Future of work
A curated resource of recent research on trends shaping Canada's labour market.
In Canada, more than 400,000 new jobs have been added to the labour force since the onset of the pandemic, yet more than one million jobs remain vacant. As labour shortages tighten across Canada, more needs to be done to encourage the participation of marginalized populations in the workforce, including women, older Canadians and newcomers to Canada.
This report emphasizes that recently arrived Canadians should be a focus for labour market integration as many arrive in their prime working years and are highly educated. The reality, however, is that newcomers are less likely to occupy positions commensurate with their training and skills. Canadian census data from 2016 suggests that fewer than 40% of immigrants are in a position that requires their university credentials versus 60% of the Canadian born population.
Several factors contribute to this reality — including credential recognition challenges, language and cultural barriers — which result in an underutilization of skills and education. Nevertheless, this continued education–occupation mismatch of recent immigrants is concerning. Narrowing this gap could significantly benefit the Canadian economy. But to do so, more collaboration across governments, private sector, post-secondary institutions and social impact sectors is needed.