Canada looking to Asia for international talent

By Mata Press Service

Most Canadians view Asia as a source of innovation and agree that Canada should look to Asia for international talent, a new survey by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada.

The survey – Canadian Views on Human Capital from Asia – examined factors that are crucial considerations for Canada in attracting high-skilled talent.

It also informs policy-makers about the challenges of attracting and retaining international talent.

“Our 2019 National Opinion Poll on Canadian views on human capital from Asia demonstrates that Canadians understand the important role the Asia Pacific can play in shoring up our own deficit in skilled labour, but also highlights areas of concern to Canadians that will require further policy attention,” said APF Canada President and CEO, Stewart Beck.

“The drive to enhance Canadian’s awareness of the vast opportunities in Asia – not only in terms of trade investment, but also as a source of innovation and highly-skilled human capital – is one that we must continue to support as Canada diversifies its interests in today’s global economy.”

Key takeaways from the poll include;

Canadians recognize the importance of tapping into the global talent pool and, more specifically, acquiring talent from Asia with stem skills.

Fifty-six percent of Canadians believe that Canada’s shortage of high-skilled workers is becoming a deterrent to its competitiveness in the global economy. Accordingly, slightly more

than half of Canadians (54%) agree that Canada should look to Asia for international talent in the next 10 years, while 34% disagree and 12% are not sure of their opinion. When presented with the opportunity to capitalize on the tightened immigration policy in the United States, 60% of Canadians support attracting high-skilled talent from Asia. Finally, a considerable majority (74%) think highly educated workers with STEM skills deserve further attention in our immigration policy.

Canadians do not believe that their concerns related to immigration from Asia outweigh the potential benefits of having more international talent immigration from Asia.

Fifty-three percent of Canadians believe that the potential benefits of having more talent from Asia outweighs the potential concerns, while slightly more than one-third of Canadians disagree with that statement. Most Canadians associate potential benefits of international talent immigration with addressing workforce shortages and transferring knowledge and technology to the country while they remain concerned about Canada’s capacity to support social integration of the foreigners, the inconsistent credential recognition system, and mismatch between skills and labour market demand.

Amid current tensions between Canada and China, Canadians perceive a less receptive environment in Canada for international talent from China.

Six out of 10 Canadians believe receptiveness to Chinese talent has decreased, while 24% disagree with that statement. Nonetheless, 65% of Canadians are still in favour of the

immigration of highly educated workers in the STEM fields from China. But, in comparison, Canadians are more in favour of immigration of STEM talent from the Philippines (69%), India (73%), South Korea (76%), as well as from the United States (79%) and the European Union (82%).

Despite moderate concerns about international talent from Asia and China, Canadians consistently conveyed that place of birth is not an important criterion when choosing international talent.

Only 3% of Canadians think that birthplace should be a priority when recruiting international talent, while 9% think it should be considered when recruiting STEM talent. Furthermore, while 53% of Canadians believe that international talent should originate from countries sharing Canada’s core values to some extent, as many as 40% think that immigration policy should focus solely on individual characteristics, without any consideration of the country of origin.

Canadians want the government to prioritize international talent that has stem skills, is proficient in English or French, and is likely to adapt to Canadian culture easily.

Forty-six percent of Canadians include STEM skills and language competencies among the top skills that international talent joining the Canadian workforce should possess. Forty-four percent also consider adaptability to Canadian culture to be a top priority. When considering the criteria for Canada to select international talent with STEM skills specifically, Canadians express a similar set of expectations. They stress the need to consider factors such as skills and competencies (74%), language proficiency (64%), cultural adaptability (54%), and work experience (54%).

Canadians support a range of potential public policies aiming to attract and retain more international talent from Asia.

The policies getting the most support aim to enhance Asian student exchange and co-op programs in Canada (77%) and extend the length of temporary work permits for international talent (71%). When the focus is on talent from China specifically, support for policies drops about 10 percentage points. Nonetheless, support remains significantly stronger than opposition for all suggested policies. Furthermore, 65% of Canadians support the ongoing Start-up Visa Program that is aimed at attracting immigrant entrepreneurs to Canada, and only one out of 10 does not believe the program to be beneficial.

There is a stark divide in responses between liberal and conservative Canadians, both in terms of international talent recruitment priorities and current concerns regarding the Canadian economy.

Liberals are more likely than Conservatives to believe that a shortage of high-skilled workers is becoming a deterrent to Canada’s competitiveness in the global economy. Furthermore, a slight majority of Conservatives believe the concerns of accepting more talent from Asia outweigh the potential benefits. Additionally, 72% of Liberals agree that Canada should capitalize on the tightened immigration policy in the United States to encourage international migration of high-skilled talent from Asia, while only 49% of Conservatives agree with that statement. More broadly, Conservatives generally exhibit lower support for policies favouring

Asian talent immigration, as opposed to supporters of all other major political parties of Canada.