O Canada: Want to Close the Skills Gap? Look to the North. As US companies wrestle with dire talent shortages in a closed country, Canada has embraced immigrant talent — with impressive results.
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ith the country in the midst of an unprecedented streak of full employment, there are more employers looking for talent than there are candidates seeking jobs in the United States. It's a good problem to have if you're a politician, but if you're a recruiter tasked with filling open positions for American companies, the struggle is real.
detailed in a January 2019 Bloomberg article, the county's 2018 population growth rate of 1.4 percent was its highest in 30 years, thanks in part to an influx of 425,000 immigrants.
The Canadian government predicts that by 2031, close to half of Canadians over the age of 15 will be immigrants or the children of immigrants, a direct result of the governSue Carey Even if the economy cools down in the ment's conscious effort to expand its coming months, recruiters will be dealpool of skilled talent. According to the ing with talent shortages in critical sectors like Bloomberg piece, bringing in skilled workers from technology and medicine for years to come. There abroad has resulted in thousands of new jobs besimply aren't enough candidates in the pipeline to ing created in the country and significant benefits meet projected demand. That means recruiters for companies operating in Canada. and policymakers alike will have to get creative. Programs to Match Talent With If you're in need of inspiration, look north to CanOpportunities ada. Immigration can be difficult Growing the Population to navigate, but it is terrain to Meet Growing Talent Needs policymakers must tackle if they want their counAs baby boomers retire in great numbers, they tries to stay at the are creating what industry analysts call the "sil- forefront of innovaver tsunami," a wave of job openings employers tion and growth. In are struggling to fill in a full-employment job mar- Canada, the govket. The labor shortage can be especially acute in ernment created sectors like manufacturing, which may not be as streamlined and attractive to younger employees as they were to expedited mitheir parents and grandparents. gration paths for immigrants But even if innovative programs to get younger with sought-afworkers interested in more traditional jobs suc- ter skills, such ceed, declining birth rates in the US and other de- as the Canaveloped countries still pose a challenge to finding dian Federal enough talent. Skilled Worker Program. Canadian employers face the same sort of obstacles as their American counterparts, and in To attract enresponse, Canadian policymakers have looked trepreneurs, outside their borders to grow the population. As Canada also
