Ontario Leads the Way: Banning Canadian Experience Requirements to Boost Immigrant Employment
A move by the Ontario government to ban Canadian work experience requirements in job postings could make it easier for newcomers to join the Canadian labour market and help reduce the rate of underemployment among immigrants, observers say.
David Piccini, Ontario’s labour minister, announced on Nov. 9 the government’s plans to introduce new legislation that would prohibit the use of Canadian work experience as a requirement in job postings or application forms.
It comes at a time when recent data by Statistics Canada, and analyzed by the London & Middlesex Local Immigration Partnership’s Fact-Sharing Work Group, shows immigrants who studied abroad are less likely to be employed compared to those who completed their education in Canada.
“For far too long, too many people arriving in Canada have been funnelled toward dead-end jobs they’re overqualified for. We need to ensure these people can land well-paying and rewarding careers that help tackle the labour shortage,” Piccini said.
“When newcomers to Ontario get a meaningful chance to contribute, everyone wins.”
If passed into law, the legislation would make Ontario the first province in Canada to ban such requirements, which can become barriers to meaningful employment to recently-arrived newcomers, said Michael Ford, Ontario’s Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism.
“Ontario is a global leader in welcoming newcomers from a wide array of backgrounds, cultures and faiths around the world,” he said.
“By banning Canadian work experience requirements in job postings, Ontario . . . is leading the country in breaking down barriers to make it easier for internationally-trained immigrants to find meaningful work and contribute to building Ontario.
“This change will help support families as they start their journey in their new homes, create more vibrant communities and help ensure businesses have the talent they need,” he added.
The move was touted as a step in the right direction by agencies and organizations working to help immigrants find jobs in the country.
"We know that newcomers are an ever-increasing percentage of our population growth and our labour market potential. . . (D)irectly articulating that through the legislation is very much welcomed,” said Jennifer Hollis, executive director of Will Employment Solutions.
Data shows that it can take anywhere between five to 10 years for some immigrant to find jobs in their fields of training, said Hollis, adding many newcomers spend this time working survival jobs or entry-level occupations before their education and skills are recognized.
“Most jobs out there are obtained through word of mouth," she said. "So we often see that, as newcomers get more connections in their field, whether it be through mock interviewing and mentorship, or paid initial placement opportunities, or employment, or even related career paths or alternative careers, that then acts as a bridge and accelerator to be able to be practicing directly in their field."
According to figures studied by LMLIP’s Fact-Sharing Work Group, of the more than 27,000 immigrants aged 25 to 64 who arrived in London between 2001 and 2021, 67 per cent of them obtained their post-secondary certificate, diploma or degree outside of Canada.
These immigrants were less likely to be employed compared to those newcomers who studied in Canada and most likely had Canadian work experience.
In Ontario, 78 per cent of Canada-educated immigrants were employed over that timeframe. That compares to 74.4 for those who studied abroad.
The results were the same when looking at specific markets such as London (76.6 per cent vs. 70.1 per cent), Hamilton (79.3 vs. 75), Kitchener-Waterloo (81 vs. 75.1) and even Toronto (78.3 vs. 74.6).
The gap in employment becomes more pronounced when looking at recently-arrived immigrants, the data shows.
While 76.6 per cent of immigrants in London who studied in Canada were employed between 2016 and 2021, only 69.1 per cent of those who studied abroad had work over the same period, a difference of about 8 percentage points. That gap was six percentage points for those who arrived between 2001 and 2010 and five percentage points for those who came to London between 2011 and 2016.