By Jeff Wiener
I’ll answer this question from a Canadian perspective since I live in Canada.
Notwithstanding the fact that the Canadian birth rate is fairly low, and without a steady stream of immigrants the overall population will decline, there just aren’t enough skilled immigrants to do the jobs.
Canada Needs the Brains to Fill the Roles:
Let me explain: I’m the President and founder of a Canadian telecom business that I started in 1991. We have approximately 50 staff, and although I haven’t done a formal count of the number of immigrants, I would hazard a guess that close to 40% of staff at our company were not born in Canada. We have employees from Pakistan, India, Poland, Iran, Russia, Nigeria, Germany, the U.K., Morocco, the USA and others. Most new job postings attract a very high percentage of foreign born applicants, and frankly, usually better qualified than the Canadian born applicants. We don’t differentiate between a foreign born vs Canadian employee, and as long as the applicant is legally entitled to work in Canada, we choose the candidate than best fits the job. Some of the harder to fill roles, particularly in IT attract an almost 100% foreign born applicant pool, and from other executives I speak with, particularly in the IT industry, in particular programming positions, Canada isn’t producing enough grads to fill the roles. The IT industry in Canada is booming, and we need the brains to fill the roles.
Canada, and in particular, Toronto, is an extremely multi-cultural vibrant city and is an example to the world that yes, it is possible to live in peace and harmony and respect all people as human beings. Our company is the same. We are all citizens of the world.
If you’ve got brains and a good education, and are willing to work hard and contribute to Canadian society, then welcome. If you’re bringing hate or are isolationist by nature, then please stay away because you’re not welcome, and you’ll notice that very quickly.
Source: Quora