Canadian Bi-weekly Immigration Newsletter

September 15, 2020- IRCC

Helen Michaelides
Canadian Immigration Consultant

Temporary Foreign Workers More Likely to Get Jobs,

Earn More Money Than Other Immigrants
Immigrants who land a job and work in Canada before making a permanent move earn more money and
are more likely to remain employed than those who simply move first and look for work later, two new
studies reveal.

In Two-step Immigration Selection: Skilled Work Experience vs. Pre-arranged Jobs, the fifth of Ottawa’s
Economic Insight Series of studies, the authors note having a pre-arranged job and previous Canadian
work experience at a good-paying job before coming to Canada is a surer bet for immigrants.

“With otherwise similar characteristics, immigrants with a pre-arranged job earned 15 per cent more than
those without a pre-arranged job in the first two years after immigration, while immigrants with high pre-
landing Canadian earnings earned almost twice as those without pre-landing Canadian earnings,” wrote
the study’s authors.

During the past two decades, there has been a growing trend in Canada to select economic immigrants
from among temporary foreign workers. That’s resulted in the share of immigrants coming to Canada
with previous Canadian earnings jumping from 12 to 59 per cent in the 18 years ending in 2018.

Those immigrants who had previous experience as skilled workers before getting their permanent
residency were also shown in this study to tend to have higher initial earnings than immigrants admitted
directly from abroad.
But this study also shows this was only true for immigrants who had previously managed to snag higher-
paying Canadian jobs, earning more than $50,000 in 2017 dollars.

Those with medium and low-paying Canadian jobs did not do any better than immigrants who had never
worked in Canada before applying for permanent residency.

Researchers for that study looked at how economic immigrants selected under Canada’s Express Entry
system in 2015 and 2016 fared. Both Canadian work experience and pre-arranged employment are key
criteria in the selection of candidates under that program.

Their results are in line with those of another study in the Economic Insight Series, Two-step Immigration
Selection: Why Did Immigrant Labour Market Outcomes Vary by Admission Programs?

It looked at how economic immigrants to Canada fared under three programs: the Federal Skilled Worker
Program (FSWP), the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

In the seven years from 2009 to 2016, about two-thirds of immigrants selected from the PNP and almost
all immigrants selected from the CEC were former temporary foreign workers and so had worked in
Canada before getting their permanent residency. But only about 25 per cent of those who came to
Canada as permanent residents through the FSWP were former temporary foreign workers.

That made a big difference in the newcomers’ ability to land a job and hang onto it once they arrived in
Canada.

According to that study, 93 per cent of immigrants selected from the PNP and 95 per cent of immigrants
selected from the CEC found employment in their first full year in Canada after obtaining permanent
residency compared to only 80 per cent of those who came to Canada under the FSWP.

The researchers say that previous Canadian work experience is responsible for up to 40 per cent of the 13-
percentage-point difference between immigrants selected from the PNP compared to the FSWP and about
two-thirds of the 15-percentage-point difference observed between immigrants selected from the CEC
compared to the FSWP.

Previous Canadian work experience also accounts for at least 94 per cent of the earnings differences
observed between those who arrived under the PNP and CEC programs compared to immigrants selected
from the FSWP during the first year after immigration.

Jointly administered by Ottawa and the provinces, the PNP programs were created in 1998 to make the
immigration system more responsive to regional and sectorial skill shortages. The CEC was created in
2008. Until then, the primary stream for economic immigration to Canada was the FSWP.

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PNPs are one of the best ways to obtain PR in Canada
Express Entry and Canada’s Provincial Nominee Program are set to play increasingly high-profile roles in
Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan between now and 2022.

Combined admissions for Express Entry-managed programs and Canada’s PNP are projected to account
for close to half of Canada’s newcomer intake.

Despite Canada’s temporary travel restrictions spurred by coronavirus, most PNPs are still holding
invitation rounds.

Individuals who are seriously considering immigrating to Canada will benefit from examining all possible
program and pathway options. Choices abound and exist to suit each individual’s diverse circumstances
and unique background.

Which province in Canada is easiest to immigrate to?

A common misconception on Canadian immigration is that some provinces are “easier” than others to
immigrate to.

Any province can be the easiest to immigrate to if you meet all of the criteria of the Provincial Nominee
Program (PNP) that you are applying for. It might be obvious if you already have a job offer in a
particular province, but not so much for people who have not yet set foot in Canada.

Finding a PNP that is right for you is a little like finding the right key for a lock. The “right fit” will
depend on your situation, as well as the skills and experience you can offer when it comes to the needs of
the local labour market. Most regions in Canada, except for Nunavut and Quebec, have their own PNP–
specific streams. These immigration pathways are tailored to meet the specific needs of each province and
are intended for a particular category of immigrants, be they skilled, unskilled, entrepreneur or
international students.

there are currently almost 80 unique streams across the provinces and territories participating in the
PNP.

A provincial nomination from an enhanced PNP stream, that is, one related to Canada’s Express Entry
system, will award an additional 600 points toward the system’s Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS)
score. If you earn these additional points, it is virtually guaranteed that you will receive an invitation from
the Government of Canada to apply for Canadian permanent residence.

For a consultation on any immigration matter, contact:

Helen Michaelides–RCIC
info@hmgimmigration.com
416-508-0296