Canada's aging workforce is troubling to the government and economists. New data from Statistics Canada shows that despite an aging population, the workforce in Alberta, Canada remains relatively young and stable in urban areas due to the recent influx of immigrants. According to CBC Canada, about 31% of people working in the Calgary and Edmonton metropolitan areas of Alberta were born outside of Canada; and by 2036, that is expected to grow to 43%.
Calgary immigration lawyer Evelyn Ackah sees the successful results of Canada's recruitment programs for skilled foreign workers and economic immigration in her legal practice:
Canada has been actively recruiting skilled foreign workers, especially foreign tech workers, to move to Canada and help grow our economy. Just last week Calgary announced we need 2000 more tech workers - and I believe many will be skilled and educated immigrants who want to move to Canada. Our urban areas are benefitting from the programs our government has introduced to attract skilled immigrants. Now, we need more programs to attract workers to fill jobs in our rural areas, and for jobs such as farmers and truck drivers.
As more baby boomers retire, Canada will need to recruit more skilled workers to rural areas. The report shows that outside of the urban Calgary and Edmonton areas, about 12% of Alberta's working population was foreign-born in 2017, and it is projected to increase to 18% by 2036.
Canada recently announced a new 5-year economic immigration plan to attract and retain skilled immigrants to rural and remote regions of Canada who are losing workers due to age and to young workers moving to urban areas. The Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot is for cities with a population of 50,000 people or less and that are located at least 75 km from a metropolitan area.
