The Integration of Immigrants into the Newfoundland and Labrador Workforce

The objectives of the study are to: • Identify the main barriers to employment encountered by immigrants in Newfoundland and Labrador; • Identify the barriers employers see limiting greater integration of immigrants into the Newfoundland and Labrador work force; • Identify potential incentives for better integration of immigrants into the local work force. [...] This particular initiative would require close collaboration of businesses, municipalities and rural communities, and the provincial government, especially the Department of Human Resources, Labour and Employment (HRLE) and the Department of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development (ITRD). [...] In addition, this report builds on two previous studies (from 2005) that highlight employment-related issues among immigrants in this province: A Survey of Attitudes of Employers in Newfoundland and Labrador Toward the Recruitment and Employment of New Canadians and Immigrant Workers by Wade Locke and Scott Lynch and Retention and Integration of Immigrants in Newfoundland and Labrador – Are We Rea [...] As a result, this report suggests that the best way for immigration to help grow the economy in Newfoundland and Labrador is for the province to target those professions, trades and sectors where the demand for workers exceeds the supply – where immigrants can find satisfying employment in areas of skills shortages that would not threaten the employment of local workers. [...] The non-recognition of foreign credentials poses a significant challenge to the successful integration of immigrants into the Canadian workforce, especially in view of the fact that “immigrants are more numerous, possess higher skills and credentials, and are more concentrated in certain occupational groups and source areas than in previous decades.”15 There has been an abundance of academic and p