Immigration key to make up for impact of low birth rates on Vancouver Island
Immigration key to make up for impact of low birth rates on Vancouver Island
This is part three of CTV News Vancouver Island's three-part series Shifting Focus: Families, Fertility and the Future.
As B.C.’s workforce ages, the province anticipates 160,000 jobs will open in the next decade. It hopes 20,000 of those positions will be filled by people from other countries, and the challenge may not be finding qualified workers, but rather encouraging them to stay.
“When immigrants come here, they are looking for a better life,” says Humaira Ahmed.
The North Saanich tech start-up founder and CEO moved to Canada from Pakistan in 2005. Her family immigrated to Toronto, and she later moved to Vancouver, then Victoria. She says the lack of diversity on Vancouver Island was a difficult adjustment.
“It’s truly your network is your net worth here and that’s one of the biggest challenges when you’re new to a country,” says Ahmed. “I would say until I started my company, until I started to win awards – nobody cared. It’s really hard to break in.”
It’s a heartbreaking revelation as government eyes immigration to help address shortages in our labour market, which are partly a result of declining birth rates.
“We have more jobs than people and we expect that to be a challenge for the years ahead,” says Minister of Jobs, Economic Recovery and Innovation Ravi Kahlon.
Ahmed is happy to hear the province is trying to recruit thousands more immigrants to help fill positions, but she says leaders need to be mindful of making sure a community is set up to help encourage newcomers to stay.
“That’s where I’ve had issues and challenges,” she says. “One of the things I’ve been saying for years is, ‘I want to move back to Toronto.’”
The South Island Prosperity Partnership shares the concern. Economic developer Dallas Gislason says city centers like Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal have large, diverse, in-depth support systems in place for newcomers, and we need to build more supports in this area.
“The research shows in organizations like McKinsey and academic research has showed that diverse organizations actually outperform homogenous organizations substantially,” adds Gislason.
Ahmed’s business is called Locelle. It focuses on advancing the careers of women and other under-represented groups in tech. She says opportunity and community are paramount.
“I do think it’s a systems thing too, where we can educate women and under-represented communities as much as we want,” she says. “But if the systems are not changing, the leadership is not changing, we can only move the needle so far.”
Seventeen people – most of whom are young students – have been taken to hospital after a falling from a height during a field trip at Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar.
Although bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Canada, experts say there’s a significant lack of awareness surrounding whom it affects the most — statistically, men — and that the most common risk factor is smoking.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he has confidence in David Johnston, even as the House of Commons is about to vote in favour of a motion to push him out of his job.
Canada will soon require health warnings to be printed directly on individual cigarettes, making it the first country to implement this kind of measure aimed at reducing tobacco usage.
More than three years after COVID was declared a global pandemic, a new study is looking at how the international health crisis has changed the lifestyle habits of Canadians.
A year after arguing Nigeria's ruling party is responsible for terrorist acts, the Trudeau government has sent a cabinet minister to celebrate the swearing-in of its new president.
The Canadian economy grew faster than expected in the first three months of the year and likely expanded again in April, fuelling speculation that the Bank of Canada will raise interest rates again.
Statistics Canada says fewer fresh fruits and vegetables were available to Canadians in 2022, due to factors such as ongoing supply chain issues, labour shortages and price increases.
After the remains of Madison Scott were identified this week, exactly 12 years after the B.C. woman went missing, her family says they’re still looking for answers and closure.
Hundreds of nurses from across B.C. are gathering in Vancouver Wednesday to demand better working conditions, adding to multiple calls by medical professionals this week for urgent action to staff under-resourced hospitals.
The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired Brad Treliving to be the team's new general manager. The team made the announcement Wednesday, less than two weeks after firing Kyle Dubas.
A Toronto woman says she was shamed for the size of her order at a sushi restaurant north of the city in a scathing review posted to social media that’s been viewed more than 1.4 million times.
Seventeen people – most of whom are young students – have been taken to hospital after a falling from a height during a field trip at Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar.
Last year, Quebec’s Bill 96 became law, which brought sweeping changes to the Charter of the French language. Sections of the new law will come into effect on June 1, the one-year anniversary of the bill receiving royal assent.
Some communities in Quebec are expected to get record-high temperatures and Environment Canada has issued several weather warnings and watches for heat. Dr. Christopher Labos spoke to CTV News anchor Mutsumi Takahashi about heat and sunstroke and tips for preventing serious consequences in the sun.
A new team working out of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Canada (SHC-Canada) wants to get young people like Horn, who injured themselves, back on their feet and running as fast and efficiently as possible.
Seventeen people – most of whom are young students – have been taken to hospital after a falling from a height during a field trip at Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar.
People who live on Ralgreen Crescent in Kitchener say it could have been a lot worse after a car careened off the road and smashed through their backyards on Tuesday afternoon.
The Mosaic Festival of Cultures returns to Regina this weekend, following a three-year break due to the pandemic. Organizers hope the large crowds return but uncertainty has some pavilions making adjustments.
A sentencing hearing got underway for the 71-year-old Georgian Bay man convicted of driving impaired and causing a collision on Highway 12 in 2020 that claimed the life of a 77-year-old Midland man.
Police charged one man following a serious collision involving a dump truck and car in Barrie on Tuesday afternoon that sent both drivers to the hospital.
Huntsville OPP has charged a third girl in connection to an alleged assault captured on video at a local high school and shared on social media earlier this month.
A Toronto woman says she was shamed for the size of her order at a sushi restaurant north of the city in a scathing review posted to social media that’s been viewed more than 1.4 million times.
Forest fires in northern Ontario are on the rise, with the largest in the region shutting down a critical highway for the people of Hornepayne for a bit and bringing the community to the brink of evacuation.
