Immigrant Talent as a Catalyst for Economic Growth

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Canada, Alberta, and Calgary Unlocking Productivity, Trade Expansion, and International Competitiveness July 2026 IMMIGRANT TALENT AS A CATALYST FOR ECONOMIC GROWTH

Wilson-Ihejirika, D., & Raza, S. M. (2026). Immigrant Talent as a Catalyst for Economic Growth: Canada, Alberta, and Calgary—Unlocking Productivity, Trade Expansion, and International Competitiveness. Calgary, AB: Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council (CRIEC). Research by This report was researched and written by D'Andre Wilson-Ihejirika, PhD, P.Eng, PMP, LSSBB and Syed Musa Raza (PMP)®, MSPH, MBA, PhD Candidate. To Cite this Report Researched and written by The opinions, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Calgary Region Immigrant Employment Council (CRIEC), its funders, partners, Board of Directors, or affiliated organizations. Disclaimer

2Table of Contents Executive Summary03Section 1: The Productivity Gap04Section 2: Pathways to Growth08Section 3: Barriers to Expansion11Section 4: Untapped Potential — Immigrant Talent as a Trade Asset14Section 5: Limitations, Risks, and Boundary Conditions24Calls to Action27Conclusion32Footnotes33Bibliography35

Canada faces a compounding set of economic pressures: a widening productivity gap relative to G7 peers, a dangerous over-reliance on a single trading partner, and significant barriers preventing small and medium-sized businesses from expanding into international markets. These challenges are real but not insurmountable. The answer, in large part, is already here, embedded in the knowledge, networks, and capabilities of Canada's immigrant workforce. This paper examines the economic imperative of leveraging immigrant talent to address Canada's productivity and trade challenges. It traces Canada's strategic efforts to diversify trade, explores the specific barriers faced by SMBs, and makes the case that immigrant employees and entrepreneurs represent an underutilized but critical asset for international expansion. It concludes with three targeted calls to action for governments, economic development organizations, and employers, particularly those in Alberta and Calgary.[1] Executive Summary03

Canada's productivity performance has become one of the most serious structural concerns in the national economy. Productivity, the value of output generated per hour of work, is the engine of long-term prosperity. When it stagnates, living standards, public services, and national competitiveness all suffer. Productivity challenges are not solely driven by capital investment or innovation deficits, but also by labour allocation inefficiencies. When highly skilled workers are employed below their capacity, total output per worker declines, even when employment levels remain high. This dynamic is particularly relevant in the context of immigrant labour integration. [Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023-11, based on Statistics Canada Table 36-10-0480- 01] The Bank of Canada has sounded a clear alarm. In a November 2025 speech titled Toward a Virtuous Circle for Productivity, External Deputy Governor Nicolas Vincent warned that Canada's labour productivity had slipped significantly relative to international peers, noting that Canada's real GDP per capita has been declining even as headline GDP continues to grow.[2] According to the OECD, Canada's labour productivity growth in 2024 was actually slightly negative, in stark contrast to the United States, where productivity grew approximately 1.5% in the same year.[3] Parliamentary research (HillNotes) has quantified the severity: over the 30 years between 1993 and 2022, Canada's labour productivity, measured as GDP per hour worked, was the second lowest among G7 countries. Canada and Japan lagged significantly behind the US, France, Germany, and the UK.[4] McKinsey & Company similarly concluded that Canada's real GDP per capita has fallen since the pandemic while that of its peers has grown, calling this "a persistent and worsening trend."[5] Chart 2 in the Bank of Canada's November 2025 speech (referenced below) visually illustrates Canada's relative underperformance on labour productivity as compared to other G7 nations, a gap that has widened over the past decade.[1]04 Section 1: The Productivity Gap Canada's Productivity Challenge

05Bank of Canada — Chart Reference Chart 2 from Nicolas Vincent's speech "Toward a Virtuous Circle for Productivity" (November 19, 2025) illustrates Canada's labour productivity performance relative to G7 peers. Source: Bank of Canada, https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2025/11/toward-a- virtuous-circle-for-productivity/ Alberta consistently outperforms other Canadian provinces on productivity measures. Alberta has the highest number of businesses per thousand working-age adults in Canada (37.7 per thousand, tied with British Columbia), and Alberta's energy, technology, and professional services sectors drive above-average output per worker. [6] However, relative to global benchmarks, Alberta's productivity advantage shrinks considerably and reveals a critical structural vulnerability upon closer inspection. Alberta: Stronger but Still Lagging

At $79.90 per hour worked in 2022 (chained 2012 dollars), Alberta ranked second among Canadian provinces, but this figure masks extreme sectoral concentration. Mining and oil and gas extraction generated $293.50 per hour, nearly 3.7 times the Canadian business sector average of $79.90, while utilities produced $205.90 per hour. By contrast, professional, scientific, and technical services, the sectors where immigrant talent is most heavily represented and where trade diversification efforts are concentrated, generated just $49.00 per hour, below the national average for that sector and barely one-sixth of the oil and gas figure. This concentration is not a recent phenomenon. Between 2000 and 2022, mining and oil and gas extraction contributed substantially to Alberta's productivity level even as its growth rate turned negative (-0.4% annually), while professional services saw productivity stagnation: just 0.9% total growth over 22 years, compared to 21.8% for the Canadian business sector overall. This means Alberta's productivity 'advantage' is not a diversified strength but a concentrated commodity bet. As shown in Figure 5, employment growth is concentrated in sectors with relatively lower productivity, indicating that structural factors may be constraining improvements in output per worker. When energy prices fluctuate or when global decarbonization accelerates, the province's overall productivity is exposed. The sectors where immigrant professionals cluster, technology, advanced services, and knowledge-intensive industries, are precisely where Alberta underperforms relative to both national and international benchmarks, and precisely where trade diversification and innovation investment are most needed. [Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023- 11, Chart 9 and Appendix Table A3, based on Statistics Canada Table 36-10-0480-01] Statistics Canada data show that while Alberta's SMEs exported $79.3 billion in goods in 2024, the value of SME exports actually decreased by 5.9% between 2023 and 2024, indicating ongoing structural vulnerabilities in export capacity.[7]06

