Immigration.ca - Canada Immigration News - February 2009
Employment experts in Canada are calling for action against what is looking to be an extreme labour shortage in the not-so-distant future.
For several years now, census figures have been showing that the birth rate in Canada is not high enough to counterbalance the labour deficit that will occur as the baby boom generation retires from the workforce. Immigration is being touted as a viable solution to the problem.
As it stands now, the immigration rate in Canada is dramatically outpacing the birth rate, resulting in more and more visible minorities in the major metropolitan centres such as Vancouver and Toronto where 40 per cent of residents are neither Caucasian nor Aboriginal.
The problem that Canada faces now, is putting these immigrants’ skills to use in the workforce. Problems with foreign credential recognition have resulted in an unsettling trend. One study estimates that each year, the country loses approximately 2 to 3 billion dollars’ worth of immigrant productivity.
“Only four of 10 immigrants are attaching themselves to the workforce at a requisite level that speaks to their past work experience,” says Ratna Omidvar who works with a Toronto non-profit organization mandated to assist immigrant integration into the workforce.
While the federal government continually vows to address the issue of foreign credential recognition, employers and local governments have begun working to rectify the situation through initiatives such as The Greater Toronto Leadership Project launched by Diversity. The project was launched to “help diversify leadership in business, the non-profit sector and on the civic stage across the greater Toronto area” through internship and mentoring programs as well as awareness campaigns.
Similar initiatives are being launched by employers and advocates in both Vancouver and Montreal.
Source: Financial Post
