Settlement and Integration Needs of Skilled Immigrants in Canada

Abstract

It is often believed that the settlement and integration of skilled immigrants is moderately easy in Canada, and that skilled immigrants do well in Canada after a brief adjustment period. However, numerous barriers prevent the effective integration of skilled immigrants in the mainstream society. Despite being famous for its Federal Skilled Worker Program, which includes the immigration of skilled workers through Express Entry, Canada shows disappointing results in the economic and social outcomes of the integration of skilled immigrants. This has socioeconomic implications for the immigrants and affects their health and wellbeing. Therefore, there is a need for all those who are involved with immigrant integration to explore and be conversant about the contexts and issues faced by skilled newcomers in Canada. In reviewing the academic and grey literature on the settlement and integration of skilled immigrants in Canada, this paper highlights the challenges faced by skilled immigrants in Canada and the needs experienced by them in facing these challenges. It provides an overview of the experiences and expectations of skilled immigrants related to their settlement and integration in Canada. This paper indicates a need to evaluate the availability of immigrant services focused on skilled immigrants and the effectiveness of the existing support offered to them by various government and non-government agencies.

Intersection of Migration and Access to Health Care: Experiences and Perceptions of Female Economic Migrants in Canada

“…Individual lifestyle factors, social and community connections, social economics, and the cultural and environmental context contribute to new migrants' integration into a new society [21]. Most people migrate for a better quality of life but, irrespective of their immigrant status, it is not without challenges.…”

Migration and Immigrants in Social Studies Textbooks (Turkey and US Sample)

“…The Social Studies Grade 2 textbook draws attention to these challenges. At the same time, adapting to the society in a healthier way, bringing its cultural awareness to life together with the process of harmo nization with the new culture provides a healthy adaptation process for migrants (Bhugra, 2004;Bhugra & Becker, 2005;Kaushik, & Drolet, 2018). In the textbook, these issues are ad dressed with real visual elements and life stories.…”

“My Family’s Weight on My Shoulders”: Experiences of Jewish Immigrant Women from the Former Soviet Union (FSU) in Toronto

“…First, these highly skilled immigrants coming from a non-Western economy face the problem of occupational re-adjustment since their educational and professional credentials are not recognized and skill incompatibility is usually aggravated by limited English proficiency (Remennick 2006(Remennick , 2007. This experience is not unique to FSU Jewish immigrants and has been noted with regard to many other immigrant groups in Canada (Chai et al 2018;Chen 2008;Kaushik and Drolet 2018;Meares 2010;Ng and Shan 2010;Sakamoto et al 2010;Suto 2009). Non-recognition of foreign credentials and demand for Canadian experience causes unemployment, underemployment, and de-skilled labor among foreign-born women (Suto 2009).…”

“…Therefore, policies, services, and programs that recognize, legitimate, and reinforce immigrants' cultural and social capitals should be developed instead of existing forms that characterize immigrants as deficient, which adds further to their social marginalization. The effective integration of skilled immigrants requires collaboration between various stakeholders such as the immigrants themselves, social services providers, researchers, policy makers, governments, and employers (Kaushik and Drolet 2018). The experiences of skilled FSU Jewish and other immigrants struggling to find their place in the Canadian labor market underscores the need to relax policies for licensure and accreditation of foreign professionals on the federal and provincial levels (Remennick 2006), to incorporate a "prior learning assessment as a way to assess, acknowledge, and 'package' for Canadian employers the work experiences of women whose career experience is in non-regulated professions, and to encourage the creation of post-secondary programs to assist migrants with upgrading their skills and education and facilitate credential and/or professional recognition and licensure" (Suto 2009, page 427).…”