75.9% 62.2% 89% of Canadian exports went to the US in 2024 of Canadian imports sourced from the US of Alberta goods exported to the US07 Alberta is among the most US-dependent provinces: approximately 89% of Alberta's goods exports are destined for the US market.[9] This concentration creates significant risk. When US economic policy shifts, as occurred dramatically with the tariff threats of 2025, the ripple effects through Canada's economy are immediate and severe. Global Affairs Canada has documented that Canada's overseas (non-US) exports reached $296 billion in 2024, surpassing the government's 50% diversification target one year ahead of schedule.[10] However, the US still dominates the export landscape so comprehensively that this overseas growth represents only a marginal reduction in relative dependence. The key challenge is not to add marginal overseas trade but to build genuinely diversified, deep bilateral relationships that can form strategic alternatives to the American market. Statistics Canada's 2024 trade data (Table 12-10-0011-01) confirms these concentrations, with the US dwarfing all other individual trading partners across both goods and services categories.[11] Canada's trade dependence on the United States represents perhaps the most acute economic vulnerability the country faces. In 2024, the United States was the destination for 75.9% of Canada's total merchandise exports and the source of 62.2% of total imports, with the combined value of bilateral goods trade surpassing the $1 trillion mark for a third consecutive year.[8] Over-Reliance on the US: A Trade Vulnerability

Recognizing the productivity crisis, the federal government has embarked on several strategic initiatives. The appointment of a dedicated Minister of Artificial Intelligence in 2025 signalled that AI-driven productivity growth is now a national priority. Canada's Sovereign AI Compute Strategy was announced to ensure that Canadian businesses, researchers, and public institutions have access to the computational infrastructure necessary to develop and deploy AI at scale.[12] Complementary to these investments, the government has established programs to assist businesses, particularly SMBs, with AI adoption. The strategic rationale is clear: Canada's productivity gap is in large part a technology adoption gap. ICTC (Information and Communications Technology Council) research has consistently shown that Canadian businesses, particularly outside major metropolitan areas, lag in the adoption of digital tools and AI-enabled processes.[13]08 Section 2: Pathways to Growth Canada's Productivity Strategy: AI and Technology Prime Minister Mark Carney has made trade diversification a central pillar of his economic agenda. In a landmark address to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos in January 2026, Carney called for building a new global trading order anchored in cooperation among "middle powers" countries of significant economic weight that are not the US or China, including Canada, the UK, Germany, Japan, Australia, India, and others. [14] This speech was widely recognized as Canada's clearest articulation yet of a post-US- centric trade strategy. In February 2026, Prime Minister Carney announced visits to India, Australia, and Japan to pursue new trade, energy, technology, and defence partnerships. Canada and India agreed to formally launch negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, with a target to more than double two-way trade to $70 billion by 2030. In 2024, India was Canada's seventh- largest goods and services trading partner, with two-way trade totalling $30.8 billion.[15] Canada's Trade Diversification Agenda

Canada's trade priorities now span multiple regions: Indo-Pacific: China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and ASEAN nations, leveraging the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and bilateral agreements Europe: Germany, Poland, Sweden, and the EU broadly through CETA; the Canada- European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement Latin America: Expanding engagement beyond existing CUSMA/NAFTA relationships Middle East: Energy, technology, and financial services partnerships Africa: Formalized through Canada's Africa Strategy 2025, targeting five pillars including trade, investment, and people-to-people ties Canada's Africa Strategy, launched in 2025 by Global Affairs Canada, represents a particularly ambitious expansion of engagement. In 2024, Canada's merchandise trade with African countries totalled $15.1 billion, an increase of nearly 30% over five years. The strategy commits Canada to establishing an Africa Trade Hub, negotiating investment protection agreements, and leveraging the African Continental Free Trade Area to expand Canadian business access to 54 countries.[16] Carney at Davos 2026 "Canada is stepping up to help lead a new global trading order — one that is less reliant on any single partner and more grounded in strong multilateral relationships among middle powers." — Prime Minister Mark Carney, World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, January 2026. Alberta has developed its own international trade infrastructure to complement federal efforts. The Alberta International Chambers of Commerce network includes bilateral chambers such as the Alberta-Ireland Chamber of Commerce and the Alberta-India Chamber of Commerce, which build commercial networks between Alberta businesses and their counterparts in targeted growth markets. Alberta has developed its own international trade infrastructure to complement federal efforts. The Alberta International Chambers of Commerce network includes bilateral chambers such as the Alberta-Ireland Chamber of Commerce and the Alberta-India Chamber of Commerce, which build commercial networks between Alberta businesses and their counterparts in targeted growth markets. Invest Alberta, the province's investment attraction agency, actively promotes Alberta to Alberta's Trade Expansion Efforts09

international investors across Asia, Europe, and the United States, with a particular focus on the technology, energy transition, and agri-food sectors. In 2024 and 2025, Invest Alberta missions to India and Southeast Asia were among the most active in the agency's history, reflecting the strategic alignment between provincial priorities and Canada's national trade diversification agenda. At the local level, Calgary Economic Development hosts the Trade Accelerator Program (TAP), a nationally recognized intensive export-readiness program for SMBs. The program has helped hundreds of Alberta businesses develop and execute international expansion strategies, with graduates having expanded into markets across Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa. TAP represents one of the most tangible local vehicles through which smaller businesses can access the knowledge and networks needed to enter new markets.10

Recognizing the productivity crisis, the federal government has embarked on several strategic initiatives. The appointment of a dedicated Minister of Artificial Intelligence in 2025 signalled that AI-driven productivity growth is now a national priority. Canada's Sovereign AI Compute Strategy was announced to ensure that Canadian businesses, researchers, and public institutions have access to the computational infrastructure necessary to develop and deploy AI at scale.[12] Complementary to these investments, the government has established programs to assist businesses, particularly SMBs, with AI adoption. The strategic rationale is clear: Canada's productivity gap is in large part a technology adoption gap. ICTC (Information and Communications Technology Council) research has consistently shown that Canadian businesses, particularly outside major metropolitan areas, lag in the adoption of digital tools and AI-enabled processes.[13]11 Section 3: Barriers to Expansion The SMB Reality 99.8% of Canadian businesses are SMBs 63.6% of private sector workforce employed by SMBs 89% active businesses in Alberta (2024) In Calgary, the majority of businesses are similarly SMBs, with the city serving as Alberta's primary commercial hub. As of 2021, first and second-generation immigrants represent 6 out of 10 Calgary residents, making the city's business community and its workforce deeply intertwined with the immigrant experience.[19] ICTC's Quarterly Digital Economy Pulse (March 2026) identifies a persistent and widening digital adoption gap among Canadian SMBs. While large firms have rapidly adopted AI tools, cloud-based operations, and data analytics, most SMBs remain in early-stage digitization. This gap directly suppresses productivity, firms that have not adopted digital tools generate substantially lower output per employee than their digitally mature counterparts.[13] For Alberta specifically, ICTC's Alberta's Digital Economy Outlook 2030 (Figure 21) identifies the top business obstacles in the digital economy: recruiting and retaining The Digital Adoption Gap

