The Canadian government sets out a path for responsible increases to immigration targets to help the Canadian economy recover from coronavirus, drive future growth and create jobs for middle class Canadians.
"The pandemic has highlighted the contribution of immigrants to the well-being of our communities and across all sectors of the economy. Our health-care system relies on immigrants to keep Canadians safe and healthy,", said the government.
"Other industries, such as information technology companies and our farmers and producers, also rely on the talent of newcomers to maintain supply chains, expand their businesses and, in turn, create more jobs for Canadians.
"Although Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) continued to accept and process applications throughout the pandemic, the global travel restrictions and capacity constraints led to a shortfall in admissions over the last several months.
"To compensate for the shortfall and ensure Canada has the workers it needs to fill crucial labour market gaps and remain competitive on the world stage, the 2021 to 2023 levels plan aims to continue welcoming immigrants at a rate of about 1% of the population of Canada, including 401,000 permanent residents in 2021, 411,000 in 2022 and 421,000 in 2023. The previous plan set targets of 351,000 in 2021 and 361,000 in 2022,." the Canadian government said.
Highlights of the plan include:
- an increase in admissions over the 3 years of the plan to make up the shortfall in 2020
- a focus on economic growth, with about 60% of admissions to come from the Economic Class
- a continued focus on innovative and community-driven approaches to address diverse labour and demographic needs across the country
- a renewed commitment to capacity-building and digital transformation in Canada’s immigration system, to support operations and mitigate the impacts of coronavirus on the processing of applications
- additional points for French-speaking candidates under Express Entry, to promote the growth of Francophone communities outside of Quebec
- a commitment to admit up to 500 refugees over the next 2 years through the Economic
Mobility Pathways Project, an innovative approach that helps qualified refugees apply for permanent residence through existing economic immigration pathways
- a pathway to permanent residency for eligible asylum claimants who were working on the front lines of the pandemic between March 13 and August 14, 2020, providing direct care to patients in health-care institutions
Immigrants account for 33% of all business owners with paid staff, and 25% of workers in our health sector are immigrants. ■