Fast Facts

As Canada’s workforce gets older and emerging industries require more specialized skill sets, our economic prosperity will be directly linked to our ability to attract and retain skilled immigrants.

Here are some facts to consider:

• Up to 70% of new jobs will require post-secondary education in the new economy.
• Over 50% of recent immigrants have a university degree – twice the proportion of the Canadian born population at 22%.
• Failure to recognize immigrants’ learning and credentials costs the Canadian economy $3.4 billion to $5 billion in lost earnings every year.
• If immigrants had the same likelihood of employment at the same average income as people born in Canada, personal income would be approximately $13 billion higher and there would be almost 400,000 extra workers.
• 7 out of every 10 recent immigrants settle in GTA, Montreal and Vancouver.
• Canada’s foreign born population will rise to one third of the labour market by 2031.

Sources: Statistics Canada; RBC Economics; Ontario in the Creative Age; Conference Board of Canada.