Toronto, ON, Canada – Generation1.ca is pleased to invite you to our highly anticipated Spring 2024 Virtual Insights Career Fair and Case Competition, scheduled for April 26, 2024, Friday between 10 am – 5 pm EST. North American job markets are characterized by skills shortages (especially across tech, healthcare and skilled trades), disproportionate rates of immigrant underemployment, an aging workforce, rising costs of living, macroeconomic volatility, AI / automation / fears of job displacement, slow economic recovery from the pandemic, changing labour regulations, threats to privacy, etc. Immigration is responsible for nearly all of Canada’s population growth and for Canada’s highest literacy levels in all the G7 nations. Immigrants similarly, make up a fifth of the American workforce and contribute to significant economic growth in the US in STEM fields and beyond.
Immigrant retention becomes then, a priority for the industry but also for nations and societies at a time where over 15% of immigrants leave Canada within their first twenty years of admission to either their source country or another country owing to the difficulties faced in integration (Bérard-Chagnon et al., 2024). To cite an example, 60 percent of all service delivery related app or platform workers are immigrants in likely precarious work (Statistics Canada, 2024).
This fast-growing demographic, however, faces barriers to professional and social integration whether these are newcomer youth, temporary foreign workers, adult professionals, adult learners and others across North America. Our signature career fair and case competition is designed as an active and accessible opportunity to promote the advancement of resources and North America’s talent to rich and diverse organizations like yours, while attracting new and skilled workers across underserved and visible minority groups into data, analytics, insights, marketing, research, technology-enabled and related sectors. A few points to emphasize the market gaps and opportunities ahead:
- Skills Shortages: Approximately 700,000 skilled trades workers are expected to retire by 2028, creating an ever-growing need to recruit and train thousands more. Canada will require more new apprentices than ever in the next five years to meet this demand (Employment and Social Development Canada, 2022).
- Immigrant Underemployment: Despite the high demand for skilled workers, immigrants in Canada face higher rates of unemployment compared to the native-born population (Statistics Canada, 2020). In 2023, the unemployment rate among immigrants was 5.8%, and their unemployment peaking in COVID years. Immigrants in the US have experienced higher unemployment rates compared to the native-born population, even as the gap has been closing in recent years, with immigrants making upto four fifths of the increase in the labour force, eclipsing that of US-born citizens. Nearly 75% of the US’ foreign-born labour force is Hispanic or Asian (USA Facts, 2023) .
- Aging Workforce: Canada’s workforce is aging rapidly, with more than 1 in 5 (21.8%) persons of working age are aged 55 to 64, an all-time high in the history of Canadian censuses (Statistics Canada, 2022). This aging workforce is leading to a wave of retirements, with more than 1.4 million Canadians entering the ranks of those aged 55+ between 2016-2021 (Stephenson, 2022).
- Immigration Policies: More than 80% of immigrants admitted in recent years are under 45 years old, and over 60% are selected for their economic contributions to society. Canada’s 2024 immigration target is 485,000 new immigrants, with a focus on economic areas (Semotiuk, 2023).The USA by comparison, ten times the size of Canada, welcomes around 1.2 million immigrants each year (USA Facts, 2023).
- Immigrant Potential: Immigrants are highly capable of filling the skills gaps in the Canadian economy. The employment rate among immigrants has actually risen by 2% since 2016, while the Canadian-born population has experienced a decrease of 2% in employment (Government of Canada, 2022). This uneven pace of economic impact between the native-born and foreign-born could be why resentful, racist and negative attitudes around loss of identity and job displacement are gathered in survey responses from those who think there are too many immigrants in Canada.
Futureproofing Data Talent: Bridging Disciplines and Fostering New Skills
By empowering North America’s newcomers and placing them at the forefront of data and insights innovation, Generation1.ca facilitates meaningful connections between professionals, employers, and educational institutions towards professional development and success in a global industry valued at US$130 bn annually, led by North American technological-enablement (ESOMAR, 2023). Through our signature career fairs and case competitions, Generation1.ca continues to shape the future of a fast-changing industry and continent as it meets the needs of its new citizens and transformed societies post globalization, post pandemic and post generative AI.
