SOCI – Labour Shortages – September 28, 2023

Date: August 31, 2023

Classification:

Department: IRCC

Issue:

Immigration responses to labour shortages across Canada

Proposed Response:

• Immigration is essential to Canada’s economic growth and resilience. We are committed to welcoming newcomers who bring the skills to help Canada stay competitive.
• This spring, we launched category-based selection in Express Entry, which allows us to bring in more immigrants with work experience in in-demand occupations like healthcare, STEM, trades, transport, and agriculture, as well as individuals with strong French-language skills.
• The Agri-Food Pilot is extended to May 2025 to support the sector’s labour market needs and strengthen Canada’s food supply system.
• We also implemented a variety of temporary measures to facilitate the entry of highly-skilled tech talent and French-speaking workers from all occupations and skills-sets, to help fill labour shortages across Canada.
• Although job vacancies have started to decrease in 2023, IRCC continues to prioritize processing of work permit applications for in-demand sectors like health care and agriculture.

If Pressed on the Trades and Housing

• Skilled occupations in the trades are eligible under the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program – all managed under the Express Entry system.
• IRCC introduced a trades-specific occupational category for selection in Express Entry, which will help Canada’s construction sector address shortages and attract the skilled talent needed to support the housing supply.
• In addition to Express Entry, there are several programs that can be leveraged to fill labour shortages at all skill levels in this industry.  These include the Provincial Nominee Programs, the Atlantic Immigration Program, and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot.
• On June 12, the Government announced the federal Economic Mobility Pathway stream, which construction employers, like other Canadian employers, can use to hire refugee and displaced persons with the right skills. 

If Pressed on Foreign Credential Recognition

• Internationally educated healthcare professionals are essential to addressing current labour shortages across our healthcare system. To help address these shortages, the Government of Canada is investing in projects that will give internationally educated health professionals the support needed to pursue opportunities in the areas where we need their skills most. 
• Up to $90 million will be invested in projects that will help remove barriers preventing qualified and skilled newcomers from gaining Canadian work experience in their own profession or field of study.

If Pressed on other Measures:

• In the 2022 Fall Economic Statement, to support the processing and settlement of new permanent residents to Canada as part of the 2023-25 Immigration Levels Plan, the government has committed $1.6 billion over six years and $315 million ongoing in new funding.
• To address ongoing application backlogs, speed up processing, and allow for skilled newcomers to fill critical labour gaps faster, the government has committed an additional $50 million in 2022-23 for IRCC.

Contact:
Philip Somogyvari
Director General, Permanent Economic Immigration
Tel. No.: 613-437-7454

Approved By:
Louise Baird
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, SPP
Tel. No.: 613-850-3866

Background:

• The immigration system supports the development of a strong and prosperous Canada, in which the benefits of immigration are shared across all regions. IRCC administers a range of programs for temporary residents and permanent residents seeking to establish in the Canadian labour market, and fill persistent labour needs.

Labour Shortages

Job vacancies, first quarter 2023^{Footnote 1}

• The number of job vacancies across Canada is starting to decrease at 843,200 in the first quarter of 2023, marking the third straight quarterly decline from the record high reached in the second quarter of 2022 (984,600).
• However, job vacancies in some occupational groups have not showed signs of improvement, including sales and service (280,600 vacancies representing 33.3% of total vacancies); health occupations (95,200; 11.3%); and occupations in education, law and social, community and government services (63,400; 7.5%).
• The six occupations with the largest annual increases in job vacancies and their average offered wage include:
  • Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses
  • Licensed practical nurses
  • Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates
  • Estheticians, electrologists and related occupations
  • Electricians (except industrial and power system)
  • Program leaders and instructors in recreation, sport and fitness

Permanent Resident Programs

• Canada’s suite of economic immigration programs allows for the selection of immigrants, including French-speaking and bilingual candidates, across a range of occupations and skill levels, at the national and provincial/territorial levels. 

