Global competitiveness will suffer if immigrants aren’t better integrated

Canada’s global competitiveness will suffer unless companies deal with biases that are keeping professional immigrants underemployed, experts say. “Many people still don’t get it. They still think that accepting immigrants to Canada is a social agenda, not recognizing that it is absolutely essential ... for our global competitiveness,” said Wendy Cukier, founder and director of the Diversity Institute at Ryerson University. “It’s a competitive advantage to have people in your organization who look like the people you’re going to serve, if you want to expand internationally.” There are government programs that seek to integrate professional immigrants into the Canadian workforce, but those attempts haven’t always been successful. A 2008 study by the Conference Board of Canada pointed to statistics showing that as many as 40% of skilled immigrants who come to Canada move away to pursue opportunities elsewhere within the first 10 years. The Canadian Press