A Statistics Canada report released Tuesday shows currently 32% of Canadian workers were born outside the country. Federal analysts in a report examining “what will happen once baby boomers retire” forecast at the current rate of immigration, the percentage will leap to 44% by 2041, per Blacklock’s Reporter. By then a majority of the workforce in at least one province will be foreign-born, wrote analysts. “The proportion of foreign-born individuals in the Canadian labour force has risen steadily since 2001 with international migratory increase being the main driver of Canadian population growth,” said the report. "In 2023 the proportion of foreign-born people in the Canadian labour force was 32%.”“Changes to this proportion are strongly influenced by the number of immigrants and non-permanent residents admitted to Canada in the coming years,” said the report.“Admitting 500,000 permanent immigrants per year until 2041 would cause the foreign-born share of the labour force to rise steadily to 44% in 2041.”A total 2.3 million foreigners were let into Canada in 2023 including 1,040,985 foreign students, 766,250 migrant workers and 471,550 landed immigrants, by official estimate. “A complete halt to temporary and permanent immigration as early as 2024 would result in the proportion of foreign-born individuals declining slowly between now and 2041, reaching 29% at the end of the projection,” said the report. British Columbia and Ontario currently lead the nation with 39% of their workforce foreign-born followed by Alberta at 31%, Manitoba at 29%, Québec at 23%, Saskatchewan at 19.5%, Prince Edward Island at 17%, Nova Scotia at 14% New Brunswick att 11% and Newfoundland and Labrador at 6%. Analysts predicted by 2041 foreign-born workers will comprise a majority of British Columbia’s workforce, 50.1%, and more than 40% in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.The figures follow cabinet’s April 29 reversal of a 2022 policy that allowed a million foreign students to work full-time hours in Canada. Immigration Minister Marc Miller reinstated a cap, currently 24 hours per week.“I don’t think students are taking jobs away from other people given the labour shortages that are happening in Canada,” Miller told reporters December 7. “My focus primarily is to make sure the public policy we have in place is one that reflects the ability of the student to actually do what they’re supposed to be doing, which is study.”Statistics Canada in a 2022 report said under the cap about half of foreign students were in the Canadian workforce.“Between 2000 and 2019 the number of international students with T4 earnings increased from 22,000 to 354,000, a result of both a higher number of international students and their rising labour force participation rate from 18% to 50%,” wrote analysts.Lifting the cap entirely increased participation rates to 80 percent, according to the Department of Immigration. “It was popular,” said Miller.
A Statistics Canada report released Tuesday shows currently 32% of Canadian workers were born outside the country. Federal analysts in a report examining “what will happen once baby boomers retire” forecast at the current rate of immigration, the percentage will leap to 44% by 2041, per Blacklock’s Reporter. By then a majority of the workforce in at least one province will be foreign-born, wrote analysts. “The proportion of foreign-born individuals in the Canadian labour force has risen steadily since 2001 with international migratory increase being the main driver of Canadian population growth,” said the report. "In 2023 the proportion of foreign-born people in the Canadian labour force was 32%.”“Changes to this proportion are strongly influenced by the number of immigrants and non-permanent residents admitted to Canada in the coming years,” said the report.“Admitting 500,000 permanent immigrants per year until 2041 would cause the foreign-born share of the labour force to rise steadily to 44% in 2041.”A total 2.3 million foreigners were let into Canada in 2023 including 1,040,985 foreign students, 766,250 migrant workers and 471,550 landed immigrants, by official estimate. “A complete halt to temporary and permanent immigration as early as 2024 would result in the proportion of foreign-born individuals declining slowly between now and 2041, reaching 29% at the end of the projection,” said the report. British Columbia and Ontario currently lead the nation with 39% of their workforce foreign-born followed by Alberta at 31%, Manitoba at 29%, Québec at 23%, Saskatchewan at 19.5%, Prince Edward Island at 17%, Nova Scotia at 14% New Brunswick att 11% and Newfoundland and Labrador at 6%. Analysts predicted by 2041 foreign-born workers will comprise a majority of British Columbia’s workforce, 50.1%, and more than 40% in Alberta, Manitoba and Ontario.The figures follow cabinet’s April 29 reversal of a 2022 policy that allowed a million foreign students to work full-time hours in Canada. Immigration Minister Marc Miller reinstated a cap, currently 24 hours per week.“I don’t think students are taking jobs away from other people given the labour shortages that are happening in Canada,” Miller told reporters December 7. “My focus primarily is to make sure the public policy we have in place is one that reflects the ability of the student to actually do what they’re supposed to be doing, which is study.”Statistics Canada in a 2022 report said under the cap about half of foreign students were in the Canadian workforce.“Between 2000 and 2019 the number of international students with T4 earnings increased from 22,000 to 354,000, a result of both a higher number of international students and their rising labour force participation rate from 18% to 50%,” wrote analysts.Lifting the cap entirely increased participation rates to 80 percent, according to the Department of Immigration. “It was popular,” said Miller.
