As the world heads into 2023, the labor force will see significant changes in both the United States and Canada. The United States is currently facing a labor shortage and politicians, economists, and employers are working for a solution in different ways. In the U.S., the most recent attempt to solve the labor shortage, by providing existing immigrants a path to citizenship failed. Unable to garner enough support, another attempt will be nearly impossible since the House is now dominated by Republicans. Canada seems to be fighting the same battle, though they have a remedy already in place.
In November, the Canadian government announced a goal to accept 1.45 million immigrants by 2025. Canada is primarily focused on solving their job shortage with immigrants by planning to have 60 percent of immigrants trained in sorely needed job skills. A new milestone has been reached by Canada as a result. Canada’s goal of 431,645 new permanent residents in 2022 was reached on January 3rd, according to MSN (Microsoft Network). The Canadian government has been working on both sides of the political spectrum to solve their labor shortage amidst the pandemic.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s goal is to use immigration as a way to solve workforce shortages by opening more “pathways to refugees and low-skilled workers,” and to attract “highly educated workers in sectors like healthcare and technology” according to NBC. The liberals and conservatives in Canada both describe themselves as pro-immigration and support his plan. “It’s not a magic bill.” said Iain Reeve, head of the Conference Board of Canada’s Immigration Research Centre. “It doesn’t solve everything, but it is probably our best tool for increasing the size of the labor market over time.” NBC reported Canada’s Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser, as saying, “the need for more labor is so apparent that the issue is not nearly as divisive, and nativist arguments like ‘Canadian jobs belong to Canadians,’ just don’t have much traction…This comes from a place where we believe that Canada needs more people. We need them for economic reasons. We need them for demographic reasons. And it’s going to help make our communities more vibrant and dynamic places to live.” Most within the government seem to be open and cooperative in allowing more immigrants in, seeing a greater need since the advent of Covid.
Currently, close to 100% of Canada’s labor growth is due to immigration, according to their immigration agency, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Immigrants make up 33% of business owners, 36% of all physicians, and 41% of engineers. Canada’s fall economic statement emphasizes that “Canada has committed an additional $50 million to the immigration agency through 2023 to speed up the processing of backlogged applications in order to fill critical jobs faster.” In the U.S., this proposal to solve labor shortage with immigration was discussed, given that there are many whose applications have not been processed.
Global News of Canada reported that, due to Covid, RSV, and the flu, around 8.1% of workers need days off, originally leaving employers to seek help elsewhere. “It’s entirely possible that some businesses are having to go and hire extra people because so many are calling in sick.” The Bank of Montreal’s Chief Economist Douglas Porter said in Toronto, “Aside from trying to fill in due to the pandemic, Canada is also preparing for the aging of their workforce.” MSN noted that “Fifty years ago, the worker-to-retiree ratio was 7 to 1. That is expected to shift to 2 to 1 by 2035, according to IRCC which plans to target 465,000 immigrants in 2024 and half a million in 2025.” Using long term solutions to solve the labor shortage may prove to be beneficial as other problems within the economy arise. Global News of Canada reported that Canadian economists are preparing for a mild recession later this year and that “Despite the growth in jobs last month…employers across all industries are looking to fill nearly 960,000 vacant job positions.” However, the process to fill these positions with immigrants is highly selective.
As immigrants come into Canada searching for employment, they find themselves ranked and waiting in Canada’s economic immigrant selection system called Express Entry. The score that applicants obtain in the ranking system determines if they will be invited to apply using a system of biweekly drawings. These targeted invitations are dependent upon valued characteristics, determined by IRCC. These desired characteristics take precedence over a candidates score in the system, meaning that those with higher scores might be overlooked. Therefore, not everyone is guaranteed a job in the current process, and despite the need to fill positions during the labor shortage, an uneven worker distribution over different sectors is a possibility as the Canadian government prioritizes high demand occupations. One of the most understaffed of these occupations is healthcare.
Brenda Perkins-Meingast, nursing strategy senior director at University Health Network in Toronto, admitted that her hospital network remains 400 to 500 nurses short. “We are currently in a healthcare crisis,” she said, “and in a significant nursing shortage, so we really needed to get creative and innovative.” As a result, The University Health Network has begun a program to bring in more internationally educated nurses, providing and helping them with necessary training in Canada. As well as healthcare, there is a demand for workers in Digital/ STEM and the skilled trades. CTV News reported that Digital/ STEM is the largest category in the Canadian job market that lacks enough workers, leading experts to suggest that this problem be taken care of at the education level by introducing these subjects as early as elementary school to avoid this problem in the future. Meanwhile, the skilled trades see people retiring faster than they can be hired, again exacerbated by the pandemic. There is also a perception issue to overcome. CTV reported that most Canadians view skilled trades as a second-class career choice. In addition, as more immigrate into the country to fill these jobs, Canada is also faced with a housing problem.
Global News continued their coverage of the issue stating, “Most newcomers land in big cities and while many find jobs waiting for them, immediate affordable housing is often out of reach.” With millions coming into the country, it is projected by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation that the country needs to build 3.5 million homes by 2030 to create an affordable living situation for everyone. Commenting on the housing situation, Iain Reeve of the Conference Board said, “We don’t bring in very many immigrants who work in trades and construction comparatively, compared to other countries, so if we did more of that we may be able to address some of those labor shortages.” Once again, experts are turning to immigration to solve serious societal problems, creating opportunities while rectifying economic and workforce issues. Canada’s own problems and solutions parallel those of the United States, and where action was taken in Canada using immigration to solve them, the U.S. has been unable to move forward. Though the division between the political parties differs on this issue in both countries, the Canadian government was able to overcome the differences. Representative Thomas McClintock of California has stated that “until the Biden administration does more to address illegal migration at the southern border, legislation to reform even legal immigration pathways should not be considered.” This is a difficult position to be in considering America’s own labor shortage. Canada remains an example of changes needed and action taken.
The Conversation (an independent not-for-profit media outlet) reported that while the current system is working to solve immediate issues, action can be taken in other areas to ensure that the usage of immigration to fill in workforce gaps is efficient and thorough. Aid must be given to immigrants to increase communication and suitability for work, according to The Conversation. “Settlement services and occupationally relevant language training must be made more accessible for newcomers with lower levels of education, since official language fluency is among the most important determinants of success and lower-skilled immigrants tend to be less fluent.” Language help is only one facet, however. There is a proposal that on-the-job training for essential workers is sorely needed, and that further participation from employers in this workforce transition is crucial. “Employer engagement is vital.” The Conversation said, “Although Canadian employers demand more immigration, they tend not to hire permanent immigrants into high quality positions. Instead, they often prefer to recruit temporary foreign workers into low wage, precarious roles.” Improperly staffing immigrants during the labor shortage can cause problems later on, and doesn’t foster decent working conditions. The Conversation further suggested that employers cooperate with the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council to leverage immigrant workers skills, qualifications, and experience. Recognizing “unconscious bias” and improving “intercultural competence” were other suggested areas of improvement as Canada seeks to continue much of the work they have started.