skilled workers are the top two anticipated obstacles for Alberta businesses over the next five years, ahead of factors such as financing, regulatory complexity, and supply chain challenges.[20] This finding is critical: the primary barrier to Alberta's digital transformation is not capital or regulation, it is talent. Alberta's Top Digital Economy Obstacles (ICTC, Digital Economy Outlook 2030) Figure 21 of the ICTC Alberta Digital Economy Outlook 2030 identifies recruiting and retaining skilled workers as the #1 and #2 anticipated business obstacles for Alberta firms in the digital economy over the next five years, ranking above access to capital, regulatory complexity, and other commonly cited barriers.12 In addition to external barriers such as regulatory complexity and market access, firms face internal constraints related to labor utilization. Employers often undervalue international experience, foreign credentials, and multilingual capabilities, limiting their ability to leverage immigrant talent for global expansion. This results in a missed opportunity to use workforce diversity as a strategic asset for entering new markets. [Signal49 Research, 2026; Government of Alberta, JETI Foreign Credential Advisory Committee Final Report, 2025] Labor Market Barriers Within Firms

The Government of Canada's policy framework for inclusive trade explicitly recognizes that SMBs face a distinct and serious set of barriers to international market entry, barriers that larger corporations can overcome through dedicated resources but that remain formidable for smaller enterprises.[21] These barriers cluster into three broad categories: 1. Regulatory and Compliance Challenges Understanding foreign regulatory frameworks, customs requirements, and tariff structures Navigating intellectual property protection across jurisdictions with different legal regimes Complying with sector-specific regulations (food safety, financial services, data privacy) in each target market Adapting products or services to meet local standards and certifications 2. Cost and Logistics Challenges Accessing competitive international shipping, logistics, and supply chain solutions Securing export financing, credit insurance, and trade guarantees Managing currency risk and cross-border payment complexity Finding reliable local distribution partners and managing after-sale service internationally 3. Market Knowledge Challenges Understanding foreign consumer preferences, purchase behaviours, and cultural norms Identifying local competitors and realistic competitive positioning in each market Building trusted local networks and business relationships Understanding business norms, negotiation styles, and relationship-building practices in different cultures Each of these categories requires specialized knowledge that most SMBs do not have in- house. The cost of acquiring this knowledge through consultants, trade missions, or market research is often prohibitive for small businesses. What if this knowledge already existed within the workforce, untapped, underutilized, and waiting to be engaged? Barriers to International Trade13

The academic evidence that immigrant talent drives international trade is robust, consistent, and growing. Statistics Canada's 2019 research paper The Impact of Immigrant Business Ownership on International Trade, authored by Fung, Grekou, and Liu, provides some of the most rigorous Canadian-specific evidence available.[22] Using a newly developed firm-level database linking business ownership data with international trade data, the study found that immigrant-owned manufacturing firms have a 6.7 percentage point higher probability of importing from their owners' regions of origin, and a 2.1 percentage point higher probability of exporting to those regions, compared to Canadian-owned firms, holding other factors constant.[22] The effects are even larger in the wholesale trade sector, where immigrant-owned firms trade more on both extensive and intensive margins, highlighting immigrants' role as trade intermediaries with both the knowledge and connections to facilitate cross-border commerce.[22] A landmark NBER working paper by Ottaviano, Peri, and Wright on UK firms found that a one percentage point increase in the share of immigrants in a local labour market raises the probability that a firm exports services by 0.10%, with the strongest effects in language- intensive and legally complex service sectors.[23] This finding directly addresses the market knowledge and regulatory barriers identified in Section 3: immigrants do not just add to the labour supply; they reduce the information and transaction costs that make foreign markets inaccessible. Swedish research covering nearly 30,000 firms over a decade confirms the same pattern at the employee level: hiring even one additional foreign-born worker has a measurable positive effect on a firm's export capacity.[24] A separate NBER study of Spanish provincial trade data found that immigrants increase exports primarily by increasing the number of firms that begin to export (the extensive margin) rather than merely the volume exported by existing firms, confirming that immigrants are key to helping new exporters overcome the fixed costs of entering foreign markets.[25] Research published in the Canadian Journal of Economics (Blit, Skuterud & Zhang, 2023) further demonstrates that immigrant-owned firms in Canada are significantly more likely to export, particularly to the immigrant owners' countries of origin, and that this effect is driven by the reduction of informational barriers.[26] Section 4: Untapped Potential — Immigrant Talent as a Trade Asset The Research Case14

Gurjot Kalra, owner of Label Kohinoor in northeast Calgary, combines traditional South Asian fashion with modern business practices. His family has been in textiles for 25–30 years in India. When establishing his Calgary boutique, Kalra navigated what he described as significant hurdles: "Getting my inventory shipped here was one of the hardest parts — going through all the trade agreements India has with Canada and acquiring business permits. There were many challenges for me, but going through all that was a learning process I eventually overcame." [Calgary Journal, "Immigrant Entrepreneurs in Calgary: Navigating Trade and Building Businesses," May 2025] Kalra's experience illustrates this paper's central argument in microcosm: an immigrant entrepreneur with origin-country networks, market knowledge, and family commercial relationships created a new import channel that did not previously exist, overcoming regulatory and logistics barriers that would likely have stopped a non-immigrant business owner. The question is not whether such entrepreneurs exist, they do, but whether policy and institutional support can scale their impact from individual success to systemic economic contribution. For every Gurjot Kalra who persists through the barriers, an unknown number of equally capable immigrant entrepreneurs abandon their ventures due to lack of capital, mentorship, or navigational support. The economic cost of that attrition is unmeasured but almost certainly substantial. Case Illustration: From Import Barriers to Trade Bridges15 Immigrant Talent is Being Underutilized Despite this compelling evidence, Canada systematically fails to deploy immigrant talent at the level of its qualifications and capabilities. Signal49 Research's April 2026 Scorecard for Immigrant Skill Utilization, a comprehensive assessment measuring how well Canadian municipalities leverage the skills of permanent residents and naturalized citizens, paints a troubling picture.[27]

16Signal49 Immigrant Skill Utilization Scorecard (April 2026) The Signal49 scorecard evaluates Canadian cities on their ability to deploy immigrant skills in the labour market. Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta's two major cities, both received a grade of 'C' on the scorecard, indicating that despite large, highly-skilled immigrant populations, significant proportions of these workers are employed below their qualification levels or face persistent barriers to labour market integration. Source: Signal49 Research, April 2026. Both Calgary and Edmonton received a grade of 'C' indicating that Alberta's cities, despite their significant immigrant populations and their stated economic needs for skilled workers, are not effectively deploying the talent they have already attracted. This represents both an economic failure and an extraordinary opportunity. Recent labor market data from Calgary provides important empirical evidence supporting the argument that immigrant talent remains underutilized within Alberta’s economy. Between 2022 and 2024, Calgary’s labor force expanded significantly, growing from approximately 812,600 to 927,600 individuals. This increase reflects both strong population growth and rising labor force participation, driven in part by immigration.

