Canadian federal authorities are ready to spend on immigrants even before they arrive in the country
Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen announced that his department will provide a total of $113 million to sixteen organizations by 2023 to assist migrants. These organizations will establish contact with immigrants while they are still in their country of origin. They will also provide them with professional employment services, which will help improve their job prospects after arriving in Canada.
These groups will also help potential immigrants apply for work permits related to their professional qualifications before moving to Canada.
Meanwhile, as reported by Russianweek.ca, at the end of December encouraging news emerged for newcomers: according to Statistics Canada, the employment gap between newly arrived immigrants and Canadian-born workers continues to narrow, as immigrants make up a growing share of Canada's labor force.
According to a Statistics Canada report, the unemployment rate among immigrants is now the lowest since 2006, when data collection began. As of 2017, unemployment among working-age immigrants in Canada was 6.4%. The unemployment rate among Canadian-born individuals in the same year was five percent.
Overall, immigrants currently make up 26% of Canada's labor force, while the remaining 74% are Canadian-born individuals. The number of immigrants in Canada's workforce continues to grow, while the share of the labor force consisting of native-born individuals has declined.
"The largest employment growth for immigrants was observed in professional, scientific and technical services; finance, insurance, real estate, leasing; manufacturing; and health care and social assistance," the report says.
Among immigrants in Canada, there are also more people with university degrees than among those born in the country. In 2017, 49.5% of employed immigrants had a university education. Among native-born individuals, such educated citizens accounted for 30.3%.
The study also shows that since data collection began in 2006, all provinces have seen an increase in the number of working-age immigrants. The largest share of migrants still goes to British Columbia and Ontario.
Among major metropolitan areas, Toronto received the largest share (37%) of working-age immigrants in 2017, although this percentage is lower than the 2006 figure (42%). Meanwhile, other large cities such as Montreal, Calgary, and Edmonton are also seeing growth in the number of immigrants forming the core of the workforce.
The report predicts that by 2036, nearly half of Canada's population will consist of first- and second-generation immigrants.