Sifting through information, looking for pathways into Canada's labour market: examining the potential of labour market information to support newcomer/immigrant job hunting

Abstract

Labour market research consistently demonstrates that finding and securing appropriate employment are key determinants of immigrant well-being and integration to Canada. Various policy-oriented initiatives are continually initiated by Canada's "Third sector" actors to address multiple barriers immigrants confront in the labour market. While awaiting progress, the difficulties recent immigrants face in Canada's increasingly competitive local labour markets has increased. This amplifies the need for re-examining early interventions. This paper explores what and how labour market information (LMI) is mediated to recent immigrants at the earliest stages of settlement, and through a qualitative content analysis assesses how the LMI can inform and support labour market decisions of recent immigrants seeking employment in Canada. Findings uncover overwhelming amounts and varied quality of LMI available from Canada's labour force development providers. This leaves recent immigrants unable to independently make realistic, informative and suitable employment choices needed to integrate in the Canadian labour market.