(Newswire.net — August 30, 2018) –Recently, President Donald Trump has articulated his support for skills-based immigration policies, where countries – such as Canada – help expedite and streamline the immigration process for skilled and educated workers. Essentially, this system gives immigration priority to those applicants who are believed to have the greatest potential to contribute to the country’s economy.
There is no shortage of people desiring to live in Canada. Experienced Toronto immigration lawyer, Ronen Kurzfeld, attributes Canada’s particularly high rate of immigration of over 250,000 immigrants annually to the country’s tolerance, respect, opportunities, cultural diversification and peace of mind for its residents. Ironically, however, Canada’s immigration policy has actually contributed towards a problematic situation which is detrimental to the economy. With the heavy support for immigration of skilled workers, an unintended side effect of the system is that there is a shortage of unskilled workers. With not enough workers to fill positions as drivers, maintenance and construction workers and production line workers, there is a dire shortage across the country.
Nearly one out of every 25 jobs in British Columbia is vacant, and overall there were near 400,000 vacant jobs in Canada at the end of 2017. While the traditional remedy for an unskilled labor shortage would be to bring in more able-bodied workers via immigration, Canada’s point system which prioritizes entry for skilled workers rather than unskilled workers, does not permit this option, leaving thousands of jobs unmanned.
The current labor shortage is particularly problematic for small businesses that rely on each and every worker in order to function. Other than immigration, potential solutions presented to mitigate the shortage of workers include encouraging worker mobility between industries, raising wages, and providing incentives for workers to relocate to areas with the highest job vacancy rates.
Another partial solution may come not within Canada, but rather from south of the border. When the Trump administration announced it would end temporary protected status for many asylum seekers, this triggered the flight of many refugees to Canada. A large number of these asylum seekers entered and continue to enter Canada illegally through unofficial border crossings. By law, once these illegal asylum seekers enter the country they are unable to be sent back. On the contrary, they are guaranteed health services, housing and other protections and aid.
It is these very people who bypassed the immigration process who may represent the saving grace for Canada’s labor crisis.