Immigration in Canada hits record; country looking for more workers

Canada added more than 431,000 new permanent residents last year, the largest annual increase in its history, at a time when Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, seeks to alleviate the labor shortage in the country.

New admissions met the 2022 target set by the Trudeau government and surpassed the previous year’s record of some 401,000 new arrivals, according to a statement from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada released Tuesday.

In recent years, the Canadian government has steadily increased its annual immigration targets, and the The latest plan provides for 465,000 new permanent residents this year and half a million in 2025.

The policies have also pushed population growth to a new record and may be contributing to a decline in the country’s median age. Immigration accounts for almost all of Canada’s workforce growth and about 75% of the country’s population growth.

At the 2021 census, nearly one in four people on the census was or had been an immigrant or permanent resident in Canada, the highest proportion among the Group of Seven economies.

By 2036, immigrants will account for almost a third of Canada’s population, up from about 21% in 2011. Canada’s unemployment rate for November was 5.1%, close to the record low of 4.9% recorded in June and July.