TORONTO – In order to address a major labor shortage across the nation, the federal Liberal administration has outlined plans for a significant increase in the number of immigrants entering Canada, with an aim of seeing 500,000 people arrive each year by 2025.
Industry groups and others generally supported the concept, but there are concerns about how far it will go and whether it would even be possible given the backlog of applications at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
On Tuesday, the new strategy was unveiled by Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. Along with more moderate goals for family members and refugees, it places a strong emphasis on admitting more permanent residents with the necessary work skills and experience.
“Don’t be misled. According to Fraser, there has been a significant rise in economic immigration to Canada.”There has never been a plan that has been as intensely focused on economic migration as the immigration levels approach.”
According to the new plan, a wave of immigrant arrivals will begin in 2023 with 465,000 people arriving from abroad before reaching 500,000 in 2025. In contrast, according to the immigration agency, last year saw the admission of 405,000 permanent residents.
The majority of those new entrants will be classified as “economic immigrants,” who are expected to fill some of the approximately one million vacant positions now spread across various economic sectors.
Fraser stated that there were a million open positions in the Canadian economy at a time when immigration was already responsible for the majority of our labor force expansion. If we don’t welcome immigration, we won’t be able to reach our full economic potential.
The minister also emphasized the risks over the long term as Canada’s labor force continues to age, leaving fewer people to support not only the elderly but also important public services like hospitals and schools.
Fraser noted that the additional employees would actually facilitate the construction of more homes by solving a shortage of tradespeople, despite the fact that the inflow might put even greater strain on the country’s already scarce supply of affordable housing in many areas.
The new plan calls for a minor increase in the number of family members who will be admitted into Canada, even though most of the expected expansion in immigration over that period is expected to be economic in nature.
The government’s goal to finish resettling 40,000 Afghan refugees next year, which Fraser attributed to, is also projected to result in a general drop in the number of refugees, from 76,000 in 2023 to fewer than 73,000 by 2025.
During the last two years, we have resettled more than one-third of the refugees worldwide. During the last three years, we have welcomed more refugees than any other nation.
Despite the decline, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees applauded the administration for continuing to support the acceptance of asylum seekers escaping violence and other dangers.
Rema Jamous Imseis, the UNHCR representative in Canada, said in a statement that the agency “welcomes Canada’s sustained commitment to refugee resettlement as part of its overall immigration growth plan.”
Tom Kmiec, an immigration critic for the opposition Conservatives, praised the government’s proposal to significantly increase the number of immigrants entering Canada but expressed doubts about the government’s ability to achieve its goals.