Labour Mobility Agreements: Iceland and Beyond

The Manitoba Chambers of Commerce was pleased to participate in Gissur Petursson’s recent visit to Manitoba.

Petursson is Director of Iceland’s Directorate of Labour and the visit was part of the implementation of the Manitoba – Iceland Labour Cooperation Agreement.

Here is an exclusive video of Mr. Petursson explaining the importance of the labour mobility agreement: 

 

Here is some more information relating to Iceland’s agreement with Manitoba: 

Experiencing difficulties finding skilled workers locally?   The Iceland-Manitoba Labour Cooperation Agreement can help.

In the spring of 2009, the Honourable Nancy Allan, Minister of Labour and Immigration signed the Iceland-Manitoba Labour Cooperation Agreement.  

This agreement provides a process to connect Manitoba employers with qualified Icelandic workers who are interested in working in Manitoba.

How does this process work?

1. First, you fill out the Employer Application Form and submit it to Manitoba Labour and Immigration. The Employer Application Form can be found at: http://www.immigratemanitoba.com/browse/employers/recruit_tfw_through_agreements.html. The Employer Application provides Manitoba Labour and Immigration with your position requirements.  

2. Next, Manitoba Labour and Immigration works with Iceland’s Directorate of Labour to identify interested candidates that match the skills set you are looking for. All candidates identified by the Directorate of Labour have been pre-screened and have expressed interest in working in Manitoba. 

3. After that, pre-screened workers’ applications are sent to you for your consideration. You can select workers by travelling to Iceland to interview them or by completing the hiring process from Canada.  

Note: You must obtain a Certificate of Registration from Manitoba’s Employment Standards Division and a positive Labour Market Opinion through Service Canada to be eligible to recruit workers internationally.  The workers you select must obtain a work permit from Citizenship and Immigration Canada before they are legally entitled in work in Canada.  A representative of Manitoba Labour and Immigration can assist you through the steps of foreign worker recruitment.

Who do I contact for more information on this initiative? 

For more information on the Iceland-Manitoba Labour Cooperation Agreement, please contact:

Sarah Graham Leon

Immigration Program Officer

Labour Market and Strategic Initiatives Branch

Manitoba Labour and Immigration

Phone:  (204) 945-7439

Email:  [email protected]

Iceland has joined the ranks of France, Germany and Mexico is signing labour mobility agreements with Manitoba. You can access more information about these agreements here. 

Note: there is no charge to the employer, (nor to the worker) to participate this process to recruit skilled workers from Iceland.  There would only be a cost to the employer if they choose to travel to Iceland to select the workers