Survival to Success: Transforming Immigrant Outcomes

Alternate formats

Acronyms

ECA

Educational Credential Assessment

FCR

foreign credential recognition

FLMM

Forum of Labour Market Ministers

LMI

labour market information

ISO

immigrant serving organizations

SME

small and medium-sized enterprises

Letter from the Chair

Almost every business, small or large, has had great results from hiring immigrants. As an immigrant who came to Canada several years ago, I can see how my work experience abroad allowed me to contribute different perspectives and experiences.

Canada’s demographic needs, much like those at the outset of the 20th century, mean immigrants will once again drive our economic prosperity. Since 2012, all labour force growth has come from immigration. Industry projections point to significant demand for skilled workers in a number of sectors over the next decade. Finding the right people for these jobs will be critical to our economic stability and global competitiveness.

Yet immigrant outcomes have been falling in the past decade, with many skilled newcomers stuck in survival jobs. Underemployment reduces their ability to contribute both economically and socially. Until recently, a major cause has been a point system that valued education and work experience but minimized the importance of language skills. Fortunately, this was rectified in 2013 with the new point system.

Today, the most prominent barriers are a lack of Canadian work experience and recognition of foreign credentials. But there are others: inadequate pre-arrival information, employer bias, a mismatch of skills to region and cultural competency. While these factors can be mitigated by more collaboration among stakeholders—and there are promising practices leading the way—this doesn’t happen often enough.

Encouragingly, in our consultations with immigrant-serving organizations, regulators, educational institutions and employers, we learned of promising practices for facilitating labour market integration. Significant progress has been made in many areas, including in foreign credential recognition and settlement.

Chairing this panel has been an honour, and I would like to thank my panelists for their support and their dedication to helping immigrants succeed in Canada. This report also reflects the input of individuals from numerous organizations who gave generously of their time. We thank them and the hundreds of Canadians who responded to the online survey. By sharing their perspectives, they have contributed to the recommendations in this report and, we hope, to better outcomes for immigrants.

We would like to recognize the Honourable Jason Kenney for establishing this panel in his former role as Minister of Employment and Social Development. We would also like to acknowledge the indispensable support we received from Employment and Social Development Canada, as well as from Citizenship and Immigration Canada and Health Canada.

Labour market integration occurs at the convergence of the right skills, attitudes, information and location. We hope that the insights and recommendations presented in our report Survival to Success: Transforming Immigrant Outcomes will help immigrants achieve their full potential for their own benefit and for the sake of our country.

Nick (Naeem) Noorani, Chair, Panel on Employment Challenges of New Canadians

Scope of this report

In the fall of 2014, then Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada, the Honourable Jason Kenney, appointed the Panel on Employment Challenges of New Canadians to consult with immigrant-serving organizations, regulators, employers and other stakeholders.

The Panel was asked to identify and report on successes, innovative approaches and promising practices on the licensing, hiring and retention of recent immigrants, as well as the challenges of this process faced by employers. This work will help to shape strategies for better integrating newcomers into the workforce.

In-person consultations were held in Vancouver, Calgary, Saskatoon, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal and Halifax. During these events, the Panel met with over 150 organizations closely involved in the issue of employment for new Canadians. The Panel also posted an online survey open to all Canadians and received input from over 600 respondents—including many immigrants themselves.

In total, over 750 stakeholders shared their experiences and opinions on the subject of integrating new Canadians into the labour market.

While the focus of the Panel’s examination was the consultations and online responses, a review of the following elements was also conducted to better understand the employment challenges of new Canadians:

• government programs to help immigrants secure employment and reach their full potential, most notably the foreign credential recognition process and the role of regulators;
• pre-decision and pre-arrival activities, services and supports to help prospective immigrants considering Canada;
• the availability of post-arrival supports, such as networking opportunities, cultural training, financial assistance and help with licensing procedures and alternative career identification; and
• promising practices of employers and immigrant-serving organizations in areas such as hiring and retaining newcomers, transforming workplace culture to be more inclusive and assisting in obtaining workplace experience.

Executive summary

The Panel on Employment Challenges of new Canadians learned that there is nothing irrevocably wrong with our system of integrating skilled immigrants. It simply doesn’t work well enough, seamlessly enough, or quickly enough. Our challenge is to transition those immigrants who are in Canada from survival jobs to jobs where they can best use their skills and experience and to ensure future immigrants get jobs commensurate with their skills and experience.

