This section looks at immigration policy and labour markets around the world. Many countries have adopted policies to attract individuals with specific skills and talents to move to reside in these countries. This section focuses on immigration, which implies legal, long-term residence, often leading to naturalization, or granting of citizenship to the individual that moves. For temporary migration for work purposes, see temporary foreign (migrant) workers.
For information on international comparisons of immigration systems and labour market trends and needs:
Labour market needs, Immigration programs, Foreign credential recognition & Employment– LIFE in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and Canada
This research report by the British Columbia Business Council looks at four essential elements of each immigration/migration system (LIFE): Labour Market Needs, Immigration Programs, Foreign Credential Recognition (FCR), and Employment.
Counting Immigrants and Expatriates in OECD Countries: A New Perspective
This paper shows that the percentage of the foreign-born in European OECD countries is generally higher than the percentage of foreigners; international migration is quite selective towards highly skilled migrants; in most OECD countries, the number of immigrants with tertiary education exceeds the number of highly qualified expatriates to other OECD countries; and the impact of the international mobility of the highly skilled is diverse among non-member countries.
Click on the following links to find out more about each region or country:
Australia
Canada
Europe
Japan
U.S.A
Australian Government Department of Immigration and Citizenship
This web site provides information for people who want to visit, work, study or live in Australia. Employers can also find information about sponsoring skilled people to work in Australia
Immigration and Labour Supply
This bulletin looks at the labour market activity of newly arrived immigrants in Australia in recent years and documents the significant increase in employment of immigrants.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada web site
This web site has several sections that describe Canada’s immigration system. See About Immigration and Immigrating to Canada.
The Canadian Immigrant Labour Market in 2006: Analysis by Region or Country of Birth
The study by Statistics Canada is the second in a series of analytical articles on immigrants in the labour force based on data from the Labour Force Survey. It sheds light on the relationship between the region or country of birth for immigrants to Canada, when they landed in Canada, and their labour market outcomes (i.e., unemployment, employment and participation rates) in 2006.
Immigration and Canada's Place in a Changing World
This is the web site of a conference designed to address some of the key migration and integration issues facing Canadian society. The program included discussions on topics such as Canada’s role as a competitor in the global marketplace for immigrants, building a racism-free workplace, the changing dynamics of asylum, governance approaches to immigration and integration, and citizenship and social inclusion.
TASC Immigration Factsheet
This fact sheet produced by The Alliance of Sector Councils provides a statistical snapshot of immigration in Canada, including the labour force participation of immigrants.
Immigration and Small Business: Ideas to Better Respond to Canada’s Skills and Labour Shortage
This research report produced by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business examines the growing challenge of skills and labour shortages in small business, Canada’s immigration system and the experience of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in hiring new immigrants.
Help Wanted: Labour shortage troubles deepen for SMEs in 2007
This report reveals that the long-term vacancy rate and the number of SMEs with a vacancy of four months or longer continued to increase in 2007.
Impact of Race and Immigrants Status on Employment Opportunities and Outcomes in the Canadian Labour Market
This research report outlines how race continues to be a major factor in the distribution of opportunities in the Canadian labour market and by extension in determining the life chances of racialized peoples and immigrants in Canada.
Towards a common European Union immigration policy
This site provides more information about the elements for a common immigration policy for the European Union (EU) set out by the leaders of the EU at the October 1999 European Council in Tampere (Finland). The main objective is to better manage migration flows by a coordinated approach that takes into account the economic and demographic situation of the EU.
European Immigration and the Labor Market
This report looks at how structural employment in the EU has little to do with immigration but is related to factors including excessive regulation, EU worker immobility promoted by the welfare system and other policy measures, and agreements between employers’ organizations and labor unions that set wages. The report shows that immigrants and non-EU citizens add flexibility to the European labor market and promote economic growth. It recommends that rather than relying on a closed-door approach to immigration, policymakers should undertake labor market and social security reforms.
Nordics scramble for immigrant labor, but Spain has a surplus
This article highlights how different countries in Europe are addressing the issue of immigrant labour.
Spain: Immigration as a Labour Market Strategy
This report is part of the publication “Immigration as a labour market strategy - European and North American Perspectives.”
Japanese Immigration Policy: Responding to Conflicting Pressures
This article looks at how Japan’s immigration policy is responding to forces of globalization and changing domestic needs, including an aging population and growing labor shortages.
The Differential Incorporation into Japanese Labor Market: A Comparative Study of Japanese Brazilians and Professional Chinese Migrants
This paper is an exploratory study on the incorporation of Japanese Brazilian migrants into the Japanese labor market, in comparison with professional Chinese migrants in Japan.
US Employment and Workforce
This section of the web site of the National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy http://www.migrationinformation.org/integration/ looks at the role of the immigrant labour force in the US economy and at the integration of this labour force.
Urban Institute Immigration Studies Program
This program studies how immigrants enter the U.S. labor market at both the lower-skilled and higher-skilled levels. Immigrants compose one in nine U.S. residents, but one in seven workers and one in five low-wage workers. The program’s research addresses immigrants' contributions to the U.S. economy and tax base as well as lower-paid immigrants' needs for work supports such as tax credits, health insurance, and child care.