Immigrants successful at finding jobs in Canada: Survey

Toronto, Nov 7

Immigrants in Canada, including Indians, have been successful in finding jobs, and are filling up gaps in the country's labour force, according to a new survey released by the national statistical agency.

Immigrants who arrived in Canada over the past five years had an employment rate of 70.7 per cent, a higher rate than October 2019, pre-pandemic, the Labour Force Survey data 2022 released by Statistics Canada said.

It found that over 62 per cent of immigrants aged 15 and over are employed. According to the 2021 census data on immigration, 23 per cent of Canada's population is an immigrant.

Between 2016 and 2021, immigrants accounted for about 80 per cent of Canada's labour force growth.

At least 119,000 full-time positions filled, pushing the rate of full-time employment by 3 per cent over October 2021, and job rise for both genders occurred mainly in the core working age group of 25-54 years old.

Most new employment occurred in Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, the survey showed.

The highest concentrations of Indians are found in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia, followed by growing communities in Alberta and Quebec as well, with the majority of them being foreign-born.

Announcing the Immigration Levels Plan for 2023-2025 last week, Canada said it plans to welcome a record 500,000 new permanent residents.

Indians have been migrating to Canada in droves for better job prospects and an overall better life.

In 2021, nearly 100,000 Indians became permanent residents of Canada as the country admitted a record 405,000 new immigrants in its history.

Statistics Canada forecasts the country's immigrant population will continue to rise, as high as 34 per cent by 2041, attributing the growth to the ever-increasing targets of Canada's Immigration Levels Plan.

Employers in Canada are actively seeking to fill nearly one million jobs with the country's job vacancy rate falling to 5.4 per cent from a peak of 6 percent in April this year.