Ottawa is excited to share its plans to increase the number of immigrants residing in Canada by 2025. The diversity they bring to the area is encouraging. The government feels this is an excellent way to help the immigrants.
Jobs will be available for the immigrants, allowing them to provide for their households. At the same time, it can reduce problems and challenges the area has been hit by due to labour shortages. The various industries around the area are impressed with the plan and can’t wait to get the additional workers in place.
Overcoming Challenges
However, there are some challenges and concerns too. For example, there is a lengthy backlog of applications for those trying to enter Canada. It takes time to process them at Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. The immigrants must be approved through that application process before legally residing and working in Canada.
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser is working on methods to get those applications reviewed and approved in less time to reduce this bottleneck and prevent it from standing in the way of the plan. This will allow more immigrants to become permanent residents of Canada and fill those job openings. The priority will be those with particular skills and experiences to ensure they are a good match for the jobs available.
“Make no mistake. This is a massive increase in economic migration to Canada,” Fraser told The Canadian Press. “We have not seen such a focus on economic migration as we’ve seen in this immigration levels plan.”
The Fundamentals Of The Plan
The plan includes approving 465,000 immigrants into the area in 2023. Then it will increase to 500,000 by 2025. Last year, 405,000 immigrants were approved as permanent residents of Canada. These new arrivals will be categorized as economic immigrants. With approximately a million job openings in various realms, the economy will benefit from their arrival and hard work.
Almost all of the labour force growth in the previous year was fulfilled by immigrants. According to Fraser, the only way to successfully fill the job demand is to welcome the immigrants and help them settle. He also reminded everyone that many of the current labour force are in a position to retire in the next 5 to 10 years due to their age.
Housing Concerns
Securing enough housing for the volume of immigrants in Canada is a concern. The affordable housing in the area is already stretched thin. However, Fraser is confident that immigrants can help with this. Many of them can be hired in the construction area, ensuring more homes can be built to keep up with the demand by families for affordable housing.
The goal is to put a framework in place for immigrants to this area. This includes programs to help them smoothly transition from their previous location to their new location. This will require additional support on local and federal levels.
Other Refugees
Approximately 40,000 Afghan refugees are scheduled to be settled in new areas by 2025. Fraser feels there will be housing for the new immigrants as other refugees relocate. They won’t be permanently residing in Ottawa. Fraser shares, “in each of the last two years, we have resettled more than one-third of the total number of refugees who were settled globally,” he added. “And each of the last three years, we have resettled more refugees than any other country in the world.”
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees continues to praise their government for supporting refugees. They need assistance and safety when they flee due to war or other impending threats to their survival. Canada has committed to offering a safe location for these families.
The solutions Canada offers help families do more than survive, though. It gives them a way to make a fresh start and take care of their needs. At the same time, the economy of Canada benefits from these refugees. They help through their contributions in the work sectors and how they give back to the communities.
Not Everyone Is Sold On The Concept
While many agree the labour shortage can benefit from the immigrants to Canada, they feel it isn’t enough to take care of the issue. The Business Council of Canada shared that the labour shortage will still be too significant even with this number of immigrants coming into the country by 2025. They feel additional efforts must be imposed to ensure labour shortages don’t harm the future of this area.
Others worry about the plan being properly executed. While it sounds good on paper, can the government of Canada make it a success? Will they stay on target with the process and getting these immigrants into the workforce? There are more than 2.6 million applications from immigrants waiting to be processed at this time! About 615,000 of them are asking to be in Canada permanently. The others are requesting temporary residency in Canada.
Kmiec said. “I just don’t believe them that they’re going to be able to do it. And that’s completely unfair for people who are applying and hoping for a reasonable timeline to get a yes or no.”
Processing Those Applications
Fraser has made it known that they have invested money to hire additional staff and train them. The goal is to change how the applications are processed and speed up the process. This will ensure those applying to get an answer in a timely fashion rather than being on a waitlist for months before they hear anything.
