For the precedent decade, Canada has received approximately 250,000 new permanent residents yearly, but that figure jumped in 2010 to further than 280,000, the utmost total in more than 50 years. As Canada’s residents’ ages, some supporters have suggested Canada must rise up its immigrant intake to further than 300,000 a year. But the subject is passionately contested by those who disagree that current immigrants have fared poorly in the labour force.
Studies recommend Canada would require tripling or quadrupling its immigration levels to maintain its present ratio of workers to old-age dependents.
“Simply put, we do not have the funds or capability to incorporate a million new immigrants each year,” Mr. Kenney said. “We can’t train them English or French. We can’t overflow our taxpayer-funded services like health care and public teaching. We can’t put such elevated pressure on housing and property markets.”
Debbie Douglas, executive director of the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, is one of those calling for Canada’s immigrant intake to go up over 300,000 a year.
“Last year was telling. We were capable to land 280,000 immigrants. We have the ability,” Ms. Douglas said. “For me it’s in relation to political will, and we’re at a time when reasonably we need more immigrants.”
Ms. Douglas said Canada have to place extra stress on permanent migration. She’s opposed to the policy of accepting rising numbers of temporary foreign workers in Canada, who have a hard path to citizenship and must leave the country after four years. There are further than 300,000 temporary foreign workers in Canada at the present time.
She also wants to perceive steps taken to decrease the backlog of family reunification applications from parents and grandparents. Mr. Kenney was condemned during the current election campaign for waiting times that had grown to more than a few years.
He is not likely to considerably revise overall immigration intake, but he expects to face hard choices when it comes to adjusting the immigration mix.
About 26 per cent of immigrants who come to Canada every year do so under the family class. Mr. Kenney said the importance must be placed on those applicants with work experience and skills who can straight away contribute to the financial system. At present, only three in 10 new arrivals have been selected for their economic prospective, he said. If that figure is to rise, there may have to be cuts in other areas, for example the family class. Those decisions remain open for conversation.