To help immigrants find work faster in jobs commensurate with their abilities and experience, we need:

• the right skills for newcomers: At the pre-arrival stage, the assessment and recognition of foreign credentials, although improved, is still a complex and disjointed process. When immigrants arrive, there is insufficient emphasis on follow-up for alternative careers and enhanced soft-skills training
• the right attitude for stakeholders: Low levels of engagement among small and medium-sized employers and a silo mentality among supporting organizations undermine labour market integration and prevent newcomers from developing social capital and networks
• the right information for newcomers: Pre-decision and pre-arrival labour market information is complex, redundant and not comprehensive enough to allow immigrants to make informed decisions about vocation and location—or to match supply with demand
• the right place to settle: Immigrants often land in a community where there are no jobs in their field of work, or where remoteness and unfamiliarity make settlement difficult

The Panel recommends 6 steps to streamline the labour market integration process:

1. require each regulated occupation to develop a single pan-Canadian standard, and insist that the assessment process be initiated from abroad by prospective immigrants and tracked in the immigration system. This single pan-Canadian standard should be complemented by a single point of contact and Web portal for each occupation. In addition, clear benchmarks, key performance indicators and timelines should be set to monitor progress against these goals globally and by occupation.
   
2. develop a broader strategy for alternative careers with a more prominent role for regulators. Require regulators to advise newcomers who are unsuccessful in the licensing process in finding an alternative career, or refer them to an appropriate organization for this service.
   
3. foster leadership, support and a shared responsibility among all stakeholders for helping immigrants find jobs. Large and small employers, immigrant-serving organizations and governments must work more closely together to maximize the effectiveness of the tools and services that help immigrants gain meaningful employment. This also helps employers access a richer and more diverse pool of talent.
   
4. establish a “Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group for Better Immigrant Employment Outcomes.” This group of employers, regulators and immigrant-serving organizations would monitor and report to governments on progress in implementing the Panel’s recommendations, advise governments on broader issues involving the labour market integration of immigrants and champion the shared commitment of hiring newcomers.
   
5. Produce more comprehensive labour market information targeted at newcomers. Federal, provincial and territorial governments should provide immigrants with timely, accurate and geographically-based information to set realistic expectations about job prospects and licensing practices in Canada.
   
6. educate communities on how to increase retention outside large metropolitan areas. Recognizing that retaining immigrants requires a holistic approach, efforts must reflect collaboration among employers, governments and immigrant-serving organizations.

The recommendations we provide for further streamlining foreign credential recognition, increasing alternative career support, building employer engagement, improving labour market information, breaking down silos and increasing retention are not wishful thinking—they are well within our reach. In fact, they are a natural and logical continuation of all the efforts and accomplishments that have been achieved to date.

We submit that the subtle changes we recommend will enhance the newcomer experience markedly and bring economic efficiency and measurable success to the entire process. By focusing more purposefully on labour market needs, closing the gaps in the system and measuring results, we can help newcomers find the right jobs for their skills and experience and strengthen the Canadian economy.

Canada’s need for skilled immigrants

Canada is a country of immigrants: In 2011, immigrants represented 20.6% of Canada’s population, the highest proportion among G7 countries. ^{Footnote 1} 9 out of 10 immigrants settled in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta. Of this group, most gravitated to large urban centres, with 33% in Toronto, 16% in Montreal, 13% in Vancouver and 6% in Calgary.

Immigrants have been an important part of Canada’s labour supply over the past few decades, and this trend is expected to continue. The proportion of Canada’s working aged population accounted for by immigrants has been slowly increasing for the past 15 years. ^{Footnote 2} Many of these new Canadians are skilled: they hold a disproportionate number of graduate degrees, accounting for nearly half (49%) of all PhDs and 40% of master’s recipients. ^{Footnote 3} With the fastest growth in demand expected for jobs that require university education, the need for their contributions will intensify.

Despite their qualifications, skilled immigrants are chronically underemployed, at significant cost to our economy. A 2012 study concluded that raising the employment rate of immigrant workers to the level of non-immigrants would result in approximately 370,000 more people working. ^{Footnote 4} Another study, conducted in 2011, estimated the increased earnings if newcomers’ skills were compensated appropriately at $31 billion. ^{Footnote 5}

These statistics demonstrate the critical role immigrants already play in our workforce and their potential to strengthen Canada’s economy. As domestic labour force growth continues to slow, there will be an even greater focus on immigration as a source of the skilled labour needed to enhance our productivity.

What we heard in our consultations

During our in-person discussions with stakeholder organizations and in the hundreds of cross-Canada responses to an online survey on the employment challenges faced by new Canadians, ^{Footnote 6} we heard from a wide range of stakeholders involved in the path to employment for new Canadians. We learned that countless groups and organizations each play an important role in this journey. However, despite their good intentions, disconnected stakeholders can make the path long and arduous.

