Calgary-based power company Enimax is one of many major corporations suffering from a severe lack of electrical engineers.

Despite an aggressive recruitment drive to secure the services of local skilled workers, the company has failed to find the required number of tradespeople needed to undertake the construction and maintenance of electricity lines. Moreover, the retirement of a generation of baby-boomers is only making matters worse.

Provincial and federal governments are working on amendments to the current laws on migration, including a major increase in the quota of migrants able to enter the country under the Foreign Workers Program in specific sectors.

In 2006, Canada saw a 122 per cent in skilled workers arriving to live and work in the country, totalling 170,000 much-needed foreign-trained professionals. It is widely expected that over the next few years, these figures will continue to rise.

Twelve occupations have now been placed on a list detailing those eligible for fast-track approval and hiring of skilled migrants, and the federal government has allocated extra funding to reduce delays in processing times.