Even as employers complain about a shortage of job candidates, they remain hesitant to hire immigrants, a survey conducted by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) suggests.

The findings are contained in a poll of more than 1,000 Canadian businesses by the BDC and obtained by the Presse Canadienne. The survey finds that while 39 per cent of employers say it has been difficult to find personnel over the past year, they prefer to hire less qualified candidates, younger candidates who can be trained on the job or retirees rather than immigrants.

The study presented respondents with the following statement: “Because of a labour shortage, our business must take the following steps.” A total of 43 per cent said they would approve hiring less qualified candidates, 40 per cent preferred hiring younger candidates, 35 per cent said they would increase salaries to attract candidates and about one-third said they would hire retirees. Only 18 per cent said they would hire immigrants while 57 per cent said they “disagreed” with that approach.

BDC chief economist Pierre Cléroux admits to being shaken by the result, given that immigrants represent the largest labour pool in the country and regularly post the highest levels of unemployment compared with other sectors of the population.

“I have to say I was a little surprised by the response,” he said. “Had we known it would have been at that level (concerning the hiring of immigrants) we’d have posed more questions, but we didn’t know this before the research.”

Source: Montreal Gazette. Read full article