Building on the success of our recent Fall 2023 fair and the past three years of high-impact virtual career events in the continent envisioned and led by Founder and CEO Arundati Dandapani for Canada’s and North America’s data and insights industry, Generation1.ca’s role as a leader in empowering and celebrating immigrant talent across business, data, insights, management, tech, and innovation streams has been recognized by industry employers, partners and job seekers alike.
The theme of the Spring 2024 Career fair Futureproofing Data Talent: Bridging Disciplines and Fostering New Skills underscores Generation1.ca’s commitment to reshaping the future of data for those new to North America and those looking for careers in those fields. Scheduled between 10 am and 5 pm EST on the last Fridays of April and September, this unique biannual virtual fair promises inspiring keynote panelists who will discuss the results of our latest 2024 wave of the Generation1.ca Global Industry Skills Study following last year’s results, engaging presentations and talent recognition for competing teams, exclusive 1-1 booth networking and employer interview opportunities with a terrific array of employers, and a unique platform for industry leaders, job-seekers, and educational institutions to converge.
Lead and Engage with Top Talent and Grow the Opportunities!
We have been well supported by global data and insights employers, sponsors and non-profits, speakers, and associations and are excited about growing the successes for our new and returning participants, partners, and industry leaders again this year. Visit the private sector employer deck here.
Come join us and take advantage of the 40% booth registration discount for ESOMAR corporate members at our virtual career fair and case competitions, and earn significant savings when registering for both the spring and the fall career fairs. Last fall’s first prize winners were profiled widely as well on ESOMAR. All prize winners were featured on our platform as follows:
Fall 2023 Case Competition First Prize Winners
Fall 2023 Case Competition Second Prize Winners
Fall 2023 Case Competition Third Prize Winners
With free registration for job seekers, and discounted rates for all educational institutions to enable their teams to participate and compete, public sector employers, and members of association sponsors, Generation1.ca continues to pave the way for accessible and collaborative learning and professional success for all those seeking opportunities in the dynamic world of data and insights by empowering North America’s newcomers and growing the profile of the North American industry with top talent and leadership. We hope you will join us and 300+ jobseekers in this exclusive biannual virtual career fair and case competition. You can learn more about the opportunity and also view the recordings from the last fair here.
To register for the Spring 2024 and Fall 2024 Career events, please visit this link.
For more information, please contact Generation1.ca founder and CEO Arundati Dandapani at arundati@generation1.ca .
References:
Bérard-Chagnon, J., Hallman, S., Dionne, M. A., Tang , J., & St-Jean, B. (2024, February 4). Emigration of Immigrants: Results from the Longitudinal Immigration Database. Statistics Canada. Retrieved February 8, 2024, from https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/91f0015m/91f0015m2024002-eng.htm
Canada, E. and S. D. (2022, January 31). Government of Canada promotes in-demand skilled trades as a first-choice career path. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/news/2022/01/skills-trade.html
Dandapani, A. (2023, May 18). Fighting the Data Deluge: Findings from our Global Industry Skills Study. Generation1.ca. Retrieved February 8, 2024, from https://generation1.ca/2023/05/18/fighting-the-data-deluge-less-understood-truths-about-insights-and-innovation-today/
ESOMAR (2023, May 18). ESOMAR 2023 Global Market Research Report. Retrieved February 8, 2024, from https://esomar.org/global-market-research-2023
Gouvernement du Canada. (2022, June 9). Which immigration selection factors best predict the earnings of economic principal applicants? Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/reports-statistics/research/immigration-selection-factors-predict-earnings-economic-principal-applicants.html#me_shortrun
USAFacts. (2023, November 15). How many immigrants are in the American workforce?. USAFacts. https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-immigrants-are-in-the-american-workforce/
Gouvernement du Canada. (2022a, April 14). Survival to Success: Transforming Immigrant Outcomes. Canada.ca. https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/programs/foreign-credential-recognition/consultations.html
CBC/Radio Canada. (2022, December 11). “it is your new normal”: Canada’s aging workforce root of national labour shortage | CBC News. CBCnews. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-labour-shortage-retirement-wave-1.6682096
Semotiuk, A. J. (2023, November 7). Canada announces immigration projections for 2024 and beyond. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andyjsemotiuk/2023/11/03/canada-announces-immigration-projections-for-2024-and-beyond/?sh=1776d0444cc3
Immigrants make up the largest share of the population in over 150 years and continue to shape who we are as Canadians. StatsCan. (2022, October 26). https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/221026/dq221026a-eng.htm
