Canada continues to rely heavily on high immigration rates as it navigates competing economic priorities.  

While inbound migration has accounted for all the growth in the labour market over the last decade, economists and labour market researchers are still wondering if the high migration rates will be enough to offset the long-term effects of an aging workforce and ongoing labour shortages.  

Policy interventions have often focused on immediate concerns, resulting in a mismatch between people’s skills and qualifications and those needed to address long-term economic challenges and uncertainty.  

To maintain economic prosperity and improve the quality of life for all, policies should be more  focused on three things: 

• supporting immigrants’ economic outcomes  

• evaluating the labour market’s needs  

• reinforcing and strengthening infrastructure capacity  

Recommendations to better align Canada’s immigration program with economic health include:  

• Update the Comprehensive Ranking System to prioritize economic immigrants who have higher predicted earnings.  

• Provide inclusive work opportunities and job-readiness programming for international students.  

• Update protocols that currently require international students to state their intention to return home upon graduation (perhaps remove the requirement entirely).  

• Support post-secondary institutions in building additional student housing (includes developing coordinated approaches to sustainable funding).  

• Consider mutual credential recognition agreements with leading source countries to streamline and accelerate the credentialling process.