Are algorithms unfairly screening out immigrant job applications?
Are algorithms unfairly screening out immigrant job applications?
https://theconversation.com/are-algorithms-unfairly-screening-out-immigrant-job-applications-284895
Publish Date: 2026-06-24 12:22:00
Source Domain: theconversation.com
Canada’s new artificial intelligence strategy, AI for All, presents an ambitious vision for the country’s future. Artificial intelligence, the federal government argues, can boost productivity, strengthen competitiveness and create opportunity across the economy.
But what happens when AI increasingly decides who gets access to those opportunities in the first place?
As migration scholars at the Bridging Divides initiative at Toronto Metropolitan University, we are researching how AI is reshaping immigrant access to employment. We see a growing intersection between Canada’s immigration agenda and its AI agenda, both of which are essential to Canada’s economic future. Yet these agendas are rarely discussed together.
As AI becomes increasingly embedded in hiring, the question is no longer just who Canada admits, but how opportunity is distributed once immigrants arrive.
The technologies shaping recruitment today may play an increasingly important role in determining whether Canada’s skilled immigrants can fully contribute to the economy tomorrow.
Canada’s reliance on immigration
Across the OECD, immigrants represent a growing share of the workforce. They are increasingly central to economic growth, demographic sustainability and innovation.
In Canada, immigrants accounted for four-fifths of labour force growth between 2016 and 2021, underscoring Canada’s continued reliance on immigration to sustain its workforce.
At the same time, Canada is rapidly embracing artificial intelligence. The use of AI across workplaces is expanding quickly, including in recruitment, hiring and workforce management. Recent evidence from Statistics Canada suggests that AI adoption among Canadian businesses has doubled in the past year.
These developments are often discussed separately. They should not be. The future success of one may increasingly depend on the other.
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