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What makes Canada so attractive to global job seekers?

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[What makes Canada so attractive to global job seekers?/Getty Images]

Canada is the third most popular country in the world for global job hunters, say new metrics released by job site Indeed.com.

Nearly 10 per cent of all cross-border job searchers are looking in Canada, making it the third most coveted destination next to the U.S. and the U.K. at 29.6 and 12.7 per cent respectively, according to the Indeed Global Migration Snapshot: International Job Search Trends.

Dr. Rick Miner, president of Miner and Miner, a Toronto-based firm specializing in management consulting services for labour markets, higher education and human resources, says it’s not surprising with Canada being a “safe choice” from a number of vantage points when it comes to attracting immigrating workers.

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“It seems to be a place where the children of immigrants have a chance to really prosper over the long run so as a choice I think you’d find more interest than you’d find in other countries where there’s certainly less receptiveness for certain immigrant groups,” he says.

From Indeed’s perspective, jobseekers from the U.S. – which these days could fall under the Trumpfugees banner – show the most interest in Canada with 3.15 per cent of cross-border searches from our neighbours to the south focusing on jobs in Canada. The U.K. follows with 0.53 per cent of searches looking to Canada while France sits at 0.33 per cent.

“As for which country’s job seekers show the strongest interest Canada, the US places first for sheer volume, but Israel sends the greatest share of its own talent pool: 5% of all job seekers in Israel are looking for opportunities in Canada,” the report found.

According to Indeed, the emphasis for job seekers is on high skill works with Java, actuarial, software solution SAP, biology and IT manager roles being the most attractive.

“The whole labour market, in my view, is changing so dramatically – what you say (is an attractive job) now may not be true three, four, five years from now,” says Miner. “With the impact of things like driverless vehicles, 3D animation and the likes of social media shifts, I think it’s really hard to predict.”

But with a focus on highly skilled work, Canada’s burgeoning tech scene and consistent need for immigrants is apt to help the country hold its rank.

“We need more people in the country and they’re not going to come around by birthrate,” says Miner. “If there wasn’t immigration we’d be declining in population and that’s really being felt in Atlantic Canada… Manitoba and Saskatchewan have some demographic challenges as well.”

Canada has recently adjusted its policies to take on more immigrants, which Miner says will help fill demographic gaps. Programs like Express Entry are also making it easier for employers to hire skilled immigrants, provided they can build a case for not hiring from within Canada.

Overall, Miner says he considers it a positive thing.

“Some people get upset about immigrants and they’re taking advantage of our resources but in the long run that’s not true – immigrants are net providers,” he says. “Yes it takes a while to acclimatize and get into the system but it doesn’t take as long as most people think (and) I think it’s easier to be an immigrant in Canada than any place else in the world”