three years
With nearly a million job openings
across the country, Canada is increasingly turning to foreigners to fill its workforce shortage and has set unprecedented immigration targets for the next three
years.
The government aims to attract
465,000 permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 permanent
residents in 2025, according to its Immigration Levels Plan.
The Canadian government's attitude
to immigration stands in stark contrast to governments in Western countries
such as Sweden and Italy, where newly elected parties are trying to put a
restriction on immigration and blame immigrants for crime and disorder.
“We’re building on that and setting
higher targets in the years ahead, because immigration is critical to growing
our economy and helping businesses find the workers they need,” Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau took to his twitter.
Last year, Canada welcomed more than 405,000 newcomers – the most we’ve ever welcomed in one year. We're building on that and setting higher targets in the years ahead, because immigration is critical to growing our economy and helping businesses find the workers they need.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 1, 2022
“Look, folks, it’s simple to me: Canada
needs more people,” Sean Fraser, Canada’s minister of immigration, refugees and
citizenship, said during a news conference in North York, Toronto on Tuesday.
“Canadians understand the need to continue to grow our population if we’re
going to meet the needs of the labor force, if we’re going to rebalance a
worrying demographic trend, and if we’re going to continue to reunite
families.”
“If we don’t do something to correct
this demographic trend, the conversation we’re going to have 10 or 15 years
from now won’t be about labor shortages,” Mr. Fraser said. “It’s going to be
about whether we have the economic capacity to continue to fund schools and
hospitals and public services that I think we, too often, take for granted,” he
continued.
“Last year, Canada welcomed more
than 405,000 newcomers – the most we’ve ever welcomed in one year. We need more
workers in every sector in every region of the country, regardless of whether
it’s front-line health-care workers, truck drivers, home builders or software
engineers,” he said.
Minister Sean Fraser's news conference with English subtitles:
Canadian refugee advocate Maureen
Silkoff wrote that the policy "makes sense in many ways, but urged the
government to "focus on the inequalities faced by vulnerable refugees due
to limits."
Salima Samnani, a professor at the
University of British Columbia and a lawyer who works with indigenous clients
through the school's legal clinic, said national values and the integration of immigrants can reinforce "some
entrenched racism."
Ms. Samnani, whose Indian family
moved to Canada from Kenya when she was 12, said she experienced this racism
and feelings of "being pushed to the margins of society" in her own
life: bullying at school, while receiving service in stores and even going on
public transport.
"It cannot be understated how
difficult it is to adjust to Canadian life as a new immigrant, especially when
you are not white," she added.
No comments :