17However, this expansion in labor supply has not been matched by proportional improvements in labor market outcomes. Employment increased from 760,000 to 853,600 over the same period, but unemployment also rose notably, from 52,600 to 73,900. This divergence indicates that labor market absorption is lagging behind labor force growth. [Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2022–2024] Figure 1: Labor Market Overview (Calgary, 2022–2024), StatsCan, Signal49 As illustrated in Figure 1, while both the labor force and employment levels are increasing, the rise in unemployment suggests growing inefficiencies in labor market matching. This pattern indicates that the challenge is not simply job creation, but the effective allocation of workers into appropriate roles. The scale of underutilization is not merely statistical. The federal Foreign Credential Recognition Program reports that only 18.7% of loan project participants completed their credential recognition by 2023-2024, and while 27.5% of employment support participants found work in their intended occupation, this still means nearly three-quarters did not. Alberta's own Foreign Credential Advisory Committee, which submitted eleven recommendations to the provincial government occupation, this still means nearly three-quarters did not. Alberta's own Foreign Credential Advisory Committee, which submitted eleven recommendations to the provincial government in June 2025 after two years of engagement with regulatory bodies, employers, educational institutions, and internationally trained professionals, identified systemic barriers including: protracted regulatory college application processes with limited exam seating; absence of centralized pre-arrival information on licensing requirements; jurisdictional inconsistencies across provinces that create duplicative requirements; and employer reluctance to recognize international experience even where credentials are technically valid. These are not bureaucratic inconveniences, they are structural failures that convert human capital into labour market

friction, with measurable economic costs. [Government of Canada, ESDC, "Foreign Credential Recognition Program: 2023-2024 Evaluation," 2025; Government of Alberta, JETI Foreign Credential Advisory Committee Final Report, 2025]18 Figure 3 shows a slight increase in the share of part-time employment over the period. While the overall change is modest, the trend aligns with broader patterns of labor market adjustment, where not all employment gains translate into full-time, stable, or skill-matched roles. This suggests that underutilization may be developing even in the context of overall employment growth. [Calgary Skills Utilization Data, Signal 49 Research] The underutilization of immigrant skills is a well-documented phenomenon in the Canadian context. Foreign credential recognition barriers, lack of bridging programs, employer reluctance to recognize international experience, and limited access to professional networks all contribute to a situation in which immigrants who are engineers, doctors, financial professionals, technology experts, and business leaders end up employed in roles that do not use their qualifications.[26] These barriers are reflected in measurable labor market outcomes. Immigrants consistently experience lower employment rates and higher unemployment rates compared to non- immigrants, despite often having higher levels of education. [Statistics Canada, 2021 Census; Signal49 Research, 2026]

Calgary's Immigrant Demographics Align with Canada's Trade Targets Figure 4 highlights a persistent gap between immigrants and non-immigrants, reinforcing the conclusion that structural barriers not skill deficiencies are limiting effective labor market integration. [Calgary Skills Utilization Data, Signal 49 Research] There is a remarkable and largely unacknowledged, alignment between Calgary's immigrant community demographics and Canada's stated trade diversification priorities. As of the 2021 Census, 33.3% of Calgary's population are immigrants, up from 31% in 2016.[19] First and second generation immigrants together represent 6 in 10 Calgary residents.[19] The largest visible minority group in Calgary is South Asian (7.5% of the population), followed by Chinese (6.8%) and Filipino (4.4%).[28] Other growing communities include Southeast Asians from other countries (1.9%), Latin Americans (1.8%), and Arab communities (1.5%).[28]19

Calgary Community Share of Population Aligned Trade Target South Asian (primarily Indian) 7.5% India — CEPA negotiations; $70B trade target by 2030 Chinese 6.8% China — Indo-Pacific Strategy; CPTPP Filipino 4.4% Philippines — ASEAN trade engagement Southeast Asian 1.9% ASEAN — Indo-Pacific Strategy Latin American 1.8% Latin America — Trade Diversification Arab/Middle Eastern 1.5% Middle East — Energy & Tech Partnerships Table 1: Calgary's visible minority communities aligned with Canada's trade diversification priorities. Sources: Statistics Canada 2021 Census; City of Calgary Population Profile; Government of Canada trade strategy documents. In addition to demographic alignment, sectoral employment patterns reveal a critical constraint. Employment growth in Calgary is concentrated in sectors such as accommodation and food services, and construction, industries that tend to have lower productivity and limited export potential. These sectors are also associated with higher rates of part-time employment and lower value-added output per worker, reinforcing their limited role in driving productivity growth. [Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023-11, based on Statistics Canada Table 36-10-0480-01; Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2022– 2024] Notably, healthcare and social assistance represent a distinct case within this framework. While demand in the sector remains high, internationally trained professionals face significant barriers to entry due to licensing and regulatory requirements. This suggests that underutilization in healthcare is driven not by labor demand constraints, but by institutional and credential-related barriers. A more detailed examination of labor market dynamics within the healthcare sector represents an important direction for future research. It is important to note that this analysis does not explicitly capture the role of Alberta’s energy sector, which remains a central component of the provincial economy and a key driver of20

Figure 5 demonstrates that labor is concentrated in lower-productivity sectors, limiting the economy’s ability to translate workforce diversity into high-value economic output and trade expansion. This alignment is not coincidental; it reflects decades of immigration patterns that have brought people to Calgary from the same regions that Canada now most needs to build trade relationships with. Canada is negotiating a CEPA with India to double trade to $70 billion by 2030. Calgary has over 100,000 residents of South Asian background, many of whom have language skills, cultural knowledge, business networks, and direct family ties in India. The opportunity to leverage this community as a strategic trade asset, rather than employing them in roles below their qualifications, is immense. The implications of this misallocation extend beyond labor market outcomes to broader economic performance. When highly skilled workers, particularly immigrants, are concentrated in lower-productivity, non-tradeable sectors, the economy loses potential gains in innovation, productivity, and export capacity. [Calgary Skills Utilization Data, Signal 49 Research, Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023-11] exports. While energy contributes significantly to overall trade performance, the focus here is on labor allocation across non-resource sectors, where immigrant talent is more directly engaged.21

