Canada’s immigration policies are very restrictive and opt for selecting new residents based on their appealing human capital. Immigrants selected under the skilled worker class are predicted to have the most success integrating into the Canadian workforce. Unfortunately, they still experience the reality of the struggles ahead in securing employment. Difficulties integrating into the Canadian labour market can include communication barriers, a lack of recognition of their credentials, and employer’s who request that they have Canadian work experience. The labour markets interpretation of high skilled workers and the federal skilled worker credentials are at a disconnect and there is a lack of accessible bridging programs to facilitate integration. …show more content…
In this essay, a background of immigration policy will be given, followed by a review on how Canadian immigration works and how immigration policy is designed to select specifically for highly-skilled immigrants. The selection criteria will then be presented and gaps between criteria and labour market requirements will be highlighted. These gaps will demonstrate why this format causes difficulties for immigrants to integrate into the Canadian labour market. Finally, a summary of the argument will be provided along with an explanation of why improper labour integration techniques are damaging to the economic welfare of Canada as whole. Future research recommendations, around immigration policy and workforce integration, for the Canadian government will also be provided. “Declining birthrates and a rapidly ageing population are depleting the size of Canada’s workforce. Analysts predict that by 2020, one million Canadian jobs could go unfilled. As a result, immigration is being seen, increasingly, as necessary for economic growth and well being.” (Tolly, 2003) Immigrants are able to come to Canada under different classes under the Canadian Immigration Policy and this includes: family, economic and refugees. Skilled workers fall under the economic class. The selection for skilled workers has been updated in 2002 and gives more attention to the human capital of the new migrants rather than their specific occupations. The new points system assesses education, language proficiency, employment experience, age, arranged employment and adaptability to a maximum of 100 points. 67 points or higher and an applicant may qualify to immigrate to Canada as a skilled worker (Government of Canada). The new approach implemented in 2002 is said to be “more responsive to labour market realities and has greater flexibility than the old occupation approach.”(Tolley, 2003) The selection criteria for skilled workers are disconnected with employer’s requirements. I will discuss each measure for skilled worker entry and what is required for maximum number of points. I will show how it is possible that after passing the selection criteria for entrance under the skilled worker class Immigrants are still facing difficulty integrating into the Canadian labour market. Under the education selection criteria, a maximum of 25 points can be rewarded to immigrants possessing a PhD or Masters degree with at least 17 years of full time study.
Research suggests that education obtained overseas is not as valuable as Canadians education over here and there is a gap in the earnings between Canadian born and immigrants for the same jobs (Picot, 2004). Even with that said, immigrants from visible minority groups fare worse than white immigrants even if educated in Canada. (Tolley, 2003) This relationship shows that discrimination is a factor in getting employed sometimes more so than education. In the labour market there is non-recognition of foreign education and although these immigrants are worse off than their Canadian counterparts they are still better off than immigrants without any …show more content…
education. Being able to use previous work or education experience in Canada is highly dependant on ability to communicate in English or French. Education is of little value to immigrants that have no knowledge of either of the countries official languages. Immigrants will face most difficulty integrating into the Canadian labour market if they are unable to speak the dominant language. Under the language proficiency selection criteria applicants are awarded points based on their proficiency in Canada’s two official languages up to a maximum of 24 points. A test is conducted to see whether the applicant can speak, listen, read and write (Tolley, 2003). The high skilled entry virtually excludes anyone with limited or no proficiency in an official language. It is important to realize that although researchers suggest that language proficiency is the most important dictator of success in Canada (Tolley, 2003), this requirement is being covered at the entry point application and immigrants are still facing difficulty integrating into the labour market even with official language skills. Interestingly, those who speak the official language and another language at home still earn less than those who only speak the official language (Tolley, 2003). This is because of discrimination in the labour market, which may be based on culture, accent, colour or a need for Canadian experience. Employment experience selection criteria are worth up to a maximum of 21 points.
The relationship between experience and potential earnings are similar to those in education. Returns on post-immigration experience are greater than those for pre-immigration experience (Tolley, 2003). Jeffrey G. Reitz even goes as far as to say that his research shows that “the labour market value of foreign work experience in Canada is effectively zero.” Employers have requested a need for Canadian experience. Canadian Experience encompasses hard skills and soft skills (Sakamoto et al, 2010), hard skills describes having work experience in Canada and soft skills describes more cultural cues. Employers look at soft skills to measure how someone will fit in to their work environment (Sakamoto et al, 2010), in an ethnographic account presented in the paper by Izumi Sakamoto a job seeker shared a checklist he goes through on job interviews; “If you sit back in the chair during the interview you are perceived as too lazy. If you sit forward in the chair then you are seen as too eager. If you place your hands on the interviewers desk you are seen as invading the person’s personal space” these are cues that are said to be very confusing, and can only be acquired by experience and over time. Employers do not want additional costs when hiring to train individuals on soft skills so Canadian Experience as a requirement has become increasing popular. The Ontario Human Rights Commission published the
“Policy on Removing the “Canadian Experience” barrier” (2013) their position is that a strict requirement for Canadian Experience is discrimination and can only be used under very limited circumstances. The Government has acknowledged the problem of employer’s discrimination in requesting Canadian Experience and in a 2003 report, Statistics Canada identified a lack of Canadian experience as the most common barrier for newcomers looking for meaningful employment in Canada. (Ontario Human Rights Commission, 2014) Age selection criteria is worth 10 points applicants incur a penalty if they are not in the range of 21 to 49 years old (Tolley, 2003). The age requirement is the least important predictor of success out of the selection criteria. For the Arranged Employment selection criteria, a maximum of 10 points is awarded to those who have a confirmed offer of employment in Canada. This is a great predictor of success for Canadian immigrants and allows them to build a network. Under the adaptability selection criteria, a maximum of 15 points is awarded, this section assesses an applicants potential adaptability to Canada which includes their spouse’s education, previous work or study in Canada, family in Canada and additional points for arranged employment opportunity in Canada. These factors enhance an applicant’s success helping their family integrate into Canada. The selection process into Canada is only a predictor of future success and not a determinant. There is a great disconnect between employer requirements and selection criteria to enter Canada, as a skilled worker the challenge faced integrating into the workforce can be unexpected. Because it is unexpected most immigrants are lost in their search for what to do next since reality is not matching expectation, this can leave immigrants with deteriorating economic welfare and the “discouraged worker effect (Picot, 2004)” which raises the number of low income families and increases use of the “social transfer system : social assistance, employment, insurance etc” (Picot, 2004). The economic welfare of Canada depends upon a proactive society of people including born Canadians and immigrants alike. With a lack of access of support and integration services provided to immigrants they are left having difficulties integrating into the workforce. The current immigration policy disconnect with employer requirements is damaging to the Canadian economic welfare system as a whole and leaves immigrants not able to integrate. More research is necessary and The government must do more to enhance immigration policy and productivity.
Italians are a group of people who share the same culture, country and speak the Italian as their first language. Italy is a native country to many Italians all around the world. Then, many Italians started migrating to different countries in 1876-1976. This beautiful country is in Southern Europe and include a similar boot shaped Peninsula. The borders of the Italians are France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. Rome is the largest and the capital of Italy, and this city is known for many of its religious attractions. The majority of people live in Italy are Roman Catholics, but there are other people of religions live there too such as Hindus, Muslims, Buddhist, and Protestant Italians. Italians are described as a hard worker, self-sacrificing ready to work for a better future for themselves and their families and also educated thinkers. When the Italian migration began numerous people came to the U.S. and its neighboring country Canada. Today in Canada there are over 1.45 million Italians, including well-known artists and actors.
One of the biggest factors for immigration is Canada’s economy. Skilled worker immigrants or the Economic class
The Indian Residential schools and the assimilating of First Nations people are more than a dark spot in Canada’s history. It was a time of racist leaders, bigoted white men who saw no point in working towards a lasting relationship with ingenious people. Recognition of these past mistakes, denunciation, and prevention steps must be taking intensively. They must be held to the same standard that we hold our current government to today. Without that standard, there is no moving forward. There is no bright future for Canada if we allow these injustices to be swept aside, leaving room for similar mistakes to be made again. We must apply our standards whatever century it was, is, or will be to rebuild trust between peoples, to never allow the abuse to be repeated, and to become the great nation we dream ourselves to be,
Teelucksingh, C., & Edward-Galabuzi, G. (2005). C. Teelucksingh & G. Edward-Galabuzi (Eds.), Working Precariously: The impact of race and immigrants status on employment opportunities and outcomes in CanadaToronto: The Canadian Race Relations Foundation.
The Immigration Act of 1978 had a ground-breaking effect on the society and economy of Canada. This act impacted the size and the composition of the population. The yearly population increased from 22,809,000 in 1974 to 29,303,000 in 1995.This reinforced the pre-existing trend for the rural population to relocate to the cities, where the industrial bloom brought abundant employment opportunities. Witnessed by past censuses, the new immigrants to Canada began with wages equivalent to about 80% of the wage of native citizens. However, within a 10 to 20 year period, the average wages of the newly arrived immigrant reached or went beyond the average wa...
Canada has continuously served as a home to immigrants and refugees from decade to decade harbouring people from a variety of cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The first set of immigrants to settle in the country came from Britain, the United States and from other nationalities mostly including immigrants from Europe who were either desperate to escape from religious or political turmoil or were simply attracted to Canada’s economic promise. Soon after the Canadian confederation in 1867, immigrants from Irish and Chinese backgrounds who occupied most of the country were used as workers and the demand for labourers to develop the country increased rapidly as more Chinese descents were imported to build the Canadian Pacific Railway. Although, Canada opened its doors to immigrants, but the country also intended to gain human resources for work in the farms, in the forests, factories and mines but not everyone was equally welcomed in Canada.
