Competition for immigrants set to increase, according to experts

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It's a sunny Monday afternoon in the suburb of Woodbine in southwest Calgary and Cherotich Chemoss has a day off school.

All she wants is to get some chicken wings.

Chemoss,who movedfrom Kenya last September to start a post-graduate certificate in marketing at Mount Royal University, has found a pub to frequent.

"I love their wings," she said.

When asked if they are better than ones from her hometown of Nairobi, she quickly said, "Hmm. I don't think so. Ours are fresher."

And that is pretty much the answer Chemoss has to any question about whether Calgary is better for her than her hometown.

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Possibly,but she's not sure yet.

"I had a fantastic life in Kenya, really," she said. "I lived in the leafy suburbs like Woodbine."

Chemoss has relocated to Calgary to study for a number of reasons. She wanted the extra education and she was also looking forward to a year out of the corporate rat race that was her past life.

Shewonderedif Calgary might be a good place to settle and raise her 10-year-old son.

"I've had fantastic jobs, jobs with drivers, you know, jobs that pay a good number," Chemoss said.

Chemoss is part of a growing class of immigrants who know they are in high demand and are calling the shots.

The competition is coming

Darrell Bricker believes that Canadians haven't really awakened to the fact that competition for immigrants is looming.

Bricker is the head of the polling firm Ipsos Public Affairs and author of Empty Planet: The Shock of Global Population Decline.

He says new estimates arethe world's population will peak sometime "in the 2040s" and then start to decline, faster than anyone had predicted.

"For example, China's population decline was supposed to start in the mid-2030s," Bricker said.

"It actually started last year."

LISTEN |Competition among skilled immigrants is growing:

Calgary Eyeopener9:08Unsettling Part 4: Growing competition for skilled workers

Alberta needs more immigrants if it wants to keep growing, but every other Western country is in the same boat and wants those same people. CBC's Judy Aldous tell us about the growing competition for immigrants - especially skilled ones.

So what does this mean for immigration in the future?

According to Bricker, the countries Canada has typically turned to for newcomers will likely find those populations aging and declining.

"Immigration is a young man's game," Bricker said, addingthe middle-class population in these countries will continue to grow, making immigration a less tempting option for many.

That means our immigration system needs to be on its toes.

Other countries catching on

If anyone knows about the interplay between the immigration system and the fight for immigrant talent, it's Arif Khimani.

As the president and CEO of MobSquad, he relies on an efficient system to bring newcomers to Calgary.

MobSquad is a Calgary-based tech firm that hires software engineers from all over the world, brings them hereand then contracts their services out to clients across North America.

"Canada has been very cutting-edge in its immigration programs to date," Khimani said.

According to him, there are some federal programs, like the Global Talent Stream (part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program) that are very responsive.

"If you are an individual who beats all of the qualifications and one of those employers wants to hire you, you could realistically be in Canada within a month of having started the application process, which is very quick for any standard anywhere in the world."

But Khimani says other countries are taking note.

"I would say there have been recent strategies announced in Australia, potentially in New Zealand, Germany, the U.K. and other European countries that are also short of this technology talent."

He came but now he may leave

Faisal Riaz, 39, came to Calgary from Pakistan six years ago, as one of the coveted IT workers.

He started in Toronto, then relocated to Calgary, where he got his Canadian citizenship.

But he was laid off by his multinational company last summer (ironically, his job was outsourced).

While he has picked up work with a Vancouver-based employer as a contractor, he's taken a massive hit financially.

"Can't even think about saving anymore," Riaz said.

Riaz is now considering leaving.

He's lived in countries all over the world, and at this point, his priority is finding a higher paying job and if he can't find it here, he'll go elsewhere.

He supportsCanada's overall ambitions to attract immigrants, but he wonders if we first need to resolve some outstanding issues.

"Have we resolved [the] housing problem? Have we curtailed inflation? Have we improved our health sector and services? Have we improved [the] quality of educational institutes there is a long, long list there, right?" Faisal said.

"Somebody needs to review that checklist."

Long-term plan

For Chemoss, a newly arrived international student, she has some time to settle in and see if Calgary is a good fit.

She'll decide what to do next after finishing her one-year program.

Chemoss says staying depends on her securing a job that does justice to her experience.

"If I get a job that appreciates my history, my experience, and allows me to work at the level I should work because I have 17 years [of] experience in sales and marketing and operations and I can add value," she said.

Chemoss is particularly grateful for how smooth the transition has been for her 10-year-old.

"He's in a Catholic school around here, so I love the fact that he walks to school. I like that he has made friends in our hood here," she said.

Have a story, questions or comments to share? Reach out to us at unsettling@cbc.ca