Tag Archives: labour market

Quality Over Quantity: How Canada’s Immigration System Can Catch Up


Canada’s immigration point system is designed to select skilled immigrants who have the potential to contribute to the country’s economic growth and meet its evolving skills needs. However, Canada faces challenges in fully leveraging increased immigration levels to enhance the well-being of Canadians due to weaknesses in capital investment and a quantity/quality trade-off in selecting economic immigrants. Furthermore, recent reforms may work at cross purposes to this goal. They include category-based selection that targets low-paying occupations, which can discourage capital investment, and a recent surge in the number of temporary residents in low-wage jobs that also may have adverse effects on the quality of potential candidates for permanent residency.
 

This study compares skilled immigration selection policy in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, with the objective of identifying key areas for improvement in Canadian policy. The skilled immigration point systems in Canada and Australia share some similarities, with both prioritizing a two-step immigration process, placing an emphasis on English proficiency and workforce age, and requiring pre-migration credential and English proficiency assessments. However, the two countries differ mainly in their strictness of criteria and their emphasis on occupational and language skills. Furthermore, Australia has shown more agility and creativity in its skilled migration reforms. Reforms in the UK and New Zealand have also put them ahead in the competition for talent.
 

Based on this international comparison, the author makes recommendations for improvement. They include: 1) Setting a Minimum Points Threshold for Eligibility. As it is, Canada imposes no minimum points threshold for eligibility in its Express Entry points-based system. 2) Considering a Pre-admission Earnings Factor. Studies show the importance of pre-immigration earnings in predicting immigrants’ outcomes after arrival. The UK, New Zealand and Australia include this factor. 3) Boosting Standards under the Language Requirement. Official language skills are as important in predicting the initial earnings of principal applicants admitted under Canada’s Express Entry system as pre-immigration Canadian work experience, and even more important than educational level and age at the time of immigration. 4) Raising Business Immigration Numbers. Canada faces the challenge of weak business investment but is failing to select business immigrants with entrepreneurial skills, putting it at a disadvantage compared to competitors like Australia and the UK.

The author thanks Tingting Zhang, Charles DeLand, Rosalie Wyonch, Charles Beach, Jodi Kasten, Mikal Skuterud and anonymous reviewers for comments on an earlier draft. The author retains responsibility for any errors and the views expressed.

Read the full report here.

For the Silo, Parisa Mahboubi/C.D. Howe Institute.

Parisa Mahboubi

Parisa Mahboubi

Parisa Mahboubi is a Senior Policy Analyst and leads the C.D. Howe Institute’s human capital policy program. Her research interest focuses on social policy with a concentration on demographic, skills, education, and labour market concerns. In addition to authoring research studies, she regularly writes a column for the Globe and Mail’s business section.

Silo Reader Says All Products And Services Should Compete In A “Free Market”

Letters to the Silo

The [ image that is shown with Toby Barrett’s recent letter ] is certainly worth a thousand words. Government is consuming too much.

But why do we continue to feed government? Why would we participate in any political or economic system that is not serving our best interests?

Government is basically unproductive and can only give what it takes. Bigger government takes more and gives less.

The fruits of our labour are controlled, confiscated, and redistributed through taxation, inflation, interest, and government spending. There is also a systemic shortage of official currency, which leads to a shortage of paid employment, and the jobs that are available might be completely unproductive. We are forced to compete for currency that is systemically scarce, even though there are plenty of worthwhile activities that can be done and there are plenty of people who are willing and able to do productive work.

There seems to be an increasing level of dissatisfaction with government and the political process, but there certainly isn’t a consensus in defining the problem or offering a solution that will sufficiently address all of our concerns or satisfy everyone. This poses a challenge, but it also presents us with an opportunity to carefully examine the form and function of government, and explore a full range of possible alternatives.

If we have freedom of choice and a free market then we should be able to individually select the goods and services that we wish to purchase from a variety of producers and providers, who should be able to compete for customers based on the quality and price of their products and services. All products and services, including government programs and services, should be able to compete in a free market.

Trade and exchange should be voluntary and mutually beneficial. We should not be forced to pay for anything that we don’t want or don’t use, and we should not have to do business with anyone who consistently offers poor quality goods and services or who does not pay their legitimate debts.

If we have economic freedom then we should be able to negotiate agreeable prices, accept or refuse any form of payment, control the allocation of our credit, and use any method or medium of exchange. We should not be compelled to use a systemically scarce currency that is created as interest-bearing debt.

If the purpose of an economic system is to facilitate the production and exchange of goods and services then it should be possible to create numerous ways to serve this purpose, with various concurrent systems operating in any location. This would give us more control over our time, labour, skills, and resources.

If government is a provider of services then it should compete for customers based on the quality and price of any services that it is actually willing and able to provide, including education, health care, and defence. If government services were the best ones available then we would presumably choose to use them. Our wealth should not be confiscated and redistributed to pay for anything that we don’t want or don’t use.

We can already seek membership in various communities, organizations or other groups, based on our own political, religious, social, recreational, or business interests. If we have freedom of association and political freedom then we should even be able to choose a apolitical system and type of government, without having to move to a different place, and without imposing or choice on anyone else. This would give us the option to hire people to manage our affairs and make decisions on our behalf, but we would not be represented or lead without imposing our consent.

Crony Capitalism Warren Buffett

Any imposed political system or government is a method of control. Political freedom does not exist if an individual is forced to accept the decisions of any other individual or group, even if it calls itself a majority.

Imposed political systems and territorial governments with their restrictive geopolitical boundaries can be replaced with a variety of voluntary communities, mutual benefit associations, and autonomous protective groups, with overlapping membership in any location. Multiple communities can exist in any geographic region, without any imposed territorial monopolies for the provision of services.

Individual participation in any economic or political system should be entirely voluntary, based on choice and consent, rather than coercion and compulsion. No person is an island, but everyone should essentially be able to individually decide how he or she would like to organize and manage his or her economic and political activities.

Government is a human invention that has changed over time and will continue to change, but the direction of this change will be determined by the way we think and the choices we make.

Diverse methods and arrangements can co-exist simultaneously in any location to facilitate the production, provision, distribution, and exchange of goods and services, for the mutual benefit of all voluntary participants, at their own risk and expense. James Clayton

Note- boldfacing was not indicated in the original submitted letter to the Silo.

Wagon Wheel Corn Maze