What are the most significant obstacles? In our consultations, individual respondents and immigrant serving organizations (ISOs) both mentioned foreign credential recognition (FCR) difficulties and inadequate/difficulty obtaining Canadian experience most frequently as an obstacle to obtaining relevant employment in Canada. Other frequently mentioned difficulties were perceived employer bias, inadequate labour market information and cultural adaptation challenges.

To frame the discussion, we have grouped the issues identified in our consultations into 4 categories: the right skills for newcomers, the right attitude for stakeholders, the right information for newcomers and the right place to settle. In each section, we review what we heard and the focus areas for developing solutions. Later in the report, we provide our specific recommendations.

Six integrated steps to help skilled immigrants find work faster

Successfully integrating new Canadians into the labour market is an organic process that must incorporate ongoing review, continuous improvement and, above all, collaboration. By bringing stakeholders together in our consultations, we have made important progress in this regard.

We discovered that many effective practices are already in place, but also learned that more can and should be done to encourage the labour market integration of new Canadians. Exploring the challenges by considering what “right skills, right attitude, right information and right place” should look like, we have identified general areas for improvement. While promising initiatives are underway, there are opportunities to refine and focus efforts—starting with the foreign credential recognition process.

What follows are the Panel’s specific recommendations and how we visualize their implementation:

1. require each regulated occupation to develop a single pan-Canadian standard, and insist that the assessment process be initiated from abroad by prospective immigrants and tracked in the immigration system. The single pan-Canadian standard should be complemented by a single point of contact and Web portal, which would streamline and simplify the licensing process and better align it to the new labour market demand-driven immigration system (for example Express Entry). To increase efficiency and transparency, the assessment and recognition process should be accessible pre-arrival and online to the fullest extent possible. Governments should collaborate with regulators and other stakeholders so that prospective immigrants are required to begin the credential recognition process as part of their immigration application.
   
   In addition, clear benchmarks, key performance indicators and timelines should be set to monitor progress to these goals globally and by occupation. Ongoing work within the Forum of Labour Market Ministers on foreign credential recognition is encouraging; we suggest that the Forum of Labour Market Ministers champion the approach featuring one standard to enter a profession and one assessment point for each regulated occupation.
   
2. develop a broader strategy for alternative careers with a more prominent role for regulators. Under the leadership of the Forum of Labour Market Ministers, provincial and territorial governments should mandate regulators to advise newcomers who are unsuccessful in the licensing process on the availability/applicability of a related career that best fits their skills and experience, or refer them to an appropriate organization for this service. In addition, a portal for alternative careers could bring together relevant resources and services.
   
3. foster leadership, support and a shared sense of responsibility among all stakeholders for helping immigrants find jobs that match their skills. Whether they realize it or not, all stakeholders play an important part in helping immigrants integrate into their communities and workplaces and can do more. Employers must recognize that it makes good business sense to hire immigrants. In order for this to happen, employers need to be better engaged. For example, larger employers could champion diversity with smaller employers. They could also share their expertise and experience through their Chamber of Commerce or membership association.
   
   Organizations that specialize in employer engagement, such as immigrant-serving organizations, immigrant employment councils, Chambers of Commerce, trade associations and sector councils, could develop closer links with employers through dedicated resources and services. Opportunities exist under the Canada Job Grant, for example, where immigrant-serving organizations could represent employers or match training institutions with employers to ensure that training programs meet the needs of both immigrants and employers.
   
   Governments could communicate more proactively with immigrant-serving organizations about existing skills training programs, such as the Canada Job Grant, and help small and medium-sized enterprises understand the return on investment of hiring new Canadians. Governments could incent this behaviour by providing resources for more active employment measures, such as wage subsidies and internships. For example, more resources could be allocated to expand the Federal Internship for Newcomers Program model to a broader number of private sector companies and include employer incentives.
   
4. establish a “Multi-Stakeholder Advisory Group for Better Immigrant Employment Outcomes.” This advisory group would be mandated to accelerate economic growth by fostering collaboration among stakeholders in order to place newcomers in jobs that match their skills. Membership would include employers, regulators and immigrant-serving organizations. The group would monitor and report to governments on progress in implementing the Panel’s recommendations, advise governments on broader issues involving the labour market integration of immigrants and champion the shared commitment of hiring newcomers.
   