Figure 6: Productivity vs Trade Potential Framework (Alberta Sector Analysis) Figure 6 provides a visual representation of Alberta’s economic structure using a quadrant- based framework. The figure highlights a concentration of economic strength in the energy sector, which occupies the high-productivity, high-trade quadrant. However, this strength is narrowly distributed, while a significant share of labor remains concentrated in lower- productivity, low-trade sectors such as accommodation and construction. At the same time, sectors such as technology and professional services, positioned within the high-value growth quadrant, remain underutilized relative to their potential. This imbalance underscores the central argument of this paper: improving labor allocation across sectors is critical to enhancing both productivity and trade diversification. Current labor market patterns suggest that immigrant workers are disproportionately concentrated in lower-productivity, non-tradeable sectors. This represents a structural inefficiency, as it prevents the economy from fully utilizing available human capital in areas that generate the highest economic value. [Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023-11; Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2022–2024; Signal49 Research, 2026] Addressing this misallocation would not only improve labor market outcomes for individuals, but also enhance productivity and support trade diversification. [Ottaviano, Peri & Wright, NBER Working Paper No. 21200, 2015; Fung, Grekou & Liu, Statistics Canada, 2019]22

Synthesis The combined theoretical and empirical evidence presented in this section highlights a fundamental challenge within Alberta’s labor market. While the province benefits from a growing and increasingly diverse workforce, significant inefficiencies persist in how this talent is deployed. Key patterns include: Labor force growth outpacing employment absorption Rising unemployment alongside increased participation Growing reliance on part-time employment Persistent gaps between immigrant and non-immigrant outcomes Concentration of employment in lower-productivity sectors These findings support the central argument of this paper: Alberta’s economic challenge is not a lack of talent, but an inability to effectively allocate and utilize the talent that is already present. Addressing this issue will be essential for improving productivity, strengthening trade performance, and ensuring long-term economic growth.23

The evidence that immigrant talent facilitates trade is robust and consistent across multiple jurisdictions, but several important caveats and boundary conditions apply. Acknowledging these does not diminish the paper's central argument; it sharpens the conditions under which that argument holds, and the policy design required to realize it. Section 5: Limitations, Risks, and Boundary Conditions 1. The Magnitude of Network Effects Is Modest The NBER elasticity of 0.10%, a one percentage point increase in immigrant share raises service export probability by 0.10%, is statistically significant but economically modest. Applied to Alberta's 121,699 active businesses, a 1% workforce shift might generate approximately 120 additional service exporters, but this is a marginal effect, not a sectoral transformation. Immigrant networks reduce information and transaction costs, but they do not eliminate structural barriers such as shipping logistics, tariff schedules, capital requirements, or product-market fit. The effect is strongest at the intensive margin (deepening existing trade relationships) and weakest at the extensive margin (creating entirely new trade channels in markets with no prior Canadian commercial presence). [Ottaviano, Peri & Wright, NBER Working Paper No. 21200, 2015; Government of Alberta, Alberta Small Business Profile 2025] The trade-creation effect is strongest in services, wholesale trade, and language-intensive sectors, industries where cultural knowledge, relationship-building, and negotiation norms matter most. For standardized goods, capital-intensive manufacturing, or commodity exports, immigrant network effects are substantially weaker. Alberta's energy sector, which accounts for the majority of provincial exports and the entirety of its productivity advantage, is unlikely to be significantly affected by immigrant talent deployment. This paper's argument applies most directly to the diversification of Alberta's export base away from energy, into technology, professional services, agri-food, and advanced manufacturing, rather than to the optimization of existing energy trade. . [Ottaviano, Peri & Wright, NBER Working Paper No. 21200, 2015; Fung, Grekou & Liu, Statistics Canada, 2019; Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023-11] [Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2022–2024; Signal49 Research, 2026; Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023-11] 2. Sectoral Heterogeneity Matters24

25There is a legitimate risk that Canada's trade diversification strategy, if built substantially on recruiting skilled immigrants from target partner countries, could amount to a brain drain that undermines the very partnerships it seeks to build. India's CEPA negotiations aim to double bilateral trade to $70 billion by 2030; if a significant share of that trade is facilitated by draining India's own engineering, technology, and healthcare professionals, the long-term political sustainability of the partnership may be compromised. A responsible implementation of the framework proposed here would include bilateral skills mobility agreements that create circular migration pathways, allowing Canadian-trained professionals to return to India with enhanced capabilities, rather than purely extractive recruitment. [Office of the Prime Minister, 2026; Global Affairs Canada, 2025] 3. Brain Drain and Partnership Sustainability Accelerating foreign credential recognition must balance efficiency with quality assurance and public safety. The federal evaluation of the Foreign Credential Recognition Program found that while system improvement projects like the National Nursing Assessment Service reduced processing times from 12 months to 6 weeks, 39% of surveyed skilled newcomers still reported they were not employed in fields corresponding to their credentials. The barriers were not merely bureaucratic delay but also difficulties passing Canadian board exams, lack of information about requirements, and non-recognition by employers even where credentials were technically valid. Fast-tracking that bypasses competency validation risks both public safety (in regulated professions) and employer trust (if accelerated pathways are perceived as lowering standards). The JETI Committee's recommendation for competency-based assessment, rather than full credential repetition, offers a viable middle path, but it requires rigorous implementation. [Government of Canada, ESDC, "Foreign Credential Recognition Program: 2023-2024 Evaluation," 2025; Government of Alberta, JETI Foreign Credential Advisory Committee Final Report, 2025] 4. The Speed-Quality Trade-Off in Credential Recognition Table 1 demonstrates a remarkable alignment between Calgary's visible minority communities and Canada's trade diversification priorities, but this alignment is correlational, not causal. Calgary's South Asian population (7.5%) aligns with India's CEPA target, but passive demographic presence does not automatically generate trade flows. The mechanism requires intentional business strategy: employers must actively recruit for market-entry capabilities, entrepreneurs must leverage origin-country networks for commercial partnerships, and economic development organizations must bridge immigrant community knowledge with firm-level export planning. Without this intentional activation, demographic 5. Demographic Alignment Is Not Causal

