Integration of immigrant skills in Canadian economy
Selective immigration policies are becoming very popular in developed countries such as Canada, the United States and Australia to attract skilled immigrants. Different approaches and criteria are being used to improve the process of selecting skilled immigrants. These selective immigration policies fall under one of the following three groups (Doomernik, Koslowski & Thraenhardt, 2009):
1. The “human capital” model based on the selection of permanent immigrants using a point system, as practiced by Canada.
2. The “neo-corporatist” model based on the selection using a point system with extensive business and labor participation, as practiced by Australia.
3. The “market-oriented” model
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The foreign credentials and work experience of highly skilled immigrants is often not recognized by employers and accreditation bodies. This results in underemployment of highly educated internationally trained immigrants. Research on the difference in earnings of immigrants and their Canadian counterparts clearly demonstrates the underutilization of immigrant skills (Bloom, Grenier & Gunderson, 1994; Hum & Simpson, 1999; Pendakur & Pendakur, 1998). According to a study by Reitz (2005), foreign-educated immigrants earned $2.4 billion less than native-born Canadians, who had comparable skills because the immigrants were underemployed. He also reported that two-thirds of the unutilized skills, which were worth $1.6 billion would have been productive in the context of Canadian economy. Alboim, et al. (2005) found that a foreign degree appears on an average to have a return worth less than one-third that of a degree obtained in Canada. The intended economic impact of selective migration policies is not being achieved and the underutilization of immigrants ' skills has become a significant issue in Canada’s immigration program.
Profile of recent skilled immigrants to Canada
Between 2002 and 2008, there were approximately 327,000 FSW principal applicants who landed in Canada (CIC, 2010). There has been an increase in the number of degree qualified immigrants. For instance, from 1996 to
Throughout the last three decades, increasing numbers of Asians have migrated to Canada from all over the Asian continent. Currently, 44% of the Vancouver area population is of Asian descent (Statistics Canada, 2001). Immigrants commonly occupy skilled job positions that the host nation is unable to fill with its own citizens, and thus they offer many advantages to their receiving country. In a nation with a declining birthrate, such as Canada, their contribution can play a major role on multiple levels. The immigrants themselves often enjoy a greater earning potential than they did in their native country, which can be advantageous for those who wish to send money back home to support their families.
Education along with work experience are vital resources that immigrants convey to Canada’s industry. However, this is not the scenario for many new immigrants, who struggles to get past the preliminary credentials check-up process. In 2007, a report showed that “foreign credentials of 340,000 Canadians or permanent residents of visible minorities have not been recognized” (Andrew Cardozo and Ravi Pendakur, 2007). In addition, a number of unemployed immigrants within that year accounted for the loss of $4.1B in Canada industry. In context, it shows that immigrants have a higher education than Canadian-born, “Statistics show that 47.5% of immigrants, aged 25 to 34, have completed university, compared to 26.6% of Canadian-born, workers” (Canadian government). This shows the proximity of ignorance and prejudice towards hiring an immigrant in Canada. To connect, these contempt results can give rise to many levels of distress, anxiety and psychological problems that can deteriorate and provoke health problems. A study done by Kate Strully at Harvard University concluded that “people had an increase of 81% chance to develop a mental illness after being unemployed” (KW STRULLY -
On the 15th of January 2015, an interview was conducted with Larry Cole, who is the education and research officer in office of the fairness commissioner. This office was created to provide services to those whose credentials are not recognized in Ontario. Larry was interviewed to get an insight of how office of the fairness commissioner response and address issues related to the non-recognition of foreign credentials in Toronto. Non recognition of foreign credentials is a social issue that is generally believed to be affecting many immigrants in Canada and is considered a cause of poverty. In my previous paper, I discussed that non recognition of foreign credential is one of the causes of poverty amongst women of color in Toronto. I am going to examine the response of this issue by office of the fairness commissioner and the impact it has on the community.
Immigrants today now have the privilege of entering and residing in Canada but along with this privilege, there are also barriers that impede their integration and deprive them of equal opportunity in the society. The undervaluing of foreign education and credentials has emerged over the years as a huge obstacle faced by recent immigrants who seek employment in the areas that they have been trained, and worked in for decades in their respective home countries. For years, newcomers in Canada have been denied inclusion into the Canadian labour market simply because of policies that were
The study states that the second generation immigrants are an essential part of the Canadian society, however they have not been studied enough. Immigration was resurging and thus it is critical that the impact of the second generation immigrants be studied at length. Many studies have been done regarding the economic impact that second generation immigrants have on Canada, however their educational attainment has been ignored. In general, it can be stated that second generation immigrants fare much better in terms of education attainment than native of Canada, this difference can be partly explained by the second generation’s mother tongue, however there is still a humongous difference that can be clearly seen. By the age of 13, it has been observed that immigrant children are at the same educational level or higher than those that are Canadian natives. This can be explained by immigrant parents’ higher expectations when it comes to their children’s education and their perspective when it comes to education. The data that was collected is from Statistics Canada and it looks at second generation immigrants from ages 25-65, and the data encompassed about 11,983 males. Second generation immigrants have a lower high school drop out rate, than natives and tend to go to post secondary institutions, such as colleges and universities, rather than going straight to work, without a degree. This study shows that the Canadian immigration system has been able to favorably select immigrants whose children fare the same or much better than their native Canadian counterparts. The study concludes that second generation immigrants are able to keep up with the native Canadians, by the age of 13 and tend to do even better than these Canadians. This can be explained by the second generation immigrants’ willingness to work hard in order to succeed
A report by Edmonton’s Poverty Elimination Steering Community calls the process of getting such qualifications recognized “a cumbersome, lengthy ordeal” (10, citation 13). Consequently, immigrants often overqualified for the jobs they are often forced into. According to a Statistics Canada study, 61.3% of immigrant men and 67.8% of women educated outside of Canada earned university degrees but held jobs that only required a college diploma. Among those who were educated in Canada or the United States, only 37.5% and 42.3% were overqualified, respectively (Uppal and LaRochelle-Côté 6, citation 15). Over-qualification often leaves immigrants with lower income jobs that they would expect, leading to higher levels of
Immigration has grown to become a big aspect in today’s society in Canada. Most cities have welcomed immigration, although mainly portrayed in bigger cities. Immigration in Canada has come with its share of pros as well as its share of cons. The pros with the immigration in Canada starts off with the racial blending of persons in the community, giving future generations a more positive outlook towards equality for all races because they grow up in a world that, for them, hasn’t seen racial and cultural inequality. In my opinion, in a world where children aren’t aware of the cultural and racial inequalities that had been put forth in the generations before them is an enormous strength to immigration for the fact that every person has a right to life and liberty and to have those ideas implanted in the generations to come is detrimental to a working society. Cons found in immigration in Canada fall in employment. The more people immigrate to Canada, the more jobs are being filled leaving others without any. The Immigration Refugee Board is able to offer a wide
Their new arrival helped defend and build their country’s way of life ("The government of Canada," n.d.) Immigration has been a major influence on the development of their society and plays a huge role in their economy. Their economy job market is broken into three different categories which include service, natural resources and manufacturing.