The integration of immigrants in Canada (or any country for that matter) involves integration into three different domains: the social sphere, the economic sphere, and the institutional sphere. (12) Integration into the social sphere refers to immigrants’ ability to create relationships and have social interactions with other Canadians. Integration into the economic sphere refers to immigrants’ ability to enter the labour force and work in jobs that match their qualifications, while integration into the institutional domain refers to immigrants’ ability to become “fully functional citizens, without facing systemic barriers emanating from the structure and functioning of major institutions. A well-integrated immigrant group is one which faces no institutional obstacles, no market disadvantage, and no social isolation.” (12)
Multiculturalism policy was first adopted in Canada in 1971, which reaffirms the dignity and value of all its citizens regardless of ethnic origins, race, religious affiliations, or language. Part of this policy, Canada confirms the rights of all the aboriginals along with the recognition of two official languages. Indeed, multiculturalism has great importance since its main purpose is to give equal treatment to all the citizens (Daniel, 2010). It ensures that all individual citizens could still maintain their identities, and have pride with their ancestry. Through this initiative, the Canadian government was able to give their citizens a feeling of self-confidence, making them more open to their diverse cultures. The multiculturalism policy
Therefore, an increase in the number of immigrants will generally decrease the wages of domestic unskilled workers. Immigrants are not substitutes for all domestic workers. A disproportionate number of immigrants are low-skilled relative to native workers, and so tend to be poor substitutes for workers other than the low-skilled—that is, they do not do the same things at all. In the jargon of economics, two factors that are not substitutes are called "complements." Immigration of workers and Unemployment in Canada has taken center stage of both public and political debates in recent years. This paper seeks to analyze that simultaneous effect of immigration and unemployment on wage growth rate in Canada. It is of great necessity to survey the impact of these two variables in detail given their perceived relative importance in the determination of wage growth rate in Canada. Immigration to Canada refers to the process by which citizens of other nations move and come to live in
... through immigration policies that offer settlement opportunities and encourage integration of external groups ( Stilz, 2009). The willingness of the provincial government to fairly deal with migrants from all over the world is reflected through the composition of instruments to facilitate this matter, such as the Bouchard-Taylor Commission(Tremblay, 2010)..
Racial discrimination in the workplace has been a persistent theme in Canada’s history as well as present-day times. The occurrence of actions and attitudes that impose a sense of one being less equal than another on the basis of one’s race in Canada’s workplace inhibits both our nation’s ability to move forward as well as strengthen unification within our country. The belief in a more egalitarian society, where one’s race and ethnic background have little to no impact on employees (or potential employees) standings within the job market, would seemingly be reinforced by the majority of Canadians, who consistently show support for Canada’s multicultural identity. Couple that with the noticeable strides Canada has made in the past several decades through legislation, in order to eliminate discriminatory practices and actions within the workplace, and one would likely assume that racial discrimination within the workplace is largely a concern of the past. However, current research supports the argument that the level of which racial discrimination occurs today is increasing, and as such it persists to be a key problem in the current workplace of the nation. In the workplace, racial discrimination is often seen with regard to uneven access to jobs, unfair selection and promotion criteria (as well as access to the means in order to meet this criteria), and workplace harassment. This paper compares similar findings of two articles; the first, Racial inequality in employment in Canada, as was published in the Canadian Public Administration (CPA), and the second, What Are Immigrants’ Experiences of Discrimination in the Workplace?, published by the Toronto Immigrant Employment Data Initiative (TIEDI).
Canada has long been called "The Mosaic", due to the fact that it is made up of a varied mix of races, cultures and ethnicities. As more and more immigrants come to Canada searching for a better life, the population naturally becomes more diverse. This has, in turn, spun a great debate over multiculturalism. Some of the issues under fire are the political state's policies concerning multiculturalism, the attitudes of Canadians around these policies, immigration, the global market, and a central point is the education and how to present the material in a way so as to offend the least amount of people. There are many variations on these themes as will be discussed in this paper.
Stoffman, Daniel. Who gets in: What's wrong with Canada's immigration program, and how to fix it. Toronto: Macfarlane Walter & Ross, 2002.
Mordecai Richler. These writers are not meant to represent any ethnic group as a whole,
There is an ever-increasing importance placed on effective communication in the workplace, which presents greater difficulties for immigrants seeking jobs in Canada. The inability to properly express oneself in English greatly jeopardizes the chances of getting a job, especially one in the immigrant’s field of study. According to the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society (VIRCS), the lack of English proficiency is the main barrier to employment for most immigrants. It prevents many professionals from getting a job where they can utilize their expertise, and is also a roadblock to the skilled trade immigrants who normally do not have a high level of education from their former country (VIRCS, n.d.). A large number of these immigrants, particularly refugees, have considerable education and experience in their native country, but because of their l...