Express Entry

• Express Entry is an online application management system launched in January 2015 for three federal high skilled immigration programs (the Canadian Experience Class, the Federal Skilled Worker Program, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program) and a portion of the Provincial Nominee Program. Express Entry allows IRCC to control application intake through an expression of interest and invitation to apply model.
• In June 2023, category-based selection launched in Express Entry, allowing better targeting of invitations to candidates who meet specified economic goals. Informed by labour market information and input from consultations with partners and stakeholders, categories for 2023 were established for French-language proficiency, and work experience in healthcare, STEM, trades, transport, and agriculture and agri-food occupations.
• Category-based invitation rounds add to general (i.e., based on rank in the pool) and program specific rounds. Category-based selection makes Express Entry more responsive to Canada’s changing economic and labour market needs, while building on the high human capital approach that has been a hallmark of Canada’s successful economic immigration system.

Facilitating Permanent Residence for Foreign National Physicians

• In April 2023, IRCC implemented measures to facilitate permanent residence for foreign national physicians providing publicly-funded medical services in Canada.
• These measures recognize the unique fee-for-service employment model used by many physicians in Canada’s health care system, and will allow more foreign national physicians to qualify for Canada’s federal economic permanent residence programs and leverage faster processing times through the Express Entry application management system.

Provincial Nominee Program

• The Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is a jointly administered immigration program which provides provinces and territories (PTs) with an opportunity to address their economic development needs, while distributing the benefits of economic immigration across Canada. PTs are responsible for the design and implementation of their streams within the Provincial Nominee Program.
• Canada welcomed 88,260 provincial nominees and their families in 2022. To date, the Department has admitted close to 83,000 PNP applicants and their families (data from Jan 2023 to August 2023). Admissions have increased by almost 600% between 2005 and 2021. In 2023, the program is expected to represent 40% of all planned economic admissions, making it the largest economic immigration program, and it is the main source of economic immigration for 9 of the 11 participating jurisdictions from 2020 to 2022.

Atlantic Immigration Program

• The Atlantic Immigration Program has brought over 19,400 principal applicants and their families to the Atlantic region (as of August 2023). Most significantly, a 2020 evaluation of the pilot found that over 90% of AIP applicants were still living in the region after 1 year; a much higher retention rate than other programs.
• The permanent Atlantic Immigration Program builds on the strengths of the pilot and retains the core objective of attracting skilled immigrants to Atlantic Canada to address demographic and economic needs, as well as to continue to increase retention in the region. Since transitioning to a permanent program, over 2,200 employers have been using the Atlantic Immigration Program to fill their labour market vacancies and have presented over 4,000 job offers to skilled foreign nationals (as of June 30, 2023).

Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot

• Launched in 2019, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot uses a community-based economic development approach with the aim to support 11 partner communities located in northern Ontario and western Canada. Communities have the ability to set their own local candidate selection criteria allowing them to target labour market needs in priority occupations and sectors.
• On September 23, 2022, changes were made to the Pilot, including expanding the geographical boundaries of several participating communities to enable more employers to access the Pilot, and allowing communities to participate for a longer period, until August 2024. As of August 31, 2023, there have been just over 4,000 admissions.
• The Ministerial Instructions for the RNIP will expire in August 2024, which will bring its initial pilot phase to a close. IRCC is currently reviewing the performance of the RNIP pilot to assess whether it is meeting its objectives of attracting and retaining newcomers to participating communities to support local economic development.

Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway

• In 2021, IRCC created a time-limited Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway, which targeted recent international graduates and essential workers in areas such a healthcare. Dedicated streams for French-speaking temporary residents were included. In 2021 and 2022, close to 63,000 new permanent residents were admitted through this pathway and close to 30,000 more have been admitted this year (as of August 31, 2023). It is anticipated that the remaining applications under this pathway will be finalized by the end of 2023. 