alignment remains a latent opportunity rather than an realized economic asset. [City of Calgary, 2021 Census; Statistics Canada, 2021 Census; Fung, Grekou & Liu, Statistics Canada, 2019] The Signal49 'C' grade for Calgary and Edmonton reflects not a single barrier but a constellation of factors: foreign credential recognition delays, employer discrimination against international experience, lack of Canadian professional networks, bridging program capacity constraints, and in some cases, immigrant choices to pursue alternative careers. The framework proposed here addresses several of these factors but not all. Employer culture change, in particular, cannot be mandated by policy; it requires sustained engagement, demonstration projects, and evidence-based persuasion. The 27.5% success rate of federal employment support programs, while exceeding the 20% target, still indicates that nearly three-quarters of participants did not find work in their intended occupation, suggesting that even well-designed interventions face structural headwinds. [Signal49 Research, 2026; Government of Canada, ESDC, "Foreign Credential Recognition Program: 2023-2024 Evaluation," 2025] 6. The "Underutilization" Mechanism Is Multicausal While the empirical analysis provides valuable insights into labor market trends, it is important to recognize the limitations of the data. Labor force statistics do not directly measure skill-job matching, and indicators such as part-time employment and sectoral distribution are used as proxies for underutilization. As a result, the analysis captures broad patterns but may not fully reflect the complexity of individual labor market experiences. 7. Data Limitations Additionally, the analysis does not isolate the effects of specific variables such as immigration status, years since arrival, or occupation type due to data constraints. More granular, micro- level data would be required to establish causal relationships between immigration and labour market outcomes. [Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2022–2024] 8. Measurement Limitations26

The empirical evidence presented in Section 4 demonstrates that labor market challenges in Calgary are not driven by a lack of participation, but by inefficiencies in utilization. Rising unemployment, a growing reliance on part-time employment, and the concentration of workers in lower-productivity sectors all point to structural barriers that limit the effective deployment of immigrant talent. These findings underscore the need for targeted, sequenced interventions that address both labor market integration and economic alignment. [Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2022–2024; Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023-11; Signal49 Research, 2026] The evidence presented in this paper supports three interconnected interventions. Rather than treating these as parallel options, the following framework sequences them by implementation timeline, rationale, and dependency, with defined success metrics for each phase.27 Calls to Action Phase 1 (0–18 months): Accelerate Foreign Credential Recognition Rationale: This intervention has the shortest implementation timeline and addresses the most immediate barrier to productivity. The JETI Foreign Credential Advisory Committee's eleven recommendations, submitted to the Alberta government in June 2025, provide a ready-made policy roadmap. Moreover, the federal National Nursing Assessment Service has already demonstrated that processing times can be reduced from 12 months to 6 weeks without compromising standards, proving that acceleration is feasible. This is particularly important in light of the higher unemployment rates and delayed labor market entry observed among internationally trained professionals, as illustrated in Section 4. [Government of Alberta, JETI Foreign Credential Advisory Committee Final Report, 2025; Government of Canada, ESDC, "Foreign Credential Recognition Program: 2023-2024 Evaluation," 2025] Specific Actions: Establish fast-track credentialing pathways for internationally trained professionals in high- demand fields, specifically technology, engineering, healthcare, and financial services, using competency-based assessment rather than requiring full credential repetition. This aligns with the JETI Committee's core recommendation that Alberta move toward skills demonstration rather than credential duplication. [Government of Alberta, JETI Foreign Credential Advisory Committee Final Report, 2025] Expand the NNAS model to engineering and technology regulatory bodies, creating a centralized assessment hub that eliminates jurisdictional duplication and provides clear, timed pathways to licensure. [Government of Canada, ESDC, "Foreign Credential Recognition Program: 2023-2024 Evaluation," 2025

Launch a centralized Alberta pre-arrival portal that informs prospective immigrants of licensing requirements, required documentation, and estimated timelines before they arrive, reducing the information asymmetry that currently delays labour market entry by months or years. [Government of Alberta, JETI Foreign Credential Advisory Committee Final Report, 2025] Collaborate with the Alberta Centre for Labour Market Research (ACLMR) to publish annual sector-specific reports identifying which international credentials and competencies map most directly to Alberta labour market needs, giving both immigrants and employers clear signals. Scale the LearningCITY initiative in Calgary, which currently provides pathways to skills translation and credential recognition, by integrating it with provincial employment services and employer networks. Success Metric: Increase the foreign credential recognition completion rate from 18.7% (2023-2024 federal baseline) to 35% within 24 months, measured by Alberta Treasury tracking of internationally trained professionals achieving licensed employment in their fields. [Government of Canada, ESDC, "Foreign Credential Recognition Program: 2023-2024 Evaluation," 2025] Accountability: Alberta Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade, with quarterly public reporting.28

29Phase 2 (6–24 months): Scale Immigrant Entrepreneur Ecosystems Rationale: Entrepreneur effects on trade are empirically larger than employee effects. Statistics Canada's research shows immigrant-owned manufacturing firms have a 6.7 percentage point higher probability of importing from their owners' regions of origin, an effect substantially larger than the 0.10% service export elasticity for immigrant employees. However, ecosystem building requires longer institutional development than credential reform. Phase 2 can begin in parallel with Phase 1 but will require 18–24 months to show measurable trade outcomes. This intervention directly addresses the sectoral misalignment identified in Section 4, where labor is concentrated in lower-productivity industries rather than in high-value, trade-oriented sectors. [Fung, Grekou & Liu, Statistics Canada, 2019; Ottaviano, Peri & Wright, NBER Working Paper No. 21200, 2015; Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023-11] Specific Actions: Triple provincial and federal funding for Platform Calgary's Global Startup Visa program, which has already demonstrated capacity to attract internationally mobile entrepreneurs to Calgary. The program should be expanded to include explicit trade-bridge mentorship, connecting admitted entrepreneurs with established immigrant business owners who have successfully navigated origin-country market entry. Establish an Alberta Immigrant Trade Bridge Fund providing seed capital (up to $150,000 per venture) for immigrant-founded businesses targeting export to or import from their regions of origin. Fund allocation should prioritize ventures in sectors aligned with Alberta's diversification priorities: technology, agri-food, clean energy, and professional services. Create structured mentorship pipelines connecting established immigrant entrepreneurs, such as Gurjot Kalra (Label Kohinoor) and others documented in Calgary's immigrant business community, with newly arrived immigrant business owners, creating knowledge transfer that no government program can replicate. [Calgary Journal, 2025] Leverage international alumni networks of the University of Calgary, SAIT, and Bow Valley College in India, Nigeria, China, and the Philippines as deliberate startup recruitment channels, offering streamlined visa pathways for alumni with viable business plans targeting bilateral trade. Institutionalize TechMosaic YYC as an annual flagship event with dedicated investor and trade commissioner participation, rather than a one-time showcase.

