The role of migrant labour supply in the Canadian labour market

Stan Kustec
Research and Evaluation
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
June 2012

One of the major objectives of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) is to support Canada’s economy and competitiveness. Canada’s immigration program does this by attracting new immigrants, helping them integrate into the labour market and ensuring that success is attainable for all newcomers. Current demographic trends indicate that these newcomers will play an increasingly important part in the labour market. This is underscored by the twin demographic challenges on the horizon: the first being the retirement of a large number of baby boomers and second, a limited number of new workers who are coming from domestic sources. The central questions addressed in this paper, then, are how will the Canadian labour market evolve over the coming decade and what will be the role of the immigration program in this challenging environment?

The views and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of Citizenship and Immigration Canada or the Government of Canada.

The role of migrant labour supply in the Canadian labour market (PDF, 533 KB (PDF, 533.9KB))

Table of contents

• Executive summary
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Canadian labour market: setting the context
  • 2.1. Composition of the Canadian labour force
  • 2.2. Recent labour market conditions
  • 2.3. Comparison to previous recessions – employment and unemployment rates
  • 2.4. The evolution of the Canadian labour market since the 1980s
• 3. How many job openings in the future?
• 4. Who will fill the job openings?
  • 4.1. Future expectations – putting the role of immigration in perspective
  • 4.2. Permanent residents entering the labour force
  • 4.3. Recent policy improvements/programs tied to the Canadian labour market
• 5. Trends in economic performance of immigrants in Canada
  • 5.1. Trends in low income
  • 5.2. Factors at play
  • 5.3. Economic performance by province/region
• 6. The role of temporary foreign nationals working in Canada
  • 6.1. Temporary foreign workers
  • 6.2. Other temporaries
  • 6.3. Transitions from temporary to permanent status
• 7. Match between supply and demand
• 8. Risks and opportunities
• 9. Conclusion
• Appendix A: The importance of immigration to labour force growth

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