Majority of immigrants have trouble finding employment matching their expertise: survey | CBC News

This story is part of Welcome to Canada, a CBC News series about immigration told through the eyes of the people who have experienced it.

Clare Muruatetu expected to easily land a position in her field after immigrating from Ivory Coast to Edmonton three years ago.

But the applications piled up, despite her MBA in project management and previous roles with the United Nations and African Development Bank.

“I had a wealth of experience and education background to back me up but there were many more barriers that I wasn’t aware of before I came,” Muruatetu, originally from Kenya and fluent in English and French, recently told CBC News.

It’s a grim reality many hopeful professionals discover after immigrating to Canada only to end up unemployed, underemployed or juggling a patchwork of part-time gigs.

In a new CBC/Pollara survey, 54 per cent of surveyed immigrants living in Canada said it was difficult to find a job in their field.

A little more than 1,500 adult Canadian residents were surveyed online between Nov. 1 and 18, 2024. They all arrived in Canada in the past 10 years. The poll has a comparable margin of error of about 2.5 per cent. 

Just over 15 per cent reported that their credentials or academic degrees weren’t recognized in Canada. 

Eleven per cent said that they faced discrimination or racism when looking for a job in Canada.

Some initiatives are underway to tackle those barriers at provincial and local levels.

At the Africa Centre, Muruatetu is among 20 professional immigrant women taking part in a project called Disrupting Inequities in Settlement for Black Newcomer Women. 

Information based on participants’ challenges around employment will be used to draft policy recommendations.

Muruatetu hopes it results in better recognition of international credentials and work experience so that newcomers “are not starting from scratch” when they move to Canada. 

Five participants in the program will also be hired to help implement the program’s policy recommendations at settlement agencies in Edmonton and Calgary this summer.

“It’s just being given that opportunity, that’s a barrier for them,” said Halima Mohamud, the manager of Africa Centre’s Enhancing Gender Equity Program, who is overseeing the project.

At 9.8 per cent, unemployment among immigrants in Alberta living here five years or fewer is above the provincial average of 7.5 per cent, Statistics Canada reported in November.

While Alberta’s population growth is slowing, it still outpaces the rest of the country due to high interprovincial and overseas migration.

The federal government cut the target for new permanent residents entering Canada last October but Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said it was far from enough to alleviate financial pressures on provinces.

Most respondents surveyed by CBC News said that Canada has accepted too many newcomers for the level of housing or job opportunities that are available.

While we are dealing with a critical shortage of health-care workers, it is ironic that numerous qualified and trained professionals remain unable to find employment in their field.– Habiba Abdulle

At the Alberta Somali Community Centre, executive director Habiba Abdulle said opportunities for foreign-born health professionals in larger cities like Edmonton and Calgary are almost non-existent.

For example, Abdulle said up until five years ago, nurses were hired roughly four months after gaining Canadian accreditation, and now it takes more than a year.

Some of Abdulle’s clients have moved to smaller centres such as Wainwright or Yellowknife to be able to practise in their field.

Abdulle recalled recently hiring a man desperate for work to paint the community centre, only to learn afterward that he was a heart surgeon in Syria.

“While we are dealing with a critical shortage of health-care workers, it is ironic that numerous qualified and trained professionals remain unable to find employment in their field,” Abdulle said.

Addressing credential barriers

Another new program recently launched by IslamicFamily, an Edmonton-based social services agency, sets out to foster a workplace that can better integrate and retain newcomers.

The Community-Commerce Connect initiative aims to strengthen the ability of employers to recognize foreign credentials, as well as inclusive hiring practices and cultural competency.

The initiative is funded by the City of Edmonton in partnership with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Alberta Provincial Council and Horn Youth Services Foundation.

“If employers had more tools to actually make sure that the basic rules of work and the basic process of getting onboarded are followed, I think that they would be able to access and retain a lot more workers, and those workers could develop into higher skilled positions as well,” said Mark Chaney, project co-ordinator for the initiative.

At the provincial level, Neil Singh, press secretary to Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Muhammad Yaseen, said Alberta has created an advisory committee to streamline credential recognition processes. Recommendations are due in mid-2025.

Alberta has invested more than $2.8 million since 2021 in projects to mentor immigrants in professions, including information technology and international medical graduates, Singh said.

“The government of Alberta is committed to fostering an inclusive and welcoming province that supports all Albertans, including skilled immigrants striving to find jobs commensurate with their qualifications,” Singh said in an email Tuesday.