Success Metric: 50 new immigrant-founded export-oriented businesses registered in Alberta within 36 months, with at least 30% demonstrating active trade (imports or exports) with their founders' regions of origin within 24 months of registration. Accountability: Platform Calgary and Invest Alberta, with annual public reporting to Alberta Treasury. Phase 3 (12–36 months): Mobilize SMB Hiring as Market Entry Strategy Rationale: This is the most scalable intervention, affecting potentially thousands of Alberta's 121,699 active businesses, but it requires cultural change among employers that cannot be mandated and takes time to build. Phase 3 should begin once Phase 1 has produced a measurable increase in credentialed immigrant professionals available for hire, and once Phase 2 has generated visible success stories that employers can reference. As illustrated in 2x2 framework, the current allocation of labor places a significant proportion of immigrant talent in sectors with low productivity and limited trade potential. Mobilizing SMB hiring as a market entry strategy provides a direct mechanism to shift this allocation toward higher-value, export-oriented activities. [Government of Alberta, Alberta Small Business Profile 2025; Sharpe & MacKinnon, CSLS Research Report 2023-11; Ottaviano, Peri & Wright, NBER Working Paper No. 21200, 2015] Specific Actions: Incentivize SMB participation through proven models. The federal Skilled Newcomer Training Incentive Bond Pilot, which engaged 120 employers and placed 62 skilled newcomers in permanent employment, should be replicated and scaled provincially. Alberta should offer wage subsidies (50% for first six months) to SMBs hiring internationally trained professionals in roles that explicitly include market development responsibilities for target countries. Integrate immigrant talent consideration into provincial procurement criteria. Businesses seeking Alberta government contracts above $500,000 should be required to demonstrate how their workforce includes internationally trained professionals capable of supporting export diversification, or to partner with organizations like CRIEC and ERIEC to develop such capacity.30

31Partner with CRIEC and ERIEC to deliver employer-facing "market entry briefings" that translate the abstract research in this paper into concrete, sector-specific guidance: "Hiring a Bangalore-trained software engineer with Calgary residency and active Indian professional networks is not a diversity initiative, it is a lower-cost, lower-risk market entry strategy than establishing a foreign subsidiary or engaging a country consultant." [Ottaviano, Peri & Wright, NBER Working Paper No. 21200, 2015; Fung, Grekou & Liu, Statistics Canada, 2019] Require Trade Accelerator Program (TAP) cohorts to include immigrant talent assessment as a standard module, ensuring that businesses graduating from the program have evaluated whether their existing or prospective immigrant employees can accelerate their market entry timelines. Success Metric: Increase the share of Alberta SMBs with immigrant employees in strategic roles (defined as roles with explicit international market development, regulatory navigation, or partnership-building responsibilities) by 5 percentage points from a baseline to be established via Alberta Treasury's Business Counts survey within 36 months. Accountability: Alberta Ministry of Jobs, Economy and Trade, in partnership with Calgary Economic Development and Edmonton Global, with biennial public reporting. The Business Case in Plain Language An Alberta technology company seeking to enter the Indian market must understand Indian business culture (relationship-based, hierarchical, patience-intensive), navigate local regulatory requirements (GST registration, data localization rules, sector-specific licensing), build trusted relationships with potential customers and partners, and communicate effectively across cultural and linguistic lines. A Bangalore-trained software engineer who has lived in Calgary for five years, maintains active professional networks across both countries, speaks Hindi and English fluently, and understands both Canadian corporate governance and Indian business etiquette is not merely a productive employee, they are a market entry strategy with a salary rather than a consulting fee. The research is unambiguous: firms that hire immigrant employees increase their probability of exporting. For an Alberta SMB, there may be no more cost-effective and culturally intelligent first step into India, the Philippines, South Korea, Brazil, or the UAE than hiring an employee with direct knowledge of, and connections in, that market. [Ottaviano, Peri & Wright, NBER Working Paper No. 21200, 2015; Fung, Grekou & Liu, Statistics Canada, 2019 This aligns with the empirical evidence presented in this paper showing that firms that integrate immigrant talent into strategic roles are more likely to engage in international trade. [Ottaviano, Peri & Wright, NBER Working Paper No. 21200, 2015; Fung, Grekou & Liu, Statistics Canada, 2019; Blit, Skuterud & Zhang, Canadian Journal of Economics, 2023]

32Conclusion Canada's economic challenges, a persistent productivity gap, dangerous trade concentration, and the constrained capacity of small and medium-sized businesses to expand internationally, are serious but addressable. The most powerful and immediate tool available is one that is already present in the workforce, but operating far below its capacity. Calgary sits at a remarkable intersection: a city where six in ten residents are first- or second- generation immigrants, where South Asian, Chinese, Filipino, and other communities align precisely with Canada's Indo-Pacific and global trade priorities, and where the Signal49 scorecard documents a 'C' grade in skill utilization, indicating that despite large, highly qualified immigrant populations, significant proportions are employed below their qualification levels. This is not a talent shortage. It is a deployment failure with measurable economic costs. [City of Calgary, 2021 Census; Signal49 Research, 2026; Statistics Canada, Labour Force Survey, 2022–2024] The three-phase framework proposed here, credential recognition, entrepreneur investment, and SMB hiring, is designed to be implemented sequentially but can operate in parallel where institutional capacity permits. Each phase has defined metrics, established precedents (the NNAS model, the Skilled Newcomer Bond Pilot, Platform Calgary's Startup Visa), and clear accountability mechanisms. The framework acknowledges limitations: immigrant network effects are modest in magnitude, strongest in services and wholesale trade, and require intentional business strategy to activate. It also acknowledges risks: brain drain in partner countries, the speed-quality trade-off in credential recognition, and the multicausal nature of labour market underutilization. [Government of Canada, ESDC, "Foreign Credential Recognition Program: 2023-2024 Evaluation," 2025; Government of Alberta, JETI Foreign Credential Advisory Committee Final Report, 2025] The alternative is to continue what Canada has done for decades: attract world-class talent, invest in its education and migration, and then under deploy it in roles that waste its capabilities while simultaneously spending public resources to build trade relationships from scratch. That approach is not merely inefficient, it is economically irrational. The bridges to the world that Canada needs are already here, embedded in the knowledge, networks, and capabilities of its immigrant workforce. The only question is whether governments, economic development organizations, and employers have the institutional will to cross them. The economic case is therefore clear: improving immigrant talent utilization is not a marginal policy adjustment, but a central pillar of Canada’s productivity and trade strategy in an increasingly competitive global economy.

