Why should employers care about newcomers to Canada? Put simply, it's about numbers, and immigrants are a big part of the solution.

Canada enjoys an desirable standard of living. However, as pointed out by the Conference Board of Canada, "[without] immigration, Canada's population growth would slowly erode,” specifically, around the year 2034 if our natural birth and death rates are maintained without immigration.

As a result, Canada needs immigration to continue growing our economy in the face of these trends. The Conference Board of Canada focuses the issue, not on population growth for its own sake, but on expanding our labour force to “keep our economy moving and pay the taxes we rely upon to fund important social priorities, such as education and health care.” Consider that:

• Immigration has accounted for 90 per cent of labour-force growth in recent years and will account for all of it as more baby boomers exit the workforce; and
• Canada will need to expand immigration (from 290,000 or so in 2018) to 400,000 annually around 2034 to “help sustain healthy labour force and economic growth”

Population and labour-force projections are interesting but perhaps are not compelling for local employers until you consider that Peel is already an immigrant-majority community. According to Peel Data Centre, almost 52% of the region's total population was born outside of Canada. When you consider that 57.5% of all newcomers are comprised of economic-class immigrants selected for their intention and ability to work and settle in Canada, it becomes clear that Peel employers have a tremendous opportunity to leverage:

• An internationally-educated and highly skilled workforce
• Language and international business capital that enable employers to do business both internationally and domestically in a diversifying local economy

Make sure that newcomers are included in your recruitment process

• Find and work with local employment agencies near you to help identify qualified newcomers for your employment opportunities, job placements or internships
• Work with the Talent Hub, a one-stop shop for Peel employers to promote your job postings to multiple employment service providers, as well as identify qualified local candidates
• Understand international educational credentials by welcoming Canadian equivalency assessments as part of a newcomer's employment application
• Ask about training or wage subsidies

Ensure that staff can recognize and manage cultural differences in the workplace

• Regional Diversity Roundtable - is a local organization dedicated to enhancing employer diversity and equity as a center of excellence and can help increase your organization's ability to be inclusive
• TRIEC Learning - is an employer destination for building workplaces inclusive of skilled immigrants with a library of online resources organizations can embed in training and development programming
• The Mentoring Partnership - provides a volunteerism strategy for building cross-cultural competencies and is proven to accelerate a newcomer's ability to connect with employment in their career