Canadian employers demand hike in immigration level due to labour shortages

According to a survey, half of Canada's largest companies prefer to at least maintain the nation's high immigration levels and even boost the country's the already existing immigration levels.

The business advocacy group pointed to the severe dearth of skilled individuals to fill jobs in Canada in a report it published in June titled Canada's Immigration Advantage, according to a survey of major employers. The business lobby group observed in that research that "eighty percent of polled businesses are having problems hiring skilled labour." Every province and territory experiences shortages, although Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia experience the most severe ones.

Employers are having trouble filling technical positions. The majority of skill shortages occur in industries like computer science, engineering, and information technology. Additionally, it is difficult for employers to find trained tradespeople like plumbers, electricians, and construction labours.

The Business Council lists the following items as the actions it believes the federal government should take to address firms' labour needs:

• Enhancing Canada's collective capacity and ability to recognise foreign credentials
• Removing obstacles to labour mobility, such as interprovincial differences in professional requirements for a given job
• Raising the participation rate of older people and other underrepresented groups in the labour force are some of the other priorities.
• Bettering and simplifying the immigration process to hire as much skilled and qualified workers.


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Employers facing problems in hiring due to slow processing, high cost and strict rules 

Earlier this year, a questionnaire was issued to the business council's 170-member membership, which is made up of top executives and business owners. Roughly half, or 80 organizations, answered to the poll. In more than 20 industries, these 80 businesses employed nearly 1.65 million Canadians and generated about $1.2 trillion in revenue in 2020.

The Business Council's poll revealed employer dissatisfaction with an immigration system characterized by lengthy processing times, intricate regulations, and expensive expenses. Only 25% of people who took the study said the immigration system currently works well for them.

According to Hyder, "the majority of companies who responded to the study support increasing Canada's yearly admission targets, particularly for immigrants from the economic class." Employers also point out that increased domestic labour investment as well as increased spending in childcare, housing, and public transit should go hand in hand with increasing levels of immigration.

The majority of firms said they actively seek employees through the immigration system, while the remaining employers claimed they employ immigrants already living here. According to the research, "Employers look to the immigration system to help meet a range of business goals," including fostering company growth and broadening the diversity of their workforces. Most importantly, immigration enables them to fill roles that may otherwise go unfilled. Four out of every five employers who directly utilise the immigration system state that they do it to address labour shortages.

Immigration programs that can hire most employees 

Through the International Mobility Program (IMP) and the Temporary International Worker Program (TFWP), Canadian firms can find and hire foreign workers (IMP).

Under typical processing conditions, the Global Talent Stream (GTS), a component of the TFWP, can result in the approval of Canadian work permits and the processing of visa applications in under two weeks. Employers can use the Express Entry system, which accepts online immigration applications, to hire foreign nationals to fill open positions.

It drives the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW), Federal Skilled Trades (FST), and Canada Experience Class (CEC) programs, all of which take applicants from the Express Entry applicant pool. Invitations to Apply (ITAs) are then delivered to those who have the necessary Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) scores in regular drawings.