Temporary Worker Programs and Facilitation

• Temporary foreign workers play a vital role in critical sectors of the Canadian economy and society. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP) are demand-driven with no limits and caps on the number of work permits that can be issued.
  • TFWP: Administered by ESDC, who processes the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) with IRCC being responsible for work permit issuance.
    • The program helps employers fill labour shortages where Canadian citizen or permanent residents are not available.
    • Work permits issued under this program are employer-specific, meaning the foreign national can only work for the employer indicated on their work permit.
  • IMP: Administered solely by IRCC, and facilitates the entry of workers without an LMIA to support Canada’s broader economic, social, and cultural objectives, or other reciprocal benefits enjoyed by Canadians and permanent residents abroad.
• IRCC has developed a number of new or expanded facilitation measures to support employers and workers alike. The recent measures include:
  • Open Work Permit for H-1B Visa Holders
    • On July 16, IRCC launched the open work permit for H-1B Specialty Occupations visa holders, with additional work and study permit options for eligible family members. IRCC reached the program’s intake cap of 10,000 applications submitted within 2 days.
    • Approved applicants will receive an open work permit of up to three years in duration, which means they will be able to work for almost any employer anywhere in Canada.
  • Francophone Mobility Stream
    • IRCC announced a two-year pilot project on June 15, 2023, which exempts employers from the LMIA requirement for workers in all occupations, except primary agriculture, when hiring a foreign national who can provide proof they meet a moderate level of speaking and listening in French, equivalent to a Canadian language benchmarks (CLB) level 5.
  • Study authorization for foreign nationals with a work permit
    • A temporary public policy came into force on June 27, 2023, for a period three years, to allow foreign nationals who were issued their work permits on or before June 7th, 2023, or who had an extension application in process and remained in status on or before that date, to study as full-time or part-time students without having to obtain a study permit.
  • Open Work Permits for Family Members of Temporary Foreign Workers
    • Effective January 2023, eligibility for open work permits was expanded to spouses and dependents of workers at all skill levels who come under the International Mobility Program as well as those in higher skilled occupations coming under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
  • Extension of the Visitor to Worker and Changing Employers Public Policies:
    • These public policies allow visitors to apply for a work permit from within Canada, and workers to change employers more quickly. 

Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWP)

• Starting April 6, 2023 new measures allowed certain PGWP holders to opt in to a facilitative process to extend their authorization to work and stay in Canada. This facilitative measure is allowing Canada to retain high-skilled talent.
• In addition, as part of these measures, foreign nationals with PGWP expiration between September 20, 2021, and December 31, 2023, have the opportunity to apply for an additional PGWP valid for up to 18 months. Eligible applicants with expired work permits are able to restore their status, even if they are beyond the 90-day restoration period. Eligible foreign nationals under this facilitative measure have been provided with interim authorization to work while applying for and awaiting processing of a new work permit application to allow them to continue working immediately.
• Talented and skilled international graduates play a vital role in addressing Canada’s labour shortage, and those nearing the end of their PGWP are already well integrated into Canada’s labour market. The additional work permit will allow eligible applicants to continue contributing to the Canadian economy while gaining valuable work experience and preparing for the opportunity to apply for permanent residence.

Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) and Distance Learning

• During the pandemic, several measures were put in place to facilitate distance learning without impacting PGWP eligibility.
• Until December 31, 2023, time spent studying outside Canada will not be deducted from the length of a future PGWP as long as at least 50% of the program of study is completed in Canada.

Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET)

• On March 17, 2022, the Department implemented the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), which enables Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members to stay in Canada as temporary residents for up to three years.
• Ukrainians and their family members coming to Canada receive 3-year open work permits, allowing them to work in any province and for any employer in Canada (excluding health care and agriculture occupations unless the foreign nationals has submitted results of a medical examination once in Canada) as long as the work permit is valid.

Foreign Credential Recognition and Settlement Supports

• IRCC is working closely with Employment and Social Development Canada as the federal lead on the foreign credential recognition program, as well as with provinces and territories, to make collective advancements on foreign credential recognition in Canada.
• Immigration programs are complemented by IRCC-funded pre-arrival and in-Canada settlement services to help permanent residents integrate into the Canadian labour market. This includes services to inform newcomers of the FCR processes they may need to undertake and refer them to employment resources, such as those funded by ESDC and provinces/territories.
  • The Department can also support provincial and territorial (PT) efforts to coordinate the FCR and immigration selection process for newcomers through their Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) and the Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP).