Canada’s Secret Superpower: Immigrant Experience

Focusing only on economic benefits overlooks things that are harder to measure — knowledge, life experiences, and culture.

Even newcomers with similar qualifications can bring drastically different experiences and learnings. Canada stands to benefit from these diverse experiences in more ways than one, sometimes beyond just economic impact.

Foreign Experience Can Save Lives

For Wells Gladwish, an Ontario toddler who was bitten by a rattlesnake, an immigrant doctor’s experience from back home helped save his life.

Dr. Rishi Ganesan, a pediatric critical care doctor, had spent a decade practising medicine in Canada without treating a venomous snakebite. But during his training in India, he had treated patients bitten by cobras, vipers and kraits. So, when 15-month-old Wells was brought to the hospital in London, Ontario, that experience suddenly became relevant again.

“Some of those things kicked in from the back of my mind, and I felt very comfortable,” Dr. Ganesan told CBC News.

After receiving treatment at two different hospitals and 18 doses of antivenom, Wells is now recovering. Although many of the medical staff involved had not handled such a case before, the coordinated medical response was successful, thanks in part to Dr. Ganesan’s knowledge.

While this recent news story brought the intangible value of global experience into the limelight, it is just one example.

Similar Qualifications Do Not Mean Similar Knowledge

For economic immigration programs such as Express Entry, factors such as education, language proficiency, and work experience help determine whether someone qualifies for permanent residence.

But two doctors with similar qualifications and years of experience may have encountered very different medical conditions, depending on where they trained and worked.

Another example is that of Dr. Muhammad Golam Morshed. Dr. Morshed began his career in Bangladesh, where he helped establish a microbiology laboratory in a remote area with limited resources.

In British Columbia, he went on to become a leading microbiologist at the BC Centre for Disease Control. He has studied infectious diseases such as Lyme disease and West Nile virus, and has authored over 150 scientific papers.

His work is particularly relevant as Canada faces changing patterns of infectious diseases. Rising temperatures and changing environmental conditions are helping some disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes expand into new areas.

But it’s not just doctors and researchers who bring valuable foreign experience. Engineers, teachers, emergency responders, and people in countless other professions do too.

A first responder from a region frequently affected by earthquakes may have practical knowledge of disaster response. An agricultural worker from a country facing prolonged droughts may be familiar with techniques for growing crops under difficult conditions.

A construction worker who immigrates to Canada may know different building techniques than those commonly used here. “Asia and Europe are far more advanced construction markets in terms of innovation,” adds Ruairi Spillane, Founder & CEO of Outpost Recruitment.

These experiences do not necessarily make someone more qualified than a Canadian-trained professional. But they can provide a different perspective or complement existing expertise. Sometimes, these experiences and skills can suddenly become valuable.

A Spoonful of Sugar: The Intangible Benefit of Immigration

Growing up, I remember hearing a story about the Parsis, a community that fled religious persecution in Persia and found refuge in India centuries ago.

According to legend, when the Parsis arrived in Gujarat, they approached the local ruler, asking for permission to settle.

The ruler was reluctant. He offered the Parsi delegation a glass of milk filled to the top. It indicated that the kingdom was already full and there was no room for more people.

In response, the Parsis carefully added a spoonful of sugar to the glass and returned it. The sugar dissolved and no milk was spilt. Instead, the milk became sweeter.

The message was simple: the newcomers would become part of the kingdom without displacing anyone. And in doing so, they would enrich the community.

The ruler was impressed and welcomed the Parsis into his kingdom.

Of course, this is a legend and may not be historically accurate. But the story has stayed with me over the years.

Parsis are now an integral part of Indian society. Despite being a small community, they have made remarkable contributions to India’s business, science, arts and culture.

I think about that glass of milk whenever conversations about immigration are reduced to how many people a country can accommodate or how much newcomers contribute economically.

Because sometimes, the most valuable thing newcomers bring cannot be counted. It is what they add to the society around them.

We Are More Than the Sum of Our Parts

None of this means that we should ignore the economic impact of immigration or the challenges that come with population growth.

Housing, employment, healthcare and infrastructure are real concerns, and governments need to plan for them.

But immigration is also an exchange of knowledge, experiences, ideas and cultures. Beyond professional skills and economic impact, newcomers bring languages, traditions, food, music and different ways of looking at the world.

Canada is often described as a “mosaic” rather than a “melting pot”. To many, those terms seem interchangeable.

But to me, the idea of a cultural mosaic signifies that newcomers are not expected to leave their experiences, culture, and traditions at the door and adopt the Canadian way of life. Instead, they are welcome to bring their whole selves and add colour and value to Canadian communities.