Employee skills and the ability of employers to attract and retain skilled workers will be a primary concern to Canada’s economy in the immediate future. A train overflowing with crisis is approaching, and we need to stop listening for it to come because it’s already bearing down on us. Labour and skill shortages in Canada can be attributed to: aging population, increased life expectancy, migration of highly skilled labour, and the disparity between the skills possessed by youth and the skills demanded by employers.
This article provides detailed information that give statistics based on distinguishing immigrant classes: “Tables 2 (for males) and 3 (for females) present descriptive statistics by broad immigrant class across the three cycles of the survey. … For both genders, it is clear that skilled worker principal applicants have higher educational attainment, and it is also apparent that males have higher averages than females”. This article is distinct from the other two articles by the fact that many more statistics are offered. These extra statistics offer more insight into the descriptions of the economical immigrant policies. Moreover, the article offers an insight into a range of policy proposals in determining how immigrants can immigrate into Canada. The articles introduction mentions important policies that the Canadian government put into place: Recent examples include the Ontario Expert Roundtable on Immigration (2012) and the Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada. The paper presents a basic description of differences in labour market outcomes, including both earnings and employments. This is an important statement as it informs the reader about the various types of concepts, along with their sources, that have
Moreover, due to non-recognition of foreign credentials, new immigrants face big barrier to obtain work in their field in Canada (Garcia, et al., p. 196). Although foreign credentials are evaluated by recognizing stakeholders like OES, U of T etc. but the employers do not consider these evaluations. They rely only upon degrees obtained in Canada. In addition to that, different stakeholders have different attitudes to credential and certification (Garcia, et al., p. 196) and are concerned with recognizing foreign credentials. Although the government encourages interprovincial labour mobility, but immigrants feel discouraged to relocate due to the varying credential recognition process, which in turn decreases their employability.
The influx of low-skilled immigrants to the United States is hurting the hardworking American workers. Today immigrants are much higher skilled than ever before, yet comparing the standard coefficients, it is evident that they are also less educated and therefore less skilled than native workers. In addition, low-skilled immigrants are competing against low-skilled natives as opposed to contributing to the economy in a complementary manner. George J. Borjas, a leading immigration economist, believes low-skilled immigrants are redistributing wealth, accumulating it toward the bank accounts of the wealthiest and taking away from the poorest. These patterns have unfailingly continued and are hurting the American economy and American citizens. That being said, leading immigration sociologist, Douglas S. Massey, argues that immigration is inevitable and whether a wall is built or not, people will find ways to reach where they can best obtain their desired necessities. The question is how to work within Massey’s immigration machine framework, yet preserving and increasing the economic prosperity of American workers. Low skilled workers will maneuver through the system (e.g. family reunion) or simply enter illegally to fulfill the built-in demand for cheap labor. Therefore, the United States needs to hierarchize its immigration structure, solely focusing on high-skilled workers, specifically those demanded by its economy. Although there are many groups that may fit this
Canada’s society is changing rapidly throughout the years due to the integration of hundreds of thousands of new immigrants. Having this many new immigrants yearly can have a very positive and negative effect on Canada’s demographics. Canada’s natural population growth cannot sustain its economic growth, therefore having new immigrants would be ideal. However, the cost to keep and maintain these immigrants are very high and could lower productivity rates.
There is no cast of shadow that the world in the 21st century is marked by immigration crisis. Managing the labor market of immigrants are among the top priorities set by developed countries such as the United States, Australia and Canada. For example, Canada implemented the Express Entry program in 2015 to select skilled immigrants to become permanent residents of Canada. Due to this new immigration Act in Canada, Candidates can acquire the highest points from job offers. Therefore, this program maximizes the chance of candidates who have not only theoretical but also practical knowledge. Thus, this has some implications for both deprived nations and Canada. Many people are convinced that this program is the best approach to manage the highly
Given the comprehensiveness Common Immigration Policy deals with, this paper focuses on migration of highly qualified immigrants supported by Blue Card Directive.