There is no point in attracting highly educated people to Canada if we are not going to remove roadblocks to economic integration and allow them to put their skills to work.John Lehmann/John Lehmann/Globe and Mail
Claudia Hepburn is the chief executive of Windmill Microlending, a national charity that helps immigrants restart their careers, triple their incomes and alleviate skilled labour shortages.
The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development predicts Canada’s economic growth will be dead last among 40 advanced economies over the next half decade. This shocking statistic is based on per capita growth in growth domestic product, which is the country’s productivity divided by the total population. How can we fix that?
Immigration is often touted as a panacea for economic growth, yet that notion is increasingly being challenged.
Analysts who favour higher levels of immigration cite Canada’s low birth rate, aging population and rapidly declining ratio of working age Canadians to seniors (7.7 to 1 in 1966, 3.4 to 1 in 2022). Others who want to reduce immigration targets argue that our supply of housing, health care and infrastructure are insufficient to handle a massive increase in newcomers. Still others contend that the solution is to focus on immigrants with the highest skills and earnings potential.
I believe immigration is a critical part of the solution – but only part of it. Necessary in the face of Canada’s low birth rates, high immigration levels alone will not address our punishingly low economic growth rate.
Canada’s issue is not a shortage of skilled immigrants, but the roadblocks that stand in the way of their economic integration.
A recent Scotiabank Economics report shows that two-thirds of immigrants arrive with university degrees, whereas only one-third of Canadians hold them. Yet two-thirds of native-born, university-educated Canadians are in jobs that require a degree, whereas only one-third of immigrants with degrees are in jobs that require one. In health care, the numbers are almost as bad: More than 60 per cent of internationally trained doctors and nurses are not working in their profession.
Canada’s labour needs are not what they were a decade ago, let alone a generation or a century ago. Many of our labour shortages are for highly skilled workers: nurses, doctors, pharmacists, engineers and cybersecurity experts. Low-income and affluent Canadians alike will suffer if these skills gaps are not addressed.
There is no point in admitting highly educated people if we are not going to allow them to put their skills to work.
There are many reasons why this skills waste is happening. Most of them stem from a bygone era when labour supply outstripped demand and xenophobic policies that protected Canadian educational institutions and graduates were popular. It’s clear now that those policies are damaging to our economic growth and to our reputation as a just, inclusive and welcoming society.
The costs, in time and money, of reaccreditation programs for internationally trained professionals are excessive – often measuring in years and tens of thousands of dollars. There are also too few residency spaces for internationally trained physicians, and too many requirements for Canadian experience that are hard for newcomers to attain.
My organization sees these challenges daily through our clients’ eyes. Too many engineers, pharmacists and doctors are working in fast-food service or driving for Uber because they can’t afford the cost of accreditation. Without a Canadian credit history, they spend years underemployed.
Governments are taking steps to address these challenges, but the progress is too slow.
Bringing skilled immigrants to Canada is critical to our future prosperity. But smoothing their path to professional integration and prosperity is even more important if we want to climb out of last place in the OECD ranking of GDP per capita and preserve our standard of living over the next generation.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was higher in late-morning trading, helped by strength in energy stocks, while U.S. stock markets also moved up.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 34.91 points at 23,736.98.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 178.05 points at 41,800.13. The S&P 500 index was up 28.38 points at 5,661.47, while the Nasdaq composite was up 133.17 points at 17,725.30.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.56 cents US compared with 73.57 cents US on Monday.
The November crude oil contract was up 68 cents at US$69.70 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up three cents at US$2.40 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$7.80 at US$2,601.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.28 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
OTTAWA – Canada’s inflation rate fell to two per cent last month, finally hitting the Bank of Canada’s target after a tumultuous battle with skyrocketing price growth.
The annual inflation rate fell from 2.5 per cent in July to reach the lowest level since February 2021.
Statistics Canada’s consumer price index report on Tuesday attributed the slowdown in part to lower gasoline prices.
Clothing and footwear prices also decreased on a month-over-month basis, marking the first decline in the month of August since 1971 as retailers offered larger discounts to entice shoppers amid slowing demand.
The Bank of Canada’s preferred core measures of inflation, which strip out volatility in prices, also edged down in August.
The marked slowdown in price growth last month was steeper than the 2.1 per cent annual increase forecasters were expecting ahead of Tuesday’s release and will likely spark speculation of a larger interest rate cut next month from the Bank of Canada.
“Inflation remains unthreatening and the Bank of Canada should now focus on trying to stimulate the economy and halting the upward climb in the unemployment rate,” wrote CIBC senior economist Andrew Grantham.
Benjamin Reitzes, managing director of Canadian rates and macro strategist at BMO, said Tuesday’s figures “tilt the scales” slightly in favour of more aggressive cuts, though he noted the Bank of Canada will have one more inflation reading before its October rate announcement.
“If we get another big downside surprise, calls for a 50 basis-point cut will only grow louder,” wrote Reitzes in a client note.
The central bank began rapidly hiking interest rates in March 2022 in response to runaway inflation, which peaked at a whopping 8.1 per cent that summer.
The central bank increased its key lending rate to five per cent and held it at that level until June 2024, when it delivered its first rate cut in four years.
A combination of recovered global supply chains and high interest rates have helped cool price growth in Canada and around the world.
Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem recently signalled that the central bank is ready to increase the size of its interest rate cuts, if inflation or the economy slow by more than expected.
Its key lending rate currently stands at 4.25 per cent.
CIBC is forecasting the central bank will cut its key rate by two percentage points between now and the middle of next year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is also expected on Wednesday to deliver its first interest rate cut in four years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
FREDERICTON – New Brunswick‘s finance minister says the province recorded a surplus of $500.8 million for the fiscal year that ended in March.
Ernie Steeves says the amount — more than 10 times higher than the province’s original $40.3-million budget projection for the 2023-24 fiscal year — was largely the result of a strong economy and population growth.
The report of a big surplus comes as the province prepares for an election campaign, which will officially start on Thursday and end with a vote on Oct. 21.
Steeves says growth of the surplus was fed by revenue from the Harmonized Sales Tax and federal money, especially for health-care funding.
Progressive Conservative Premier Blaine Higgs has promised to reduce the HST by two percentage points to 13 per cent if the party is elected to govern next month.
Meanwhile, the province’s net debt, according to the audited consolidated financial statements, has dropped from $12.3 billion in 2022-23 to $11.8 billion in the most recent fiscal year.
Liberal critic René Legacy says having a stronger balance sheet does not eliminate issues in health care, housing and education.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
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