The quest for employment and process of integration into the Canadian labour Market has been one of challenging transitions shared by majority of ethnic minorities’ immigrants’ communities in the City of Ottawa in particular, and Canada in general.

I had an opportunity as a member of a visible minority myself, and as an employment counsellor for years, to listen to stories and observe visible ethnic minorities who were experiencing effects of unemployment and underemployment in Ottawa, Canada. The stories of these migrants could support a creation of new knowledge in the field of employment development and immigration related policies that will support and facilitate progress of ethnic minorities’ immigrants in the Canadian society if well documented, and given proper meanings as perceived by these individuals.
 
My underlying assumption is that; these stories, its emotional enormity and grievances were deep rooted in their experiences through social cultural interaction in the Canadian labour market, and employment support services in Canada.

Many researchers do not usually discuss these experiences, as the emphasis is mainly placed on quantitative approach to understand the barriers to employment, and reasons from the perspectives of the researcher. Minimum attention is placed on how these ethnics minorities feel about what is going on in their own lives, through own experiences i.e. lack of access to economic opportunities, and how this lack of access, or feelings of social exclusions has affected them socially and economically.

According to the 2006 census, the visible ethnic minorities represent about 20 % of residents in the city of Ottawa, in which about 30% from them are Canadians born. About 4.9% are Black, 3.8%, Chinese, 3.3% South Asian, 3.0% Arab, other 5.2%. In total there are about 156 ethnic groups in the City of Ottawa, with more than 70 languages, making Ottawa the second city in Ontario that accommodate majority of ethnic minorities after Toronto (Mixed Blessings Census, 2006).

Furthermore, the flows of immigrants to the city of Ottawa in general continue to increase rapidly in the last decades. This constant growth in immigrants’ population would need a collective social and political action plan that would foster their integration, and effective participation in social economic and political development in the City of Ottawa in particular, and Canadian society in general. Within the years 1996-2006 the immigrant population has increased by about 22.2%, from the normal baseline growth of 12.6%. Nonetheless, its worth noted that about 79% of the population growth in Ottawa from 2001-2006 in the City of Ottawa has been cited as the outcome of the new immigrants (Social Planning Council of Ottawa, 2009, p. 5).

In this prospect, not all of these percentages of immigrants cited above indicate success in making Ottawa their new home due to difficulties they faced socially, culturally and economically. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities (2009) has cited that immigrants are returning to their home countries of origin, including those who possess skills required by the labour market within Canadian bigger cities (2009, p. 5). 

As a result, it is fair to say that Ottawa is not the only Canadian municipality that is not paying attention to the retention of its new immigrants; rather, it is becoming a general phenomenon among all Canadian municipalities. It is also fair to say that, better understanding of immigrant integration and access to economic opportunity—would be better understood from the immigrants’ perspectives on how they perceive to be a problem socially, culturally, and economically in Ottawa, Canada. Otherwise, the discourse of immigration and immigrants’ retention will continue to be limited on statistical figure of the number that come, and later leave of Ottawa for other municipalities, or go back to their home countries of origins.