Canada to welcome 1.2m immigrants before 2023

Canada plans to bring in more than 1.2 million new immigrants
over the next three years, the federal immigration minister said on
Friday, as the country tries to fill gaps in its labour market and
boost the economy, both hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Immigration Minister Marco
Mendicino said the federal government aims to accept 401,000 new
permanent residents in 2021, another 411,000 in 2022 and then
421,000 in 2023.

Canada needs more workers, he said, “and immigration is the way
to get there”.

“Before the pandemic, our government’s goal to drive the economy
forward through immigration was ambitious. Now it’s simply vital,”
said Mendicino, who tabled the new immigration targets earlier in
the day.

Robert Falconer, a refugee and immigration policy researcher at
the University of Calgary School of Public
Policy, tweeted^[1] Friday
that if the government meets its goals, the next three years will
be “the highest years on record since 1911”.

Canada’s immigration system has long been held up as a model, as
it has historically brought in skilled workers as well as refugees
and individuals seeking to reunite with family members already in
the country.

The country closed its borders to most immigrants in March due
to COVID-19. Through August, it had settled 128,425 newcomers,
Reuters news agency reported – less than half of the 341,000-person
target it had set for 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic also has put glaring inequalities and
longstanding problems with Canada’s immigration system under
increased scrutiny.

Many asylum seekers and refugees face poor working conditions,
while several key industries in Canada, such as healthcare, food
processing and farming, rely on workers whose precarious
immigration status places them at risk of abuse.

A movement has grown over the past several months demanding
Canada grant permanent immigration status for these front line
workers, many of whom are labouring under conditions that place
them at risk of contracting COVID-19.

‘Status for all’

Amid that pressure, the federal government announced plans
earlier this year to regularise the status of a narrow segment of
these workers – asylum seekers working in specific healthcare jobs
– that politicians dubbed “guardian angels”.

Some estimates put the number of workers eligible for that
pathway to residency at about 1,000 people, however – far lower
than the total number of workers with non-permanent status in
Canada.

“Immigrants are critical to our healthcare sector and represent
one in four working in our hospitals and long-term care homes,”
Mendicino said on Friday.

“Whether they’ve been taking care of our most vulnerable, or
putting food on our tables, newcomers have played an outsized role
in our response to COVID-19.”

Reacting to the announcement, the Migrant Workers Alliance for
Change, an advocacy group, said the government should put in place
“a single-tier immigration system” that ensures status for all
migrants.

Hundreds of organisations across Canada have endorsed that
demand and a national day of action is scheduled for November
1.

“All migrants, refugees and undocumented people in the country
must be regularised and given full immigration status now without
exception. All migrants arriving in the future must do so with full
and permanent immigration status,” the groups say in an
open letter.^[2]

Canada has been hard hit by COVID-19, reporting more than
232,000 cases and at least 10,000 deaths attributed to the virus
since the pandemic began.

Earlier on Friday, the country’s top public health officer urged
Canadians to reduce their contacts with others by at least 25
percent in order to stem the second wave of the pandemic.

“To bend the epidemic curve and reduce transmission to lover
levels … we must really reduce our number of contacts as much as
possible,” Dr Theresa Tam said, as reported by CBC News.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

Canada plans to bring in more than 1.2 million new immigrants
over the next three years, the federal immigration minister said on
Friday, as the country tries to fill gaps in its labour market and
boost the economy, both hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking to reporters in Ottawa, Immigration Minister Marco
Mendicino said the federal government aims to accept 401,000 new
permanent residents in 2021, another 411,000 in 2022 and then
421,000 in 2023.

Canada needs more workers, he said, “and immigration is the way
to get there”.

“Before the pandemic, our government’s goal to drive the economy
forward through immigration was ambitious. Now it’s simply vital,”
said Mendicino, who tabled the new immigration targets earlier in
the day.

Robert Falconer, a refugee and immigration policy researcher at
the University of Calgary School of Public
Policy, tweeted^[1] Friday
that if the government meets its goals, the next three years will
be “the highest years on record since 1911”.

Canada’s immigration system has long been held up as a model, as
it has historically brought in skilled workers as well as refugees
and individuals seeking to reunite with family members already in
the country.

The country closed its borders to most immigrants in March due
to COVID-19. Through August, it had settled 128,425 newcomers,
Reuters news agency reported – less than half of the 341,000-person
target it had set for 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic also has put glaring inequalities and
longstanding problems with Canada’s immigration system under
increased scrutiny.

Many asylum seekers and refugees face poor working conditions,
while several key industries in Canada, such as healthcare, food
processing and farming, rely on workers whose precarious
immigration status places them at risk of abuse.

A movement has grown over the past several months demanding
Canada grant permanent immigration status for these front line
workers, many of whom are labouring under conditions that place
them at risk of contracting COVID-19.

‘Status for all’

Amid that pressure, the federal government announced plans
earlier this year to regularise the status of a narrow segment of
these workers – asylum seekers working in specific healthcare jobs
– that politicians dubbed “guardian angels”.

Some estimates put the number of workers eligible for that
pathway to residency at about 1,000 people, however – far lower
than the total number of workers with non-permanent status in
Canada.

“Immigrants are critical to our healthcare sector and represent
one in four working in our hospitals and long-term care homes,”
Mendicino said on Friday.

“Whether they’ve been taking care of our most vulnerable, or
putting food on our tables, newcomers have played an outsized role
in our response to COVID-19.”

Reacting to the announcement, the Migrant Workers Alliance for
Change, an advocacy group, said the government should put in place
“a single-tier immigration system” that ensures status for all
migrants.

Hundreds of organisations across Canada have endorsed that
demand and a national day of action is scheduled for November
1.

“All migrants, refugees and undocumented people in the country
must be regularised and given full immigration status now without
exception. All migrants arriving in the future must do so with full
and permanent immigration status,” the groups say in an
open letter.^[2]

Canada has been hard hit by COVID-19, reporting more than
232,000 cases and at least 10,000 deaths attributed to the virus
since the pandemic began.

Earlier on Friday, the country’s top public health officer urged
Canadians to reduce their contacts with others by at least 25
percent in order to stem the second wave of the pandemic.

“To bend the epidemic curve and reduce transmission to lover
levels … we must really reduce our number of contacts as much as
possible,” Dr Theresa Tam said, as reported by CBC News.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA