100 per cent Ottawa's Population Growth Will Come from Immigration

Filed in archive Human Resources on March 20, 2007

Immigrants will make up 100 per cent of Ottawa's population growth in four year's time.

I was reading a StatsCan report that as of 2001, 5.4 million people, or 18.4% of the total population, were born outside the Canada - highest since 1931.

When you consider that Canada's birthrate is not exactly setting a blistering pace - this spells a big challenge for employers.

Look at the situation in Ottawa:

Residents born outside Canada today make up 11 per cent of Ottawa's population. By 2017, it will be up to 27 per cent... 51 per cent of immigrants are "economic class," meaning they come with at least some savings. The rest is split evenly between refugees, who usually come with nothing, and business class immigrants, who usually arrive with cash to invest...

"If 40 per cent (of immigrants) today are on social assistance, and today they are 11 per cent of the population, what's going to happen when it goes up to 27 per cent?" he asked. Via Ottawa forms initiative to deal with immigrant influx

What Does This Mean for Employers?

Employers in Ottawa and across Canada will need to spend as much time, effort, and money recruiting and training new hires as they do on marketing and sales.