- March 9, 2023
- Posted by: ASIFCONSULTING
- Category: General
A New Report by the Century Initiative shows that elevated levels of support for immigration give Canada an edge when it comes to attracting Newcomers
According to a recent report by the Century Initiative titled Public Opinion and Immigration: Maintaining Canada’s Advantage, Canada has the highest level of support for immigrants in the entire world.
The national, non-partisan charity promotes the advantages for the society and the economy of Canada’s population reaching 100 million by 2100. According to the new report, immigration was a key factor in reaching this milestone, and Canada has an advantage over other economies because of the country’s large and powerful pro-immigration sentiment.
Since the late 1990s, there has been a steady increase in Canadian support for immigration, which did not significantly decline as a result of the global financial crisis in 2008 or the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. According to the report, support has increased in tandem with “growth in Canadian’s multicultural identity,” with 64% of Canadians agreeing that multiculturalism represents Canada’s identity. From data collected 25 years ago, when only 37% of Canadians agreed, there has been a noticeable increase.
Immigration is valued by Canadians as a strength.
The report claims that keeping Canadians’ optimistic outlook is essential to Canada’s immigration strategy. By 2025, Canada plans to accept 500,000 new immigrants annually.
The Environics Institute, a research organization that gathers public opinion in Canada on the issues that shape the country, recently conducted a Focus Canada study, which is cited in the Couple of Century Findings of research. According to information from that study, seven out of ten Canadians support the country’s current immigration policies. Since the Environics Institute began keeping track 45 years ago, this is the highest level of support. According to the article, Canadians are aware of how crucial immigration is to boost the country’s economy and population.
risk elements
It’s likely that there will continue to be a lot of immigrants in Canada given how people view it and how supportive they are of immigration.
The report nevertheless emphasizes how crucial it is to maintain welcoming conditions for newcomers. In December 2022, The Century Initiative completed a risk-factor analysis and identified four potential emerging risks that might have a detrimental effect on immigration:
- Availability of affordable housing
- public services and infrastructure
- economic difficulties
- Political discourse
Public services and infrastructure are also problematic. In order to fill critical labor market gaps and maintain a robust economy, Canada needs immigrants. However, if they cannot access high-quality healthcare or education, they are less likely to choose Canada. For instance, there seems to be a shortage of employees in the healthcare industry in Canada. According to Statistics Canada data from December, 17.7% of all open positions were in the healthcare industry.
The report concludes by stating that political rhetoric can negatively impact how foreigners view Canada. Political leaders occasionally blame increased immigration for adverse effects on wages and employment. Francois Legault, the premier of Quebec, and Maxime Bernier, the leader of the People’s Party, are specifically mentioned in the report as having “shared anti-immigrant political rhetoric, but such discourse remains Canadian politics. The Liberals, Conservatives, and New Democratic Party (NDP), Canada’s three main political parties, all agree that Canada needs more immigrants and support the ambitious goals set forth in the Immigration Levels Plan.
The Century Initiative’s recommendations for how to keep the United States a top immigration destination are included in the report. For instance, the report recommends that Canada support and enhance business immigration attraction through initiatives like the Global Skills Strategy and the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot.
Additionally, it recommends increasing spending on proactive incentives to entice skilled immigrants and business owners. It claims that the current Start-Up Visa Program for Canada is extremely limited, accounting for only 0.1% of all new arrivals and having a processing time of close to three years.
Obtaining the necessary credentials to practice their profession is one of the biggest obstacles for newcomers, and as a result, some immigrants may end up working in positions for which they are overqualified. According to the report, providing immigrants with quality employment. According to the report, it is “possible to provide quality work for immigrants if employers and regulatory bodies can improve recognition of international experience and credentials and build improved hiring practices to eliminate criteria and rules that are implicitly biased.”
Canada is known for being a progressive nation with robust human rights laws and a dedication to equality for all. Although women in Canada generally enjoy the same rights and liberties as men, there are still some notable disparities in the representation of women, particularly newcomer women, in the workforce. women immigrants who work in Canada
According to Statistics Canada data from 2022, there were 4,200,630 immigrant women employed. Out of these, 1.3 million were white, and 2.9 million were members of visible minorities. Overall, immigrants are to blame for nearly all of Canada’s labor force expansion and 75% of its population expansion.
According to data from the Labour Force Survey from January to June 2021, there is a significant difference in the unemployment rates of recent immigrants and Canadian-born women (15.2% vs. 8.0%). Additionally, the industries in which immigrant women, particularly racialized women, work typically pay less than other industries.
According to a report released by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) last year, racialized newcomer women are overrepresented in low-wage industries like hospitality, or food and lodging services. These industries suffered significant effects by declines in the labor market during COVID-19. These industries are where many immigrant women begin their careers in Canada, where they also suffer some of the most severe wage losses. The median entry wage for immigrant women decreased from $26,100 to $23,200 between 2019 and 2020, or 11.1%.
The majority of immigrant women are sponsored by families.
As secondary applicants in an economic immigration program, or as the spouse, partner, or dependent of someone who applied to immigrate to Canada through an economic immigration program, 1,215,200 women immigrants arrived in Canada. 1,194,685 additional people entered the country under family sponsorship.
Canadian women’s pay disparity
Although Canadian women have worked in the country’s workforce since the First World War, or more than 100 years ago, there is still a pay gap between them and their male coworkers. According to the Canadian Women’s Foundation, women in Canada make 89 cents for every dollar that men make on average. This ignores the disparity between newly arrived immigrants and women who were born in Canada.
According to Census 2021 data, the number of income recipients increases for men and dramatically decreases for women once the income range exceeds $60,000 annually. For instance, in Canada, there are 487,185 women and 1,109,610 men who report having individual incomes of over $100,000 after taxes.
The Pay Equity Act was put into effect by the federal government in August 2021 to eliminate the wage gap and guarantee equal pay for women. However, this only applies to women who work in places of employment that are subject to federal regulation.
Legislation that aims to guarantee equal pay for women is present in some provinces. Human rights legislation, for instance, prohibits pay discrimination based on gender in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Saskatchewan. Additionally, employment standards laws in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, Newfoundland, and the Northwest Territories all call for equal pay for the same or similar work.
The government recently committed nearly $6 million in additional funding for programs under the Racialized Newcomer Initiative in response to lower incomes among racialized immigrant women.