Immigration and the shifting occupational distribution in Canada, 2001 to 2021

This article assesses the changes over the past two decades in the occupational skill level of employment in Canada, with a focus on the role of immigration in the changing occupational structure. From 2001 to 2021, employment in jobs requiring professional and technical skills expanded the most. Canadian-born workers accounted for about half of this employment expansion, while immigrant workers and temporary foreign workers (TFWs) contributed to the other half. Over the same period, employment in lower-skilled occupations contracted by 500,000. As Canadian-born workers moved out of this skill level in a substantial way, immigrant workers and TFWs were increasingly employed in these lower-skilled jobs. Hence, to some extent, immigrant workers and TFWs backfilled Canadian-born workers as they moved away from lower-skilled jobs. A similar pattern was observed for labourers—the lowest skill-level group. The number of Canadian-born workers employed as labourers declined, while the corresponding number among immigrant workers and TFWs increased. Possible implications of these findings for the economic outcomes of immigrant workers are discussed.