5. produce more comprehensive labour market information targeted at newcomers. Under the leadership of the Forum of Labour Market Ministers, federal, provincial and territorial governments should provide immigrants with timely, accurate and geographically based labour market information. To set realistic expectations about job prospects in Canada, such information must be available to prospective immigrants before they make Canada their destination of choice. Follow-up information about requirements should also be provided during the immigration process. Governments should work with a range of stakeholders, such as regulators and employers, to better forecast and report on labour supply trends. Finally, trusted labour market information should be distributed to all Canadians as well as tailored for prospective immigrants.
   
6. educate communities on how to increase retention outside large metropolitan areas. Helping immigrants develop a better understanding of where employment opportunities exist, helping them integrate into the workplace and helping their families become part of the community should be key parts of any initiative to attract immigrants to a region—particularly a small and remote one. As a start, a single website featuring successful and innovative programs from across the country could be created and marketed to Chambers of Commerce and other business and community forums. Recognizing that retaining immigrants requires a holistic approach, efforts should reflect collaboration among employers, governments and immigrant-serving organizations.

Conclusion

Canada needs skilled immigrants, and in many cases, they need us. When newcomers to our country have the right information, adequate support and their skills appropriately and expediently recognized, they can integrate successfully into the labour market and optimize their contribution to the economy.

By consulting with immigrant-serving organizations, regulators, employers and other stakeholders—including immigrants themselves—we learned that these conditions are not met often enough. In an environment characterized by disjointed processes and insufficient resources, immigrants have often ended up in survival jobs.

Successful labour market integration of newcomers matters now more than ever. As Canada continues to be affected by large shifts in population composition (aging workforce), globalization and changing skill requirements, the stakes are high. Canada needs newcomers to remain competitive globally and to prosper.

The process of integrating newcomers into the labour market is collaborative by nature. In our consultations, we were encouraged to hear about successful practices and a willingness to recognize and draw on the expertise of other organizations.

The recommendations we provide for streamlining foreign credential recognition, increasing alternative career support, building employer engagement, improving labour market information, breaking down silos and increasing retention are not wishful thinking—they are well within our reach. By focusing more purposefully on outcomes and closing the gaps in the system through greater collaboration, we can better address the country’s labour market needs, tap into the talents of all Canadians and strengthen our economy.

Success is within our reach. Let’s get to work!

Panel members

Mr. Nick Noorani, Chair

Mr. Nick (Naeem) Noorani is a well-known authority on improving immigrant outcomes. Bestselling author of Arrival Survival Canada, founder of the magazine Canadian Immigrant and Managing Partner of Prepare for Canada, Mr. Noorani is also a social entrepreneur, a media personality and a sought-after speaker on the topics of immigrant integration in workplaces and soft skills for immigrants. He has become a powerful voice for successfully integrating immigrants in Canada and bridging cultural gaps in the workplace and beyond. Nick has created content for Welcome to Canada, the Government of Canada publication for immigrants.

Mr. Kim Allen

Mr. Allen is the Chief Executive Officer of Engineers Canada, the national organization of the 12 engineering regulatory bodies that license Canada's more than 270,000 members of the profession—including engineers-in-training. With more than 20 years of accomplishment as a chief executive in the public, private and association sectors, Mr. Allen implements winning strategies for the success of the engineering profession and the promotion of the competency, integrity and public accountability of engineers.

Ms. Wafa Berny

Ms. Berny, M.B.A., M.Sc., arrived in Canada 8 years ago, following a career working in banking and information technology in multinationals and in small and medium-sized enterprises. She acts as a consultant and lecturer on managing small and medium-sized enterprises at the Université du Québec in Montréal and assists entrepreneurs within its Centre for Entrepreneurship. Ms. Berny is particularly interested in entrepreneurship related to immigrants and technology.

Dr. Lori Campbell

Dr. Campbell has worked in the field of adult and community education since 1985, when she started teaching adult basic education in several Aboriginal communities in the Northwest Territories. She directed Community Programs for Aurora College in Fort Smith for 5 years. In 2001, she led the Aboriginal Teacher Education Program (ATEP) for the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Following the successful launch of ATEP, Dr. Campbell moved to Enbridge Pipelines and, in 2011, took on the exciting new role of Manager, Diversity. Dr. Campbell has been leading the organization in developing a Diversity and Inclusive strategy. Her education includes a Master’s in Adult Education and a Doctorate in Educational Policy Studies, Administration and Leadership from the University of Alberta.

