Graphic by Nazeefa Ahmed

Immigration isn’t the problem: Canada’s job market needs fixing

By Josie Simon, January 20 2025—

Many Canadians blame immigrants for our job market problems, but recent research tells a different story. The real problem lies in how we fail to use immigrant talent effectively. Data shows that our assumptions about immigration’s impact on employment are often misguided.

Canada desperately needs more houses built, yet immigrants rarely work in construction or trades. Only 25 per cent of recent immigrants work in these jobs, compared to 35 per cent of Canadian-born workers. This gap has existed for years and shows no signs of closing. It directly contradicts the common belief that immigrants are taking jobs from Canadians.

The technology sector tells a different story. Recent immigrants are five times more likely to work in computer and information systems than Canadian-born workers and are twice as likely to be engineers. These aren’t cases of displacement—they’re examples of immigrants filling crucial gaps in our workforce. Many of these positions would remain empty without them, hurting our economy’s growth.

The real tragedy lies in how many skilled immigrants can’t find work in their fields. In Toronto, the unemployment rate for recent immigrants is 10.92 per cent, while for Canadian-born workers, it’s only 5.56 per cent. This disparity makes no sense, considering that over half of recent immigrants have university degrees, compared to only 32.6 per cent of Canadian-born citizens. We’re actively wasting the talent we’ve invited to our country.

This misuse of immigrant talent comes with a steep price tag. Canada loses $30 billion annuallytwo per cent of our GDP—because we won’t let qualified people work in their fields. This isn’t just about fairness; it’s about economic common sense. We’re throwing away billions in productivity and innovation at a time when we can least afford it.

The timing of this waste couldn’t be worse. Baby boomers are retiring, and birth rates continue to drop. Toronto alone needs to fill 519,881 jobs in the next five years. By 2031, one in three Canadian workers will be foreign-born. These aren’t just statistics—they’re a wake-up call. We need these workers and we need them working at their full potential.

Our broken systems create this problem. We demand “Canadian experience” but won’t give immigrants their first Canadian job. Our credential recognition process moves at a glacial pace. Professional networks remain largely closed to newcomers. We’ve created a system that takes highly skilled professionals and forces them into survival jobs while claiming we have labour shortages.

The data consistently shows that immigrants don’t compete with Canadian-born workers—they complement them. They fill gaps in our workforce and bring the skills we desperately need. Instead of blaming immigrants for job market problems, we need to fix the systems that prevent them from contributing fully to our economy.

The solution requires several changes. We need faster credential recognition, better paths to employment and more value placed on international experience. We must help immigrants build professional networks and get that crucial first Canadian job. Most importantly, we must stop wasting the talent we’ve invited to our country.

In today’s global economy, skilled workers have choices about where they go. If Canada wants to stay competitive, we must use all our talent effectively. That means helping immigrants succeed in their chosen fields. Everyone in Canada benefits when they can fully use their skills and education. The choice is simple: we can blame immigrants for problems they didn’t create or fix the systems that prevent them from helping us solve our real labour market challenges.

This article is a part of our Opinions section and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gauntlet editorial board.


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