Immigrants built Canada. And when new Canadians arrive today, our society is enriched. Canada, like other advanced economies, needs immigrants today more than ever, given our aging population. Immigrants are essential to maintaining a young and capable workforce, to ensuring we can find the doctors, construction workers, nurses, and early childhood educators that we need. But our ability to successfully welcome new Canadians depends on having the physical capacity to do so properly—in particular having enough homes. That is why current housing pressures mean that Canada is taking a careful look to make sure immigration does not outpace our ability to supply housing for all. It is important to note that Canada’s immigration system has two parts: permanent and temporary.
Throughout Canada’s history, permanent immigration has become subject to extensive consultation with communities, provinces, territories, and employers. It is planned and designed in collaboration with Canadian society. However, temporary immigration, which includes our student and temporary worker programs, has traditionally been demand-driven, determined by the requests from international students and workers, and from employers in Canada.
Canada has recently undertaken a review process for our temporary resident programs, to better align with labour market needs, to protect against abuses in the system, and to match our capacity to build new homes. We will also be setting targets both for the number of permanent residents we welcome, and for temporary residents. Starting this fall, for the first time, we will expand the Immigration Levels Plan to include both temporary resident admissions and permanent resident admissions. Our ultimate goal is to ensure a well-managed, responsive, and sustainable immigration system to help balance housing supply with housing demand. We also need to be sure that our temporary worker programs do not create a disincentive for businesses to invest in productivity, or drive down wages in Canada, especially for low-wage workers.
At NPZ Law Group, our U.S. and Canadian lawyers seek to assist clients with regard to employment and family immigration issues. If you or your friends or family should have any questions about any aspect of U.S. and Canadian Immigration Law, please feel free to contact us at info@visaserve.com or you can call our office at 201-670-0006 (ext. 104). We look forward to being able to assist you.