Toward Improving Canada's Skilled Immigration Policy: An Evaluation Approach

Abstract

Canada’s approach to immigration faces major challenges, and requires reform if Canada is to meet the international competition for skilled immigrants, according to a new policy study. In the Policy Study, the authors assess the strengths and weaknesses of the current point system used to screen new arrivals, identify the policy levers that affect the attributes and success rates of new arrivals, and break new ground by providing a tool to measure those impacts.The past two and a half decades have seen a marked worsening in the adjustment process of new immigrants, as their earnings levels have dropped significantly relative to Canadian-born workers, say the book’s authors. The earnings gap between Canadian- and foreign-born workers has widened, and the catch-up interval between the earnings of immigrants and Canadian-born workers has lengthened. These results have come at the cost of fewer human resources and skills available to the Canadian economy, a potential threat to social cohesion, and the likely loss of skilled immigrants who choose to return home or move on to another country.