Canada Labour Shortage: Why Canada Need Immigrant Workers
Canada is a stable economy with a robust workforce whose immense contributions lead to healthy and steady growth of the GDP.
One of the few countries in the world with friendly immigration policies and opportunities for immigrants seeking a better life.
Getting a new job can be a long process for new immigrants in Canada due to the rigorous application process which includes but not limited to obtaining a positive LMIA (Labor market impact assessment).
The LMIA is required by the Canadian government to ensure that no Canadian citizen or permanent resident will be displaced by employing a foreigner.
According to a report by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (a government agency that keeps labor marker and employment statistics), Canada has reached a record high labor shortage.
In the most recent quarter, over 400,000 thousand jobs were unfilled in the private sector, and the number is on the increase when compared to vacancies during the same period in the previous year.
Of the total number of labor shortages, 0ver 300,000 of unfilled job vacancies remained open for at least three months.
Since the second quarter of 2020, the overall job vacancies are on the increase. Small businesses are affected the most by finding candidates to fill vacant positions. Small businesses with less than ten employees are finding it difficult to get vacant positions filled. This is an indication that small business is affected mostly with labor shortage than large corporations/businesses.
The personal service industries also suffer a larger percentage of the labor shortage. Between July and October 2019, labor shortage for occupations such as funeral services, dry cleaners, and hairdressers stood at 4.9%.
A closely followed industry with a labor shortage after the private service industry is the construction industry with a vacancy rate of 4.7%.
The hospitality industry is facing a labor shortage of 4.0%, while 3.7% is the overall vacancy rate for the agricultural sector.
Businesses in wholesale and the transportation sector have consistently maintained low rates of job vacancies with 2.8% and 2.6% respectively.
The information sector is the least affected with a 2.4% vacancy rate after experiencing a job boost during the third quarter of the year.
The province of Quebec among Canadian provinces that have the highest vacancy rate of 3.9%, followed by Ontario 3.1% vacancy rate and British Columbia 3.5%.
A decrease in job openings is prevalent in the following provinces of Manitoba 2.4%, Nova Scotia 2.2%, Alberta 2.3%.
The Canadian Prairies and Newfoundland and Labrador experienced a minor decline in a labor shortage, however, their vacancy rates are still below the national average.
It is interesting to note that, vacancy rates have an effect on the entire Canadian workforce.
Companies/businesses with al least one recorded vacancy may increase wages by as much as 2.3% throughout the country. While companies/businesses with zero vacancy rates are expected an increase of 1.6%. However, in the third quarter of 2018, the impact somehow reduced.
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business analysis of factors responsible for labor shortage across various industries includes: business size, future outlook, and predicted growth rates. Jobs unique to a particular industry or requires a special skill is also another factor for the labor shortage