Ms. Margaret Eaton

Ms. Eaton has over 20 years' experience in the non-profit sector. Since 2012, she has served as Executive Director of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC), a multi-stakeholder council that brings leaders together to create and champion solutions to better integrate immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area labour market. As part of her endeavours at TRIEC, Ms. Eaton led stakeholders in the creation of a new strategic plan to increase the impact and scale of TRIEC's work.

Mr. Rob Henderson

Mr. Henderson is President, Chief Executive Officer and architect of change at BioTalent Canada. BioTalent Canada is an independent, national, non-profit agency and Canada’s leading source for human resource information and biotechnology skills development. BioTalent Canada helps the bio-economy access the human resources tools and talent it needs. Working with over 30 national and provincial corporate partners, BioTalent Canada links job seekers with biotech employers.

Ms. Christine Nielsen

Ms. Nielsen became Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Society for Medical Laboratory Science (CSMLS) in early 2010. In her 7 previous years as CSMLS’s Director of Certification, she marshalled a pan-Canadian qualification and recognition program. Ms. Nielsen also led the research for the medical laboratory profession in Canada. She is currently the Chair of the Canadian Network of Associations of Regulators.

Annex A: Organizations present at in-person consultations

Annex B: Summary of online responses

From October 9 to December 1, 2014, the Panel on Employment Challenges of New Canadians used an online survey to consult with an extensive network of stakeholders involved in the pathway to employment of new Canadians. Some 620 participants took part in the survey, with the majority identifying themselves as either individuals or representatives of immigrant-serving organizations. Other groups that participated include organizations involved in the assessment of foreign credentials, academia, businesses and governments.

The summary organizes the responses into four themes:

• employment challenges faced by newcomers
• available supports for newcomers
• role of employers
• additional actions to help newcomers find jobs

Regarding employment challenges, almost all participants stated that newcomers are facing employment-related difficulties in Canada. The following table provides a ranking to best illustrate the perception of the employment difficulties faced by newcomers according to individuals and immigrant-serving organizations. A ranking of “1” indicates that a response was mentioned the most frequently by participants to this particular question, as per a subjective analysis.

Table 1: Responses to the question regarding challenges facing newcomers in obtaining jobs that make full use of their skills and experience, as ranked by individuals (primarily newcomers) and immigrant-serving organizations (ISOs).

Information about other topics covered in the online consultations can be found in the detailed report summarizing the responses.

Annex C: Information & resources

All reports were accessed in December 2014 and are listed alphabetically by title.

Adjusting the Balance: Fixing Canada’s Economic Immigration Policies
The Maytree Foundation, 2009

Brain Gain: The Economic Benefits of Recognizing Learning and Learning Credentials in Canada
Conference Board of Canada, 2001

Canadian Social Trends Immigrants’ perspectives on their first four years in Canada
Statistics Canada, 2007

Characteristics and Labour Market Outcomes of Internationally-educated Immigrants
Statistics Canada, 2010

Do Enclaves Matter in Immigrant Adjustment?
Institute for the Study of Labo r, 2002

Ethnic Enclaves and Immigrant Labour Market Outcomes: Quasi-Experimental Evidence
Anna Piil Damm, 2006

From Immigration to Integration: Local Solutions to a Global Challenge
OECD Publications, 2006

Immigrant Integration and Policy in the United States: A Loosely Stitched Patchwork
Irene Bloemraad & Els de Graauw, included in Queen’s University publication, 2012

Immigrant labour market outcomes in Canada: The benefits of addressing wage and employment gaps
RBC Economics, 2011

Immigrant Skill Utilization: Trends and Policy Issues
Jeffrey Reitz, Josh Curtis & Jennifer Elrick, 2013

Immigrants as Innovators: Boosting Canada’s Global Competitiveness
Conference Board of Canada, 2010

Immigrants working in regulated occupations
Statistics Canada, 2010

Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Canada
Statistics Canada, 2011

Jobs Report: T he State of the Canadian Labour Market
Department of Finance Canada, 2014

Knocking Down Barriers Faced By New Immigrants T o Canada: Fitting the Pieces Together
TD Economics Special Report, 2012

Overqualification among recent university graduates in Canada
Statistics Canada, 2014

Redesigning Collaboration: Opportunities for Innovation in Toronto’s Labour Market
Mowat Centre, 2014

The Canadian Immigrant Labour Market 2008–2011
Statistics Canada, 2012

The Human Capital Model of Selection and the Long-run Economic Outcomes of Immigrants
Statistics Canada, 2014

What Works: Labour Market Integration Initiatives for Skilled Immigrants in Canada
HRSDC Policy Research Directorate, Canada, 2006