[1] This paper synthesizes peer-reviewed academic research, government statistical publications, and policy reports published between 2019 and 2026. Trade and productivity data are drawn from Statistics Canada, the OECD, and the Bank of Canada. Demographic data are from the 2021 Census of Population. The alignment analysis in Table 1 is constructed by mapping Statistics Canada visible minority categories to Global Affairs Canada trade priority regions; it is correlational and does not imply causal relationships. The phased implementation framework and success metrics are the author's policy recommendations and have not been piloted or evaluated. [2] Nicolas Vincent, "Toward a Virtuous Circle for Productivity," Bank of Canada, November 19, 2025. https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2025/11/toward-a-virtuous-circle-for-productivity/ [3] OECD Compendium of Productivity Indicators 2025, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, July 2025. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/oecd-compendium-of-productivity- indicators-2025_b024d9e1-en [4] HillNotes, "What Is Canada's Productivity Performance and How Does It Compare to Other Countries?", Library of Parliament, September 22, 2025. https://hillnotes.ca/2025/09/22/what-is- canadas-productivity-performance-and-how-does-it-compare-to-other-countries/ [5] McKinsey & Company, "Addressing Canada's Productivity Gap," November 2025. https://www.mckinsey.com/ca/overview/addressing-canadas-productivity-gap-a-journey-towards- global-leadership [6] ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025, Government of Canada. https://ised- isde.canada.ca/site/sme-research-statistics/en/key-small-business-statistics/key-small-business-statistics- 2025 [7] Government of Alberta, Alberta Small Business Profile 2025, October 2025. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/cc1c3dcf-d39e-4afa-9eff-32bda3759b79/resource/e5e45842- 4675-44f8-b128-b517dc22b1b2/download/jeti-alberta-small-business-profile-2025.pdf [8] Statistics Canada, "The Daily — Canadian International Merchandise Trade, December 2024," February 5, 2025. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/250205/dq250205a- eng.htm [9] Scotiabank Economics, "Canada-US Trade: Getting Up to Speed," January 2025. https://www.scotiabank.com/ca/en/about/economics/economics-publications/post.other- publications.canada-and-us-economics-.canada-and-us-decks.trade-stats--january-31--2025-.html [10] Global Affairs Canada, "Growing Canada's Exports to Overseas Markets by 50% — 2024 Update." https://international.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/corporate/reports/chief- economist/diversification/overseas-markets-2024 [11] Statistics Canada, Table 12-10-0011-01: International merchandise trade by country. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/tv.action?pid=1210001101 [12] CBC News, "Carney caucus address fall priorities," 2025. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/carney-caucus-address-fall-priorities-1.7630250 [13] ICTC, "Quarterly Digital Economy Pulse: Digital Adoption in Canada," March 2026. https://ictc- ctic.ca/reports/quarterly-digital-economy-pulse-digital-adoption-canada-march-2026 [14] World Economic Forum, "Special Address by Mark Carney, Prime Minister of Canada," Davos Annual Meeting 2026. https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting- 2026/sessions/special-address-by-mark-carney-prime-minister-of-canada/ FOOTNOTES33

[15] Office of the Prime Minister, "Prime Minister Carney to Diversify Canada's Trade, Attract New Investment and Secure New Partnerships," February 23, 2026. https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2026/02/23/prime-minister-carney-diversify- canadas-trade-attract-new-investment [16] Global Affairs Canada, Canada's Africa Strategy: A Partnership for Shared Prosperity and Security, 2025. https://international.canada.ca/en/global-affairs/corporate/reports/africa-strategy- 2025 [17] ISED, Key Small Business Statistics 2025. https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/sme-research- statistics/en/key-small-business-statistics/key-small-business-statistics-2025 [18] Government of Alberta, Alberta Small Business Profile 2025. https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/cc1c3dcf-d39e-4afa-9eff-32bda3759b79/resource/e5e45842- 4675-44f8-b128-b517dc22b1b2/download/jeti-alberta-small-business-profile-2025.pdf [19] City of Calgary, "Data About Calgary's Population," 2021 Census. https://www.calgary.ca/research/population-profile.html [20] ICTC, "Alberta's Digital Economy Outlook 2030." https://ictc-ctic.ca/reports/albertas-digital- economy-outlook-2030 [21] Global Affairs Canada, "Supporting Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in International Trade." https://international.canada.ca/en/services/business/trade/policy/inclusive/small-medium- enterprises/policy [22] Loretta Fung, Douwere Grekou and Huju Liu, "The Impact of Immigrant Business Ownership on International Trade," Statistics Canada Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series, 11F0019M No. 426, May 13, 2019. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11f0019m/11f0019m2019014- eng.htm [23] Gianmarco I.P. Ottaviano, Giovanni Peri, and Greg C. Wright, "Immigration, Trade and Productivity in Services: Evidence from U.K. Firms," NBER Working Paper No. 21200; also published via CEPR VoxEU. https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/immigration-trade-and-productivity-services [24] Jentjens et al., "Migration and Servicification: Do Immigrant Employees Spur Firm Exports of Services?" Research Institute of Industrial Economics, 2017. https://ideas.repec.org/p/hhs/ratioi/0298.html [25] Requena and Llano, "The Trade Creation Effect of Immigrants: Evidence from the Remarkable Case of Spain," NBER Working Paper No. W15625, 2009. https://www.nber.org/papers/w15625 [26] Blit, Skuterud & Zhang, "Immigrant Entrepreneurs and International Trade," Canadian Journal of Economics, 2023. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/caje.12608 [27] Signal49 Research, "A Scorecard for Immigrant Skill Utilization," April 2026. https://www.signal49.ca/in-fact/a-scorecard-for-immigrant-skill-utilization_apr2026/ [28] BlueSky Calgary / City of Calgary, "Calgary's Growing Diversity: Population Statistics and Shifts," based on Statistics Canada 2021 Census data. https://www.blueskycalgary.com/diversity- statistics-calgary/34

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