The Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau has stridently given a boost to immigration since he came into power in 2015. Canada is on track to outdo its target of approximately 431,000 newcomers this year.
Canada seems to have a hard time dealing with a severe shortage of workers, specifically in skilled trades as well as industries, including healthcare. The most recent job vacancy data displayed there were 958,500 open roles in the country in August and 1.0 million unwaged people.
Many unemployed workers have no skills, nor do they live in the right areas of the country, to fill those open positions.
The new targets will improve the number of economic immigrants by roughly 13% between 2023 and 2025, with sharp rises in comparatively small regional programs, which assist in funneling individuals to provinces as well as regions outside main metropolitan centers.
A record number of Canadians are now retiring, speeding up a mass migration of some of the most talented and skilled workers leaving businesses to scramble.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Business Council of Canada called for “bolder targets” in economic immigration.
The United Nations refugee agency stated in a statement it greeted “Canada’s leadership on refugee resettlement.”
Refugee lawyer Maureen Silcoff uttered that the country can do a lot more to greet vulnerable people with arms wide open. She compared Canada’s policy offering safe haven to Ukrainians, who are officially temporary residents under a special program and not subject to a cap, and Afghans facing the threat from the Taliban to work with Canada with their numbers being capped.
“Given what’s going on in the world, given Canada’s needs and given Canada’s commitments, there’s more that can be done.”
There are many good reasons to increase immigration, said University of Waterloo economist Mikal Skuterud. But with rising interest rates, the tight labour market may slacken and newcomers may face challenges integrating, he said.
“We’re at a real kind of inflection point. There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty.”
