first steps toward revitalization
are being taken. Recently some Dis­
trict and CEC Managers met to
review the Registration and Job
Information Centre projects.

“The Districts are now participating
in revitalization projects and have
submitted their views and items on selective registration and the func­
tioning of the Job Information Cen­
tre,” said Director of Employment
and Insurance Bill Gardner. “We will
be reviewing such services as the
provision of labour market informa­
tion, employment counselling and
levels of services to worker and
employer clients,” he added.

“Results of such reviews will influ­
ence future regional policies of CEC
services in response to our commit­
ment to revitalization,” said Grant
Botham. “Involvement in many more
exercises of this nature can be antici­
pated in the next few months within
the framework of the national revitali­
zation schedule.”

INFO ACCESS is a newsletter for
CEIC staff throughout the
B.C./Yukon region. Contribu­
tions are welcome: send to Public
Affairs, P.O. Box 11145, 1055 W.
Georgia, Vancouver, B.C.

Affirmative Action
(The following is excerpted from
"Affirmative Action: What It’s All
About” in the Public Service Com­
mission publication Dialogue, Nov­
ember 1983.)

Mixed reaction from public servants
greeted Treasury Board’s announce­
ment, on 27 June, 1983, of the Affir­
mative Action Program to be
implemented in the Public Service.
Some members of underrepresented
groups were enthusiastic; others
remained skeptical. Some managers
declared their goodwill; others were
concerned about the added responsi­
bility. And some public servants, not
part of the targetted group, felt
threatened.
Thus we would like to present the
facts about affirmative action.
According to Treasury Board: “The
federal Affirmative Action Program is
a comprehensive systems-based
approach to the identification and
elimination of discrimination in
employment.”

A Note on Affirmative Action from the
Director General, B.C./Yukon
I am pleased to be able to take this opportunity to express my firm support for
the Affirmative Action concept, the 1983-84 goals and objectives and the Affir­
mative Action Planning Committee. Affirmative Action within the federal public
service encompasses three target groups: women, indigenous peoples and the
physically handicapped.

Subsequent issues of Info Access will incorporate articles relating to all areas
of affirmative action. One of our initiatives will be to address topics surrounding
the competition process.
I look forward to the continued progress of Affirmative Action in the B.C./Yu­
kon Region and I know that all members of our staff will lend their support,
encouragement and participation in order that we may reach the goals and
objectives for this fiscal year.