In partnership with
Please forward this to ONE friend today and tell them to subscribe here.
Diana Palmerín Velasco is a senior policy and advocacy leader with more than 15 years of experience advancing economic, social, and public policy priorities. She currently serves as Senior Director at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce—the country’s largest business association—where she leads complex policy initiatives and stakeholder engagement at the national level. Diana’s work focuses on shaping policy outcomes by aligning business, government, and community partners around shared objectives.
Diana and I chat about:
The communities across Canada that are desperate for people and can't get them
How the Chamber network is advocating for regional immigration strategies
The global war for talent and why Canada risks being left behind
Why she believes immigrants are being blamed for problems they didn't create
The paradox of selecting for PhDs when most job vacancies require a high school diploma
What the business community can do to bring Canadians back on side
Why immigration success happens at the local community level
Earn Your Certificate in Real Estate Investing from Wharton Online
The Wharton Online + Wall Street Prep Real Estate Investing & Analysis Certificate Program is an immersive 8-week experience that gives you the same training used inside the world’s leading real estate investment firms.
Analyze, underwrite, and evaluate real estate deals through real case studies
Learn directly from industry leaders at firms like Blackstone, KKR, Ares, and more
Earn a certificate from a top business school and join a 5,000+ graduate network
Use code SAVE300 at checkout to save $300 on tuition.
Program starts February 9.
Some takeaways:
We need to recover public trust before anything else can work. Diana calls this the foundation. If immigrants land in communities and don't feel welcomed and valued, everything else falls apart. We all just end up retreating into ethnic enclaves which ends up causing more damage to an already fractured society. The work now is about showing Canadians that immigration benefits everyone, not a few regions or employers, but everyone.
When Diana spent two years unemployed, she lost. But Canada lost too. Those were two years where she wasn't paying taxes or contributing to the economy. We talk about immigrant resilience like it's a badge of honour. But the question we should be asking is: should it be this hard? And what does it cost us all when talented people are stuck on the sidelines?
We've allowed immigrants to be blamed for systemic failures. Diana says the silence from government on this hasn't been helpful. Housing, healthcare, education—Canadians keep pointing to immigrants as the cause. But that isn't exactly true. The youth unemployment piece, for example, is far more complicated than "immigrants took the jobs." AI is eliminating entry-level roles. Trade uncertainty has businesses freezing hiring. None of these issues deserve simple answers, but simple answers are all we keep getting.
Immigrants are not a monolith but the Canadian immigration system tends to treat them like they are. It's frustrating to see people assume all immigrants are the same: desperate, penniless, struggling with English. The reality is wildly different. Canada attracts some of the most talented and experienced people. Folks with advanced degrees, global networks, and multinational work experience. The settlement sector, the policy system, the public conversation just seems to collapse all this diversity into one box. And then we wonder why nothing works.
Links:
Where to find Diana
The Newcomers resources:
The Newcomers archetype quiz: https://newcomersquiz.scoreapp.com/
Field Notes: https://thenewcomerspod.com/field-notes
Want to work with us? Check out The Newcomers Media Kit
Want more immigrant interviews? Listen to The Newcomers Podcast.
Interested in immigrant entrepreneur stories? Listen to Unfiltered w/PORCH.
Looking to find out what Canadian immigration program you’re eligible for? Check out our Who’s Eligible For series.
Do you know anyone who would find this information useful? Please forward it.
Was this email forwarded to you? Join our mailing list.