Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marco Mendicino made a virtual visit to Barrie recently to speak to the Barrie Chamber of Commerce about the recently released federal budget.
Following the Zoom call, Mendicino told BarrieToday he has visited the city several times in the past and while he would have preferred to be there in person, the virtual meeting was productive.
“We had an open, productive and insightful discussion about the budget and its role in helping us finish the fight against COVID-19 and launch our recovery, with a particular focus on green growth and, of course, immigration,” Mendicino said.
“I wanted to hear directly from businesses in Barrie and Simcoe Country about the challenges they face, the support they need and how we can work together to create good, local jobs and help our economy come back strong," the Liberal minister added.
On the call were the event host and executive director of the Barrie Chamber Paul Markle, Tony Van Bynen (Newmarket-Aurora MP), Shannon Bertuzzi (EnerQuality Corporation), Craig Busch (Busch Systems), Patrick Robbenhaar (The Sarjeant Co.), Sandy Tuckey (Simcoe County Home Builders’ Association), and David Yeaman (Molded Precision Components).
While talking about a variety of topics, Mendicino spoke about the region’s companies that are looking to help with the environment.
“Barrie is home to so many innovative businesses doing cutting-edge work when it comes to clean technology and green growth, and I was fortunate to hear from several of them at the roundtable, including Busch Systems and EnerQuality, among others,” said the minister.
With the federal budget being released on April 22, Mendicino said it was crucial for me to hear direct feedback on topics from clean productivity, support programs and immigration.
“When it comes to green growth, a common theme was that businesses want to be part of the discussion and part of the solution. In particular, I heard from home builders about their efforts to become more efficient and how the government can best support the good work that’s already happening,” he said.
“I also heard how the federal government’s support programs over the past year have made a huge difference in helping businesses keep their employees, pay rent and get access to capital," Mendicino added. "Finally, several people spoke about the importance of continued immigration in helping Barrie grow and prosper.”
Markle took the time to address the gaps in the region’s skilled trades sector and the role the chamber is playing to include new Canadians.
“Immigration plays a massive impact on that (skilled trades) and our chamber has a seat on the local immigration council,” said Markle. “We're taking a much bigger step in seeing what we can do to lead our businesses in a better way and embrace immigration in our region.”
Mendicino said immigration was essential to Canada’s short-term recovery and long-term prosperity because, “immigrants create jobs.”
“One in three Canadian businesses is owned by an immigrant, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs from construction to retail,” said Medicino. “Newcomers are very successful in business, yet also face unique challenges, from language barriers to credentials recognition.”
Mendicino says the federal government is making major investments in settlement services to help newcomers adjust to life in Canada, such as a recently invested $15 million in the Foreign Credentials Recognition Program.
The minister also mentioned a recently announced path to permanent residency for 90,000 essential and workers and international students. The new initiative is set to help thousands of people from bricklayers to butchers to bus drivers, plan their futures in Canada.
