IRCC has taken the initiative to increase awareness among people about the advantages of immigration. The campaign “#immigration matters” revolves around the significance of immigration in Canada. This campaign is also referred to as the #WelcomingWeek2022 and works toward raising awareness among potential immigrants about the various benefits of immigration. The campaign deals with websites, community events, and also immigration stories related to the working process of immigration.
The country is prepared to welcome more immigrants as many as 432,000 new permanent residents toward the latter part of 2022.
Immigration is the most crucial factor in maintaining the Canadian workforce and contributing to the economy. It is highly responsible for developing robust and diverse communities.
Newcomers prefer Canada
Immigrants consider Canada as their most preferred choice for immigration. The reasons are many, ranging from infinite job opportunities to stability. This resulted in an 85 percent retention rate of Canadian permanent residents. In most cases, according to the campaign data, immigrants acquire the same status as natural-born Canadians once they arrive within 12 years. Skilled workers already possessing Canadian work experience don’t take long to immigrate through the Canadian Experience Class or other programs under Express Entry.
Canada does have a history of helping refugees during crises, which dates back to 1959. The country has helped over 700,000 refugees. Currently, it is still helping Ukraine and Afghanistan refugees. Canada Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel brought about 80,000 refugees from Ukraine to Canada. They were able to acquire a temporary residence visa. 11,415 Afghans emerged in Canada and they even turned out to be the fourth most important source of immigration in the first half of 2022.
Significance of immigrants in Canada
Since the population will be meeting the retirement age, Canada is working toward acquiring skilled global talent. More than nine million people will be meeting their retirement age of 65 years by 2030. Canadians are unable to make up for the reduced birth rates and the country will be highly dependent on immigration to fill the Canadian labor market gap. The unemployment rate has reduced to as low as 4.9 percent, with over 1 million vacancies in the country.
As a result of this, several substantial sectors underwent extreme shortages. The vacancy rate for jobs in the healthcare sector is more than 6 percent, with 147,500 vacant job positions.
Immigration plays a significant role in fulfilling job positions in the healthcare sector. The 2016 Census data revealed that 23 percent of immigrants were nurses, while 36 percent of them were Physicians. Besides these, other occupations concerning the healthcare sector include the following:
- 35 percent Nurse Aids;
- 37 percent of Pharmacists;
- 39 percent of Dentists, and
- 54 percent of Dental Technologists or other occupations.
Mostly, the business owners contribute 33 percent, with paid staff in the healthcare, retail trade, construction, and professional service industries. Over 600,000 self-employed immigrants are prevalent, with 260,000 immigrants who keep paid employees.
Maximum newcomers immigrating as skilled immigrants
The Canadian government continues to set its Immigration Levels Plan with targets fixed for at least the upcoming three years.
The Canadian population needs to grow at a sustainable rate to help its workforce and economy. The present Immigration Levels Plan will have at least 1.14 percent of immigrants contributing to the entire Canadian population by 2024. The plan is set to welcome at least 60 percent of immigrants through the economic class.
Newcomers with in-demand skills contribute largely to the Canadian economy and the labor force. The economic class of immigrants accounts for at least 138,000 in 2022. With the number of retirees increasing, the number of taxpayers will decline. Consequently, the federal and provincial governments won’t have sufficient money available for healthcare and pension plans or infrastructure. The majority of economic class immigrants are young and therefore, the working years will be more for them after they come to Canada.
