Here’s How Many More Immigrants Canada Might Welcome by 2021
Published November 3, 2018 at 1:39 am
It looks like Canada is on track to take in more immigrants than in previous years.
The federal government recently announced their intended immigration targets. By 2019, Canada could be seeing an increase of up to 350,000 immigrants.
Some 202,300 of those are based on economic considerations such as skilled immigrants or through economic pilots, while 91,000 are based on family needs and 5,000 are based on humanitarian grounds, such as refugee settlement.
“The 2019-2021 plan renews the three-year time frame and is designed to contribute to an immigration system that strengthens the Canadian middle class through economic growth, supports diversity and helps build vibrant, dynamic and inclusive communities, while maintaining border integrity to preserve the safety and security of Canadians,” the press release says.
“We need to consistently demonstrate that increased immigration levels benefit our communities and our economy,” Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said during a speech at the Canadian Club of Toronto on November 1.
Calgary MP Michelle Rempel, the Conservative Party’s Immigration Critic, heavily criticized Hussen and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the new targets, particularly over the issue of asylum seekers crossing from the US border into Canada through the Quebec border.
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“Instead of instituting policy to deter and stop people from entering Canada this way, and subsequently putting an enormous strain on the social welfare system that is paid for by Canadian taxpayers to first help Canadians in need, Trudeau has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make this system permanent. For example, in this year’s Supplementary Estimates, Trudeau has spent $50 million on temporary accommodations – read, hotels – for these illegal border crossers,” Rempel said in this statement.
“He (Trudeau) has allocated a significant amount of resources, including processing capacity at the Immigration department, to this new immigration stream. In the meantime, those seeking to enter Canada legally are facing increasing wait times, and worse, the world’s most vulnerable people, including genocide victims in Iraq, get a cold shoulder from this Prime Minister.”
Other critics say how this represents a 40 per cent spike in immigration levels since the Harper years, though this freelance columnist points out that Harper’s own immigration targets into 2018 were also heading into the 350,000 range.
First off, there's nothing "rapid" about the increase in immigration in Canada. Trudeau is increasing immigration, by 4% on average. Harper's average is ~2%.
(Note about the chart: Harper was responsible for immigration plans until 2015. Years 2018 onwards are projections.) pic.twitter.com/oZDcXGiuao
— Justin Ling (@Justin_Ling) November 1, 2018
What do you think of the prospect of more immigration in the next three years?
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