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As our baby boomer population reaches the age of retirement, Canada is being forced to employ immigrants in order to fill the labor shortage. I believe that employing foreign-born workers in Canada is a positive action, though it would be nice to see our own Canadians filling those employment positions. On the contrary, however, we are seeing in Canada a significant decrease in the trade interest among the younger generation as well as a reduced birth rate. As a result of this, I feel that Canada will have no choice but to employ foreign workers, and with this will come great positive changes to Canada's business strategies and our country's economy as a whole.

I feel that Canada owes its existence to our foreign brothers because of their influences on our labor market. The French, Dutch, Polish, Irish, Italian, German, and English people helped to stabilize Canada's companies and bring some of the trades into existence. I believe that employing immigrants can be a critical part of a company's business strategy, not only because they can fill the labour shortage in Canada, but because they can bring new skills and knowledge to help our country's economy grow.
Having an influx of foreign-born workers in Canada would bring many positive cross-cultural considerations to the surface because they would bring with them a deep understanding of many different cultures and a new-found passion for continuous learning. These individuals would also bring a strong work ethic, a zeal for expanding their private and professional set of connections, as well as bringing new methods of working to Canadian companies and businesses. Also these foreign-born workers, because of their ethnicity and cross-cultural communication skills, could help companies by expanding the market to various cultural groups.
Unless an individual is of Native blood, most Canadians can trace their ancestry back to foreign countries. Tracing back my own heritage I found that my great great grandfather, an Irish-born Canadian immigrant, became a skilled blacksmith, successful businessman and financier, and became greatly involved with municipal affairs in Perth County in the mid 1800s. His son learned the printing trade and became one of the three founders of the Regina Typographical Union and served the Union in every capacity from President down. The aforementioned example of workers and their children show that some of Canada's most valued employees are immigrants.
Our new Conservative government appears to be making the issue of immigration and labor shortage a priority. It is no secret that Canada needs skilled workers and tradesmen, no matter what the future may hold. Without an influx of foreign-born workers when the baby boomer generation reaches the age of retirement, I fear Canada will face an even worse employment scarcity because of the lack of Canadian born workers and tradesmen. It is clear that the advantages of individuals immigrating to and working for Canada's businesses and companies are plentiful, and in all likelihood, the consequences of not hiring them are also quite copious.

Learn more about this author, Susan Smith.
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