Improving the Economic Integration of Canadian Immigrants

Immigrants tend to have substantially worse labour market outcomes than Canadian-born workers. This paper provides an overview of immigrants in the Canadian labour market, describing the key barriers that can arise when changing cultures and labour markets and that can hinder immigrants from realizing their economic potential. It then summarizes the efforts Canada has made to alleviate these barriers and highlights some persistent challenges going forward, such as the current state of foreign credential recognition (FCR) and cautioning against the rise of the two-step immigration scheme. Finally, it offers some insights for future policy, such as a more rigorous evaluation of Canada’s Settlement Program, decreasing the disconnect between federal admission decisions and the perceptions of new immigrants by firms and regulatory bodies, and optimizing the points system.