*2.1. Individual-Level Factors*

Barriers that impede skilled immigrants' labour market integration in Canada are widely documented [32]. As discussed above, although skilled immigrants are highly qualified, professionally trained, and economically motivated, they face individual-level challenges after arriving in Canada that restrain them from successfully integrating into the labour market. Racism can manifest itself in the exclusion of eligible immigrants from getting job opportunities because of their accents, body language, and other individual characteristics. The most vital factors may be a lack of language skills, acculturation challenges, and teamwork ability. These individual-level challenges may interact with other local contexts to trap skilled immigrants in low-skill survival jobs, resulting in negative outcomes in the labour market [32].

English-language skills are among the most critical factors in immigrants getting jobs in Canada [8]. Skilled immigrants must show minimum language requirements in listening, speaking, reading, and writing modules for the Express Entry program [39]; however, most of the time, employers consider their English-language skills insufficient for effective employment communication [40]. A study shows that employers predict applicants' language skills based on the name or country of origin on a resume [41]. Lacking a Canadian accent and expressions, and lacking knowledge about specific language skills, also affects skilled immigrants' employment outcomes [42]. A lack of linguistic skills prevents cross-cultural communication, thereby hindering adequate access to the host culture, hindering learning the expected standard behaviour in the workplace and soft skills, and delaying job market integration [8,40,43,44]. Improved language ability is likely a necessary condition for skilled immigrants to be successfully integrated into the labour market [45]. Racialized immigrants are discriminated against because of their non-native accents, which serve as a marker that establishes the White English/French accent as superior. This practice reveals the colonial mentality of the employers, where they want to reduce, rectify, and normalize the non-native voices of immigrants because non-native accents seem defensive and confrontational [46]. The non-nativity of their accents makes skilled immigrants' employability incompetent, according to the employer. Therefore, it is vital to eliminate prejudices and negative mentalities that marginalize skilled immigrants and instead devote greater resources to improving English accents in order to help them with better labour market integration.

A lack of understanding of workplace culture, lack of teamwork ability, and acculturation challenges also impose significant barriers to immigrants getting their desired jobs. These factors are essential, as understanding cultural differences in the workplace, teamwork capability, and successful acculturation may play a vital role for newcomers in attaining Canadian work experiences. A study shows that many immigrants do not know North American concepts of speaking well, selling themselves for work, and maintaining eye contact during a job interview—all of which are very important in the Canadian workplace culture [47]. Petri (2010) showed that to be integrated into Canadian society, newcomers should speak the way Canadians do and learn how Canadian-born people approach different situations using different manners [48]. However, research shows that Asian-named people with similar qualifications receive fewer calls from the employer when applying for a job [30]. Even though diversity in hiring is promoted in Canada, in reality, there is still discrimination against skilled immigrants that manifests on a personal level, preventing their integration into the labour market. Therefore, the government should work to ensure the practice of anti-racist policies among employers and encourage them to hire skilled immigrants if they meet all the required criteria. Also, skilled immigrants should raise their voices and mobilize available resources in improving their necessary skill sets to be hired, to dismantle racialized practices in the Canadian job market.
