Immigration Minister Confirms Our Rates are 2.6 Times That of the US
By 2021, Canada will have raised its immigration intake to 350,000 people. This increase is 40,000 more than what’s to be expected for this year and makes up for 1% of the country’s population.
This figure is comparable to the 0.3 percent immigration rate of the United States in 2017.
The strategy behind this increase is to fill large gaps in our labour market. A large portion – 72 percent – of these newcomers are arriving through economic programs specifically designed to strengthen our labour force with skilled foreign workers.
Across the country, there are significant shortages on skilled workers in the labour market in areas that either don’t have enough eligible candidates or are vastly populated by senior citizens.
On Board
The federal government’s own economic advisory council and many other economic groups and immigration advocates across the country see the value in taking on more immigrants and have called for the increase year after year.
“In certain regions the hunger for workers is huge. This plan is making us very competitive in the global market. It enables us to continue to be competitive, it enables us to continue to present Canada as a welcoming country and to position us to continue to be (a leader) in skills attraction.” says Immigration Minister, Ahmed Hussen.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has approved a funding increase to accommodate the 2021 target. They’ve granted at 30 percent increase in the budget for settlement services.
An increase in funding has also been allocated to aid approximately 1,000 women and girl refugees in vulnerable situations to Canada over the next two years.
However, according to Hussen, in order to truly meet the country’s dramatic immigration increase plan over the next three years, another funding increase is required.
Preparation, Determination, and Gradualism
An increase of this proportion needs to be meticulously organized and executed. The Liberal government is taking the necessary measures to ensure these newcomers are accepted into the system carefully and that they have the access they need to settlement services.
“You need to be able to house them, you need to be able to settle them, you need to be able to provide integration services,” he said.
He also expressed the importance of gradually increasing the immigration rate so the system can still process applications diligently and securely. Furthermore, gradualism is necessary for communities as they absorb immigrants as well as for local immigration partnerships to accommodate newcomers with services.
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Arghavan Gerami
Arghavan Gerami is the Founder and Senior Counsel at Gerami Law Professional Corporation ('PC'), a full-service immigration law firm in Ottawa, Ontario. Since 2011, Ms. Gerami has focused her practice on immigration and refugee litigation. Prior to that, Ms. Gerami worked at the Ministry of Attorney General and the Department of Justice and had the privilege of serving the Honourable Mr. Justice M. Evans at the Federal Court of Appeal on immigration and administrative law appeals. Ms. Gerami contributes to the Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, the Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Ms. Gerami has also published numerous journal articles and presented at various immigration and refugee law conferences and events across Canada.