Let the job market choose our immigrants

We found this article published on the Globe and Mail as part of their series The Immigrant Answer addressing the future of immigration in Canada. Read the original story here. We take a quick look at how this will affect the relocation industry.
As we discussed in You can’t be young forever Canada is currently facing a labour shortage due to the increased number of retirements as a result of the ageing baby boomer population. We briefly mentioned how this shortage is affecting particular sectors and industries more than others. If Canada is not able to efficiently fill this gap it will lead to a delay in the Nation’s economic advancement. The immigration policy in the past has been education focused. It has been Canada’s belief that candidates with the highest educational achievements and language skills will be the most successful and beneficial to the Canadian economy. The question now is whether this strategy will be effective when facing the current problem.
The title says it all; let the job market choose our immigrants. Instead of simply seeking out educated individuals we need to focus our search for the specific sectors and industries that are being hit the hardest. Instead of looking all willy-nilly we need to recruit strategically. On the whole the relocation industry can be a big player to ensure recruitment goes smoothly. Successful relocation equals successful immigration equals booming Canadian economy. Wondering why it sounds like such a simple equation? Because it is a simple equation! Ensuring the best candidates are sought out and are supported through their relocation will guarantee that we come out of this labour shortage better than how we went in.
“This number would no longer be the result of arbitrary decisions driven by politicians, bureaucrats and special interest groups but would be determined by labour market conditions and thus better serve the needs of the economy and all Canadians.”