Marco Mendicino recently laid out his vision for Canada’s immigration system in Toronto.
“Vision” speeches are a long-standing tradition among Canada’s immigration ministers. They outline the government’s aspirational goals and what policies and programs the government will pursue to achieve the goals.
Mendicino opened his speech by stating that Canada’s future depends on immigration, emphasizing the importance of having a dialogue on the number of people in Canada necessary to secure its economic prosperity.
This dialogue, Mendicino said, is necessary due to Canada’s demographic realities. Canadians are living longer and not having enough children to maintain the size of its population, which places greater pressure on Canada’s economy and fiscal standing. Fewer workers are being relied upon to fund rising government expenses, such as health care, which will become more expensive to deliver as the share of elderly Canadians continues to rise.
According to Mendicino, a major part of the solution is to welcome immigrants. Today, some 80 percent of Canada’s population growth will come from immigration, and estimates suggest this will reach 100 per cent by the 2030s.
This is why Canada will welcome over one million immigrants over the next three years, said Mendicino, as he noted that he will formally table Canada’s 2020-2022 Immigration Levels Plan in March.
Express Entry will remain the flagship program for welcoming immigrants to Canada as it has been successful since launching in January 2015. Mendicino noted that 95 percent of Express Entry arrivals have jobs and some 80 percent are working in their fields.
The development of programs such as the Global Talent Stream and Atlantic Immigration Pilot have been key to supporting Canada’s economy.
In order for the benefits of economic immigration to reach smaller communities across the country, the federal government has also launched the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot in 2019. In a similar vein, the federal government has developed the Municipal Nominee Program (MNP), another initiative to pursue economic growth across Canada.
Minister Mendicino urged his audience to take part in the national dialogue in order to emphasize immigration as a net positive for Canada. He pointed out that Canada’s immigration system has been applauded by the OECD as the international standard on how to effectively manage an immigration system.
He concluded by stating that Canada is built on the strength of immigration.
