A new study has found that apprenticeships could play a key role in bridging immigrant skills and jobs in Canada.
The study, which was collaboration between students at the University of New Brunswick and Carleton University, found that first-generation immigrant males who have completed an apprenticeship usually earn about 20 percent more than those who have no post-secondary education. Still, however, immigrants rarely apprentice.
“Despite the significant earnings and employment advantage of having an apprenticeship, the study found that immigrants from more recent arrival cohorts have especially low rates of having an apprenticeship credential when compared to either their counterparts from earlier arrival cohorts or Canadian-born individuals,” said the authors of the study Ted McDonald and Christopher Worswick.
The authors hope that this study will motivate the Canadian government to encourage more apprenticeships among new arrivals to the country, as immigrants and Canadian wage gaps continue to grow, despite recent efforts by the government to introduce more foreign credential recognition systems.
“Given the strong labour market returns to apprenticeship training (particularly for men), the declining number of workers holding an apprenticeship in Canada raises the question about whether enough emphasis is currently being placed on apprenticeships and other vocational training in the selection of immigrants,” said the report.
Source: Globe and Mail