Employer Attitudes and the Hiring of Immigrants and International Students: Evidence from a Survey of Employers in Atlantic Canada

What are employers’ perceptions regarding hiring immigrants and international students in Atlantic Canada? How are these perceptions related to hiring outcomes? Our analysis, based on a 2019 random representative survey of 801 employers, finds that most report positive attitudes toward immigrants and international students. Probit analysis of the sample of employers who report receiving applications from immigrants and international students also finds that hiring from this group is positively associated with employers’ belief that multiculturalism enhances creativity in the workplace and (less clearly) with the belief that immigrants and international students are harder working than native-born local workers; negatively with beliefs that such workers accept lower pay, have language barriers, have higher training costs, hold unreliable credentials, and (less strongly) have lower retention probabilities; and not consistently with the belief that such workers may help in increasing exports, are unfamiliar with the Canadian culture or workplace, or may take jobs away from locals.