Immigration and the success of Canada's post-pandemic economy

Many highly skilled immigrants in Canada are working well below their potential. The country does a good job of attracting immigrants, but after welcoming them, many immigrants face barriers to finding job opportunities commensurate with their skills, experience and education. But international credential recognition and the unequal socio-economic impacts of [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 on the immigrant population are just two of the issues involved in what is a growing problem for Canada's economy. The coronavirus forced the government to temporarily halt immigration, a major...  [+] Show more

Many highly skilled immigrants in Canada are working well below their potential. The country does a good job of attracting immigrants, but after welcoming them, many immigrants face barriers to finding job opportunities commensurate with their skills, experience and education. But international credential recognition and the unequal socio-economic impacts of [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 on the immigrant population are just two of the issues involved in what is a growing problem for Canada's economy. The coronavirus forced the government to temporarily halt immigration, a major disruption for a country that usually welcomes hundreds of thousands of newcomers yearly. This will need to be remedied as a part of Canada's post-pandemic economic rebuilding efforts. The policy areas this report examines include international credential recognition, skills training for immigrants - especially those who've suffered job loss in the pandemic - and the possibility of anti-immigrant sentiment stemming from disenfranchised Canadians who fear that newcomers may threaten their already-precarious jobs.

Excerpts from publication.