Immigration is central to countering the impending labour market crunch in Canada, says a report released on Friday by the Conference Board of Canada.
The report, Can’t Go It Alone, said that by 2030 all 9.2 million of Canada’s baby boomers will have reached retirement age – placing Canada under economic and fiscal pressure.
“Can’t Go it Alone quantifies how immigration is the most powerful fuel to replenish our workforce numbers,“ said Pedro Antunes, chief economist at the Conference Board of Canada, in a news release.
“These solutions, including better labour market integration for underrepresented groups, identify how to maintain a growing labour force to stimulate economic activity, as well as the tax revenues required to fund vital social expenditures such as rising health care costs.”
The report’s highlights include:
- Between 2018 and 2040, 13.4 million workers will exit the labour force, far greater than the 11.8 million people who will leave Canadian schools to replace them.
- Due to its aging population and low fertility rate, Canada needs new sources of talent to enter the labour force to maintain its high living standards.
- Improved participation rates could add 2.2 million workers to the labour force by 2040, including more women, Indigenous people, and persons with disabilities, as well as $101 billion to the economy.
- Immigration will remain a formative solution, accounting for all of Canada’s net labour force growth – 3.7 million workers – and one-third of the economic growth rate between 2018 and 2040.
“Immigration really does matter to Canada and the report Can’t Go It Alone highlights that our economy depends on immigration and that we continue to make a concerted effort to attract the best talent from around the world to fill labour shortages today and for the future,” said Ahmed Hussen, federal minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
– Mario Toneguzzi
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