Canada is a country of increasing job opportunities, yet decreasing population. In fact Canada’s population has faced a steady decline since the 1960’s. On top of this, Canadian employers struggle to find skilled labor to keep up with global demand for Canadian exports. Because of this, the government has put in place an immigration goal of around 300,000 immigrants per year to replace the aging workforce.
Why Canada Economic Immigration
So why are there so few new Canadian born workers?
To start, the average birthrate as of 2019 sits at 1.5 per woman. For a married couple less than one child on average per family. Meaning that couples aren’t having enough children to replace themselves in the workforce. This is mainly due to the focus of our modern day societies on professional careers. As of 2017, 68 percent of Canadians have some sort of post secondary diploma. Those who attend post secondary are usually between the ages of 18-24, which also so happens to be the most active time in the human life span. After graduation this same group is also more likely to focus on career growth into their early 30’s. And these are just two of many factors that are contributing to the population decline.
The only answer to this struggling growth as it would seem, has been to look elsewhere through immigration. Of the estimated 350,000 immigrants to Canada by 2021, a staggering 202,300 are expected to be economic immigrants. This number as only increased over the past several years as seen in the table below. Only highlighting the countries dependence on immigration.
Growing Opportunities
Even with these increasing numbers Canada still has jobs to fill. In 2019 alone Canada added 456,000 new jobs and had a very modest unemployment level of 2.4 per cent. This means that between economic immigration and Canadian population growth there are still plenty of opportunities. When considering those who leave the work force each year due to retirement or for other reasons, there are still many more unfilled positions.
For those search for jobs abroad Canada is also a very promising prospect. Canada is the second-best country in the G20 to do business and one of the leaders in economic growth over the past decade. Canada also has the lowest business tax costs in the G7; 46% lower than the United States. In 2020 Canada ranked 12th in global corruption ranking (measuring levels of public sector corruption), compared to the United Stated 23rd place ranking. They also ranked 3rd in ease of starting a new business, and 7th in protecting minority investors, according to The World Bank. It’s also one of the top countries when it comes to workers rights.
On top of all this the growing tech industry is a great opportunity for more highly educated immigrants. BC is one of the fastest growing tech centers, worth over $26 billion and employing over 150,000 workers. Even at these numbers Canada was worried that in 2020 it would face a shortage of 200,000 programmers and other IT professionals. Although this numbers has since proven it be smaller, there are still many unfulfilled positions immigration can satisfy.
With all this in mind, the prospects of a new life in Canada may have never looked so promising.