Canada: reasons why it is a country so open to receiving migrants

In early November, the Canadian federal government announced a plan to accommodate 500,000 immigrants from 2022 to 2025which would add a total of 1.5 million new migrants.

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With this plan, that country would receive eight times the number of permanent residents each year – by population – than the United Kingdom and four times more than its neighbor to the south, the United States.

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Canada has been betting on immigration to fill the void left in its economy by the aging of the so-called “baby boom” generation, that is, people born between 1946 and 1964.

This, however, is not entirely new. For many years, Canada has tried to attract permanent residents – immigrants who have the right to stay in the country indefinitely without being citizens – to keep the population and economy growing.

In 2021, for example, the country hosted 405,000 permanent residentsthe highest figure in its history.

But what is behind that figure? Like many Western nations, Canada has an aging population and a low birth rate. This means that if the country wants to grow, it will have to bring in immigrants.

Immigration adds to the growth of the active population and for 2032 is expected to also contribute to the increase in the country’s populationaccording to the government of that country.

The numbers say it all. Currently, one in four Canadians has come to the country as an immigrant, the highest figure among the G7 nations. In the United States, known as “the melting pot of the world,” only 14 percent are immigrants.

Geoffrey Cameron, a political scientist at McMaster University, explained to BBC Mundo that although many countries like Canada are facing lower birth rates and an aging population, the success of any immigration system depends on popular support. “That is the limiting factor for most countries: public opinion,” says the expert.

In the United States, for example, where the number of immigrants entering the country through the southern border has reached all-time highs, there is widespread concern about having more immigrants than jobs. In Canada, on the other hand, there has historically been very high support for immigration.

In Cameron’s words, “part of the reason is that there is a degree of public confidence that immigration to Canada is well managed by the government and is also managed in a way that serves the interests of the country.”

However, there are exceptions. The emergence of a new right-wing party in 2018, the People’s Party of Canada, kept the issue in the national conversation in the run-up to the 2019 federal election. And some parts of Canada have differing views on immigration.

When the government announced its goals of up to 500,000 new immigrants a year (25 percent more than in 2021), the province of Quebec, which can set its own immigration limits, made it clear that it would accept no more than 50,000 a year. anus. This would mean that Quebec, which has 23 percent of the country’s population, would only welcome 10 percent of foreigners.

Quebec Premier François Legault said at the time that he was concerned that more immigrants would weaken the French language in the province. “Already with 50,000 it is difficult to stop the decline of the French,” he said.

On the other hand, another way in which Canada is unique in the Western world is its emphasis on economic immigration: about half of permanent residents are taken in because of their skills, not because of family reunification. The government hopes to reach 60 percent by 2025.

This is partly due to how the Canadian system was designed, Cameron explains. In the 1960s, Canada moved from a quota system to a points-based system that gave preference to highly-skilled immigrants who would contribute to the country’s economy.

Compared to other countries, Canada marks a certain vanguard. In the United Kingdom, slightly more than one in four permanent residents is accepted through the economic route. In the United States, only 20 percent of green cards are issued for that reason. Both countries have indicated that they hope to increase the proportion of economic immigrants, only that most economic immigrants must be sponsored by their employers.

Canada’s plan

The plan announced by Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, focuses on “long-term economic growth”.

By 2025, 60 percent of new arrivals to the country will enter the economic categories of the Canadian immigration system, which are reserved for people with specific training and experience to meet the demands of the Canadian labor market.

The remaining 40 percent of the 500,000 immigrants that Canada will accept in 2025 will be distributed among the other three immigration categories: relatives of residents in the country, people accepted for humanitarian reasons and refugees.

In the last five years, 57 percent of the immigrants who have arrived in Canada, close to 750,000 people, have done so through the economic category.

“The plan accepts immigration as a strategy to help companies find workers and to attract required training in key sectors,” the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship said at the time in a statement.

The immigration plan will also increase its interest in newcomers being distributed throughout the country, “including small cities and rural communities.”

Economists have warned that nearly a million jobs are vacant in Canada due to a lack of skilled workers, which is hampering economic growth.

The shortage of workers, especially since the start of the pandemic, has also led to a sharp increase in wages.

The Canada Business Council (CEC), which represents the country’s private companies, applauded the immigration plan, but noted that the percentage of immigrants accepted in the economic category should rise to 65 percent.

CEC President Goldy Hyder then stated in a statement that “every job not filled represents one less person contributing to Canada’s economic growth and one less person paying taxes to support social infrastructure.”

INTERNATIONAL WRITING
With information from EFE and BBC Mundo