Exploring Employment Opportunities in Canada
Canada is drawing increasingly more students and employment seekers with its abundant opportunities. Despite a global economic slowdown in most regions of the world, Canada continues to hold promise for immigrants looking for employment opportunities.
As of last month, Canada’s economy has recovered a bit closer to what it was during pre-pandemic times and unemployment has fallen to 7.5%, which is the same as that in March. As of July 2021, 94,000 jobs have been added. Statistics Canada has found that in the labour market, immigrant employment is nearing 2019 levels.
Over time, the number of COVID-19 cases has reduced and vaccination rates have gone up. The Statistics Canada’s Labour Force survey noted that between July 11 to July 17, public health restrictions have significantly eased. This has had a positive impact on employment rates as well. As compared to February 2020, employment is just 1.3% lower currently. Though, this doesn’t necessarily mean more immigrants are getting employed, as the rise in employment rate can be due to a lesser number of immigrants entering Canada.
Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Islands have shown the most increase. Ontario alone gained 72,000 jobs in July, with 49,000 of these in Toronto. Full time work in the private sector in service industries has shown the biggest jump that mostly makes up the 123,000 new jobs. Taking this indication as a cue, students and those contemplating immigration can gauge what industries offer more opportunities.
A very positive development is that the employment rates for “very recent” immigrants have steadily grown. A “very recent” immigrant is described by Statistics Canada as an immigrant who has immigrated within the last five years. Even though an immigrant may have just reached Canada within the last five years, they still have an excellent chance of being employed. This is because the number of immigrants themselves has dropped since the pandemic. Since March 2020, fewer immigrants have arrived in Canada, skewing the percentage of available jobs in the favour of very recent immigrant population. To ease the transition of finding employment in Canada, there are many government programmes to help new arrivals, including pre-arrival employment support.
Another big plus is that despite fluctuations, wage growth trends remain higher than the rate of inflation. Despite the pandemic, the average hourly wage has increased by 6.6% in 2021 from 2019.
The total percentage of very recent immigrants in the labour force is about 4% of the total labour force currently, which is almost what it was pre-pandemic. In times when immigrants are not welcomed by a lot of nations globally, relatively easier immigration to Canada is one of the big draws for people looking for employment opportunities.
Canada’s ageing population and low birth rate make it difficult for the nation to sustain a working labour force. To make up for this low growth of the labour force, Canada uses immigration as a tool to overcome these obstacles. This is a winning strategy not only for Canada’s economy in the long run, but also for those looking to immigrate. The general view is that it is these demographics that drive Canada to open its borders to immigrants and create a win-win situation.
As a lot of Canada’s competitive global economic growth is dependent on immigration, travel restrictions have begun easing by the end of June. The border opened to allow the passage of approved permanent residents. Since the pandemic, that period saw the most number of new permanent residents being allowed into Canada.
With one of the globally highest vaccination rates and economic recovery rates, Canada is one of the most sought after places to head to for immigration and the trend is poised to continue.