FAQs

How does ALLIES define a skilled immigrant?
ALLIES defines skilled immigrants as individuals who have immigrated to Canada with international post-secondary education, professional credentials and/or work experience. Specifically, ALLIES’ work focuses on those immigrants who do not have Canadian experience in their field.

How have immigrants fared in the labour market?
Historically, immigrants have performed well in the labour market. Those arriving in the 1970s and 1980s caught up with their Canadian counterparts within ten years.

Immigrants arriving since the 1990s have not fared as well. Although they are the most highly educated cohort of immigrants to date – over 40 per cent have a university education – after ten years immigrant men who arrived in 1990 were earning only 79.8 per cent of the average for Canadian men, and immigrant women were earning 87.3 per cent of the average for Canadian women. Research also shows that four out of ten new immigrants are forced to make a downwardly mobile shift in their career once they arrive in Canada.

What obstacles to employment do skilled immigrants face?
Skilled immigrants may face the following barriers when trying to enter the labour force:

  • Lack of recognition of international education, training, and experience;
  • Insufficient information about employment opportunities and requirements;
  • Lack of professional networks;
  • Lack of occupation-specific terminology in English or French;
  • Lack of targeted training programs to bridge gaps in qualifications; and
  • Difficulty obtaining Canadian work experience.

Do immigrants take jobs away from Canadians?
Many urban regions are growing. They need skilled immigrants to help fill vacant positions created as the economy expands and baby boomers retire. With an aging population and low fertility rates, even Canada’s strong training systems will not produce enough skilled workers to meet labour force demand. Many immigrants are highly skilled and therefore a valuable asset to Canadian employers.

By 2031,  80% of Canada’s net population growth will be derived entirely from immigration. In some urban centres, such as the City of Toronto, the labour force growth is already dependent on immigrants.

Research shows that immigration is also an essential component of a creative economy both in quantity and diversity. Immigration benefits all as it generates innovation through the international education and experience of skilled immigrants and brings in new global assets to a city. Immigrants expand trade with their country of origin, owing to superior knowledge of, or preferential access to market opportunities abroad.

Why do immigrants need help to get a job? Isn’t that preferential treatment?
Skilled immigrants face obstacles to finding employment that Canadian-trained persons do not. Prospective employers may not want to hire someone who has an unfamiliar degree from an international university, who lacks experience in Canadian workplaces, or whose technical language skills need upgrading. Giving employers reliable information about equivalent academic degrees and giving skilled immigrants a chance to obtain Canadian experience and upgrade their skills are ways to remove obstacles so our economy can benefit from the skills that immigrants bring.

Why is immigration so important to Canada?
Canada needs skilled immigrants to help fill vacant positions created as the economy expands and baby boomers retire.

According to the 2006 census, more than one in 10 Canadian-born citizens are in the pre-retirement age bracket – ages 55 to 64. By contrast, only 4.1% of newcomers are in this older working-age group. On the older end of the spectrum, over half of the recent immigrants to Canada are in their prime working years – aged 25 to 54 – whereas only 42.3% of the Canadian-born population are in this age group.

With an aging population and low fertility rates, Canada cannot count on our training systems to produce the numbers of skilled workers needed for the labour force. Many immigrants are highly skilled and therefore a valuable asset to Canadian employers.

Skilled immigrants also bring abundant entrepreneurial talents and contribute to the competitive advantage offered by their diversity. With the important role of cities in the global economy, immigrants offer crucial insight into world markets.

What skills do immigrants bring?
Immigrants bring a wide range of skills, education and experience. In 2002, of 85,881 Toronto immigrants who were 15 years of age or older, 60 per cent came with post secondary education including doctorates, master’s degrees, bachelor’s degrees, non-university diplomas, and trade certificates.

Immigrants who are skilled tradespersons or are in regulated professionals require licensure or certification before they can practice in many jurisdictions. For example, a random survey of 643 Ontario immigrant professionals revealed 22 professions the individuals had practiced in their home countries including engineers, teachers, accountants, physicians, engineering technicians, nurses, pharmacists, medical laboratory technicians, veterinarians, architects and lawyers.

How will the effective integration of skilled immigrants help to address current labour shortages in Canada?
Skilled immigrants to Canada have expertise in almost all professions that are currently experiencing labour shortages.

According to the 2006 census, immigrants speak nearly 150 languages as their mother tongue and come to Canada from 200 countries. Over half of these immigrants are in their prime working years – aged 25 to 54 – whereas only 42.3% of the Canadian-born population are in this age group.

By integrating skilled immigrants into the labour market, Canada can effectively maximize the talent of these newcomers, reduce labour shortages and continue to strengthen and grow the economy.

Why should employers ensure that skilled immigrants are an integral part of the businesses they build?
For starters, consider these four important reasons:

  1. The Canadian-born workforce is shrinking and the demand for labour is growing.
  2. Skilled immigrants can help Canadian companies do business with the world.
  3. Skilled immigrants bring international expertise.
  4. The local market is changing and becoming more diverse.

Why are some employers not effectively bringing skilled immigrants onboard?
Employers may not effectively bring skilled immigrants onboard for the following reasons:

  • Lack of familiarity with international credentials and experience
  • Preference or requirement of Canadian work experience
  • Concerns about language proficiency and lack of awareness about
  • Canadian technical terminology and idioms
  • Concerns about lack of understanding of Canadian culture and business norms
  • Lack of access to skilled immigrant talent pools and local immigrant communities

Do small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face the same labour challenges as large businesses?
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the Canadian economy. Collectively, they employ 64% of private sector workers in Canada, and account for 45% of Canada’s GDP.

However, small- and medium-sized companies may not be engaged in long-term human resource planning and may not be familiar with how hiring skilled immigrants can benefit their business. Even when SMEs are familiar with the business case for hiring skilled immigrants, many do not have HR departments or the capacity to participate in labour market integration programs.

To date, most successful initiatives that enable skilled immigrants to access suitable employment have been focused within large organizations with HR departments and policies.

Find more on Global Talent for Small and Medium Enterprises.

Where can I find research and statistics about immigrant employment in Canada?

Where can I find more information about what regulatory bodies are doing on this issue?

Where can I learn more about organizations that have successfully integrated skilled immigrants into their workforce?

What are 10 myths about immigration?

Read about 10 common misconceptions and attitudes on Canadian immigration and how they are addressed with recent research.

Canada‘s labour market and by 2031 80% of our net population growth will be derived entirely from immigration.