Benchmarking Canada's Performance in the Global Competition for Mobile Talent

Competing in the international arena for skilled workers is crucial for Canada to foster its innovation and economic prosperity. Attracting and retaining skilled workers are among the most important challenges facing Canadian policy makers. The key objective of the paper is to assess how Canada is faring in this matter in comparison to key OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries. The paper examines international mobility in terms of the stock and flow of high-skilled workers, assesses whether Canada attracts a “fair share” of internationally mobile skilled workers, and discusses immigration policies that influence a country's relative performance in attracting these workers from abroad.