As part of its efforts to increase awareness of the advantages of immigration and all the ways it enhances Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been promoting its immigration matters campaign since 2018.

This program, which is also known as #WelcomingWeek2022, is run by the IRCC to inform Canadians about the benefits of immigration as well as to inform prospective immigrants of these benefits. The program includes neighborhood gatherings and a website with immigration success stories, details on the immigration process, and ways Canadians may participate in immigration campaigns in their neighborhoods.

Canada has been opening its doors to more immigrants in recent years, and by the end of 2022, it expects to have welcomed over 432,000 new permanent residents. Maintaining Canada’s labor force, bolstering the economy, and building varied and resilient communities.

People choose Canada as their preferred destination!

Because of the prospects for employment and the country’s stability, immigrants to Canada tend to decide to stay. As a result, 85% of Canadian permanent residents remain in the country. Most immigrants reach the same income as a Canadian citizen within a few years of arriving, according to the campaign data. For skilled workers who have some prior Canadian work experience, such as those who apply through the Canadian Experience Class (CEC) or another Express Entry program, it frequently takes less time. In times of need, Canada has a history of welcoming refugees. According to the UNHCR, Canada has welcomed more than 700,000 refugees since 1959. This is still happening now as Canada accepts Afghan and Ukrainian refugees.

Since the commencement of the crisis, more than 80,000 Ukrainian refugees have entered Canada thanks to the Canada Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET). Ukrainians are now able to get visas for temporary residence status. Afghanistan has also sent a record number of immigrants to Canada. 11,415 Afghan immigrants arrived in the first half of 2022, ranking them as the fourth largest source of immigrants for the year to date.

Why does Canada require newcomers?

Canada puts a lot of effort into luring the best international talent, in large part due to the country’s ageing population. More than nine million baby boomer Canadians will be eligible for retirement by 2030. There aren’t enough babies being born in Canada to make up for these figures, and the country only has 1.4 children per woman. Given this, Canada mainly relies on immigration to fill labor shortages. In Canada, there are currently more than a million open positions, and the unemployment rate is 4.9%, which is extremely low. This has caused shortages across the nation in several significant areas. For instance, according to Statistics Canada’s most recent data, the health care and social support industry had 147,500 open positions, or a job vacancy rate of over 6%.

In order to fill open positions in the health sector, immigration is a major factor. According to census data from 2016, one in four healthcare professionals is an immigrant. In Canada, immigrants make up 36% of doctors and 23% of registered nurses. They also represent a sizeable portion of other healthcare professions:

• 35% of nurse assistants and similar jobs
• Among pharmacists, 37%
• Among dentists, 39%
• 54 percent of dental technologists and those in related fields

In addition, 33% of all business owners in sectors like construction, professional services, healthcare, and retail trade are immigrants. Roughly 260,000 of the nation’s over 600,000 immigrants who self-identify as independent contractors have waged workers.

Traditionally, new migrants are sophisticated immigrants

Every year, the Canadian government develops an Immigration Levels Plan with estimates for at least three years in the future in order to maintain population growth in Canada at a sustainable rate that also supports the labor force and economy. According to the current plan, 1.14% of Canadians will be new immigrants by 2024. By allowing close to 60% of all immigrants from the economic class, the plan also claims to have a long-term focus on economic growth. Most immigrants to Canada are members of the lower socioeconomic classes.

They are recent immigrants with in-demand skills who can contribute to the labor force and economy of Canada. The economic class has made up nearly 138,000 of all new immigrants so far in 2022. This is crucial because as more Canadians retire, fewer Canadians will be paying income taxes, which means there will be less money to support federal and provincial costs like infrastructure, pensions, and healthcare systems. Economic immigrants frequently arrive in Canada younger and with the majority of their working years still ahead of them.

Check out Owlspriority Immigration’s Canada Settlement Resources to learn about finding employment in Canada, making your initial days stress-free, etc.