Everyone and anyone with an interest in Canada immigration are being asked to share their views through an online survey to run until almost the end of April.
“Consulting clients, stakeholders and those with expertise in immigration in Canada is our opportunity to get your feedback on how best to support and strengthen our communities, from coast to coast to coast,” says Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.
“I encourage all Canadians to take the time to share their ideas and perspectives and help us shape an immigration system that will contribute to Canada’s success for generations to come.”
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The survey runs from March 27 to April 27, 2023, and takes about 15 minutes to complete. All responses to it are completely anonymous and will have no bearing on any immigration applications made by the respondents.
The survey is part of the immigration minister’s fact-finding tour, an initiative being dubbed An Immigration System for Canada’s Future.
“Immigration is critical to Canada’s long-term success and we need to ensure our policies and programs are aligned with the needs of our communities,” said Fraser.
“That’s why the government of Canada is launching this large-scale engagement initiative, which will provide an opportunity for a wide range of stakeholders and Canadians to share their ideas and perspectives on how we can build a stronger, more adaptive immigration system for Canada’s future.”
Through this engagement initiative which will continue throughout the spring, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) are holding in-person dialogue sessions across the country, thematic workshops and this survey.
Fraser kicked off the new initiative in February by chairing the first discussion session in Halifax.
Last year, the latest IRCC data reveals Canada welcomed 437,500 new permanent residents – and that level of immigration is only expected to grow over the coming years.
Immigrants To Be Almost A Third Of Canadian Population By 2036, Says Statistics Canada
In its 2023-2025 Immigration Levels Plan, Ottawa has set the target for 2023 at 465,000 new permanent residents. The country is to welcome 485,000 new permanent residents in 2024 and another 500,000 in 2025.
That’s a total of 1.45 million immigrants to Canada over the coming three years.
Immigration already accounts for almost all of Canada’s labour force growth, with more than 75 per cent of Canada’s population growth coming from immigration, mostly in the economic category.
By 2036, immigrants will represent up to 30 per cent of the Canadian population up from 20.7 per cent in 2011, states Statistics Canada.
The rising levels of immigration are being seen by many as vital to ensuring Canada can resolve its serious labour shortages and help employers fill positions left empty for a lack of suitable candidates.
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“There were 883,200 job vacancies across all sectors in January,” reveals Statistics Canada. “Job vacancies increased 3.4 per cent … in January 2023, led by transportation and warehousing … and healthcare and social assistance.”
As inflation climbed halfway through last year, though, others expressed concern Canada’s immigration levels were so high as to be fueling immigration and taxing the country’s social safety net and infrastructure.
Among the most outspoken of those calling for lower immigration levels was People’s Party of Canada (PPC) Leader Maxime Bernier who said Ottawa’s ambitious immigration targets for the next few years just aren’t sustainable.
“It’s mass immigration,” said Bernier. “Yes, we must have sustainable immigration but we believe we must have lower immigration than that number.”
People’s Party In Quebec Wants To Hold Line On Immigration
In the last federal election, the PPC got 4.9 per cent of the popular vote and failed to elect a single candidate to the House of Commons. The party regularly polls at less than five per cent of popular support.
But worries over Canada’s immigration levels and how the country can provide an adequate level of settlement services to all the newcomers persist.
In the francophone province of Quebec, provincial Immigration Minister Christine Fréchette has told Ottawa the province will not be accepting significantly more immigrants in the coming years.
“It is up to Quebec to set its own targets for permanent immigration,” she tweeted in French. “The upper limit for Quebec is now 50,000 (new permanent residents) due to our capacity to welcome, provide French-language services and integrate them.”
Canada is, arguably, a nation of immigrants. In 2021, more than 8.3 million people, or 23 per cent of the population, were, or had ever been, landed immigrants or permanent residents in Canada.