For Harbinder Hayer, life is good.
Originally from India, the real estate broker came to Thunder Bay from Toronto with his family two years ago. He went home, got married, sponsored his parents to come to Canada and together they own a few convenience stores in the city.
Hayer considers himself one of the luckiest people in the world.
“Of course you can’t attain anything without the struggle, but struggle makes a man perfect. That’s what I believe,” Hayer said. “Two kids, blessed, parents, everybody together, perfect.”
Hayer was one of the success stories highlighted at the Thunder Bay Multicultural Association’s immigration forum Tuesday at the Victoria Inn.
The theme of this year’s conference was the economic impact of immigration in the region.
Executive director Cathy Woodbeck said there are jobs across the North that need to be filled. In some cases, smaller communities would lose local businesses like pharmacies if it was not for immigrants taking over for retirees.
“The drug stores would have not been there anymore they would have had to travel to thunder bay had they not found someone,” she said.
The Northwestern Ontario immigration portal is a partnership of 32 communities that have come together to highlight opportunities on everything from housing markets to job listings.
There is an immediate need for positions in medicine, mining and many other industries that need to be filled every day.
“It’s also going to fuel the economy throughout the North,” Woodbeck said.
“The ‘taking our job’ issue, I don’t hear that as much anymore. I think it’s because there’s an immediate need. We’re starting to see people realizing that our economy depends on immigration”
Red Lake is currently sitting at a nearly zero per cent unemployment rate. Economic development officer Bill Greenway said at any given time there are 15 to 20 jobs that need to be filled in his community.
“Almost on an immediate basis, on an urgent basis in some cases,” he said.
The immigration portal is helping. The town not only needs skilled labour for jobs in mining but unskilled labour for jobs in the service industry from hotels to grocery stores.
“Many many positions that require that type of job on top of the mines,” he said.
