World Education Services (WES) is a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to helping international students, immigrants, and refugees achieve their educational and career goals in the United States and Canada. The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. This content has been created by WES and is reproduced here with their permission, in partnership.
Canada's growth engine is stalling – Key Insights 5th edition 2025 (Century Initiative)
The 2025 National Scorecard has been released, revealing concerning trends for Canada: productivity is lagging, affordability is declining, and population growth is slowing. This annual tool provides a comprehensive assessment of Canada’s performance in growth, resilience, and prosperity.
With population growth slowing significantly in 2025, the Scorecard emphasizes the urgent need for a smart, long-term population strategy. Building broader public support is essential to securing a more prosperous future. Declining GDP per capita poses a major risk, especially as the population ages and the tax base needed to fund healthcare, infrastructure, and retirement income continues to shrink. Additionally, recent reductions in immigration targets are expected to have lasting impacts on Canada’s labour supply and economic development.
Full report available here
REPORT| The crisis of wage theft in Ontario (Workers Action Centre)
The Workers’ Action Centre (WAC) has released a new report based on a survey of over 500 workers across Toronto, conducted in multiple languages. The survey focused on recent immigrants, racialized individuals, non-status residents, and low-wage workers— to document the extent of employment standards violations experienced by people in precarious work and the impact on their lives.
The report highlights wage theft as the most common issue reported to WAC. For many workers in low-wage and precarious employment, violations such as being paid below minimum wage, receiving inconsistent pay, and incorrect wage calculations are frequent and deeply harmful. While all workers are vulnerable to wage theft, women, racialized individuals, and migrant communities face disproportionately higher risks. Workers of colour are twice as likely to be employed in low-wage jobs compared to their white counterparts. Thousands of migrants in Ontario live and work without permanent status, leaving them especially vulnerable to wage theft with limited avenues for recourse.
Key Findings:
WAC argues that weak enforcement and minimal consequences for violators incentivize wage theft. Government data shows that reduced resources have led to a decline in workplace inspections and prosecutions. Despite a 16% increase in Ontario’s workforce over the past decade, there has been no corresponding increase in labour enforcement officers. Between 2013 and 2023, an estimated $102.4 million in confirmed wage theft violations was charged to employers, yet only 22% of that amount has been recovered as of 2024.
WAC’s Recommendations:
In response to the war between Russia and Ukraine, nearly 300,000 Ukrainians entered Canada between 2022 and 2024 under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET). This unique pathway allowed CUAET holders and their immediate family members to stay temporarily in Canada for up to three years, with access to work and study opportunities. The program had no cap on admissions and officially closed in March 2024. This report examines the CUAET program, the evolving migration status of its beneficiaries, and offers policy recommendations to improve coordination in future emergency responses.
Public data on CUAET holders is limited. However, insights from Operation Ukraine Safe Haven indicate that most individuals reported having some or good knowledge of English, and over 90% of surveyed adults (aged 18 and over) held some form of post-secondary education. When asked about their experience in Canada, more than 90% expressed a desire to remain. Despite this, in 2023–2024, approximately 300 families returned to Ukraine, citing difficulties in securing employment and housing.
The temporary nature of the CUAET program created a narrow pathway for successful settlement. While it provided protection, the lack of alignment with existing immigration streams meant that federal and provincial funding mechanisms were inconsistently applied to CUAET holders. This led to gaps in support and services across the country, highlighting the need for more integrated and responsive systems in future humanitarian efforts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Please take this short survey to help improve the KM4S web site. The survey is anonymous. Thank you for your feedback! (click on the screen anywhere (or on the x in the top right corner) to remove this pop-up)