Canada is having success addressing its labor shortage in skilled workers by actively recruiting workers from the U.S. and overseas. The labor shortage is particularly felt in Canada's western provinces in the oil and mining industries. To entice foreign workers to emigrate to Canada, companies are offering top salaries, government-provided health care, and fast track work permits. Canada's much more streamlined immigration process differs greatly with that of the United States, where it can take years for immigrants to acquire permanent resident status, with no favor given to much-need skilled workers. As a result Congress, is contemplating immigration legislation that would attract more skilled workers to this country.
See "How Canada is winning the race in recruiting skilled immigrants while the U.S. lags behind", Meera Louis, Edmonton Journal, May 6, 2013