New immigrants find it difficult to secure employment as Canada’s job market weakens. The unemployment rate for immigrants who became permanent residents in the last five years rose to 12.6% in June, up four percentage points from the previous year, according to Statistics Canada. In contrast, the unemployment rate for Canadian-born individuals was 5.5%, only slightly higher than the 5% rate from June 2023. This disparity in jobless rates is the largest since August 2014. The labour market has softened due to higher interest rates, making companies more cautious about hiring, while the influx of new immigrants has increased the number of job seekers.
