Ottawa November 2 2022: Canada is planning to bring in 1.45 million permanent residents in the next three years, ratcheting up its immigration targets to ease labor shortages and offset an aging workforce.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government aims to welcome 465,000 permanent residents next year, 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025, according to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser.
The numbers for 2023 and 2024, announced Tuesday in Toronto, were raised from earlier estimates of 447,055 and 485,000, respectively. The three-year tally would represent a nearly 4% planned increase in Canada’s population.
“Canada needs more people,” Fraser told reporters at a trade school. “Immigration isn’t something that we do. It’s who we are.”
Over the past several years, Canada’s open-door immigration policy has helped its population grow at the fastest rate among Group of Seven countries. But some immigrants have accused the government for using them as a form of “cheap labor” and many still face challenges finding jobs that match their skills and qualifications.
The increased targets will be supported by the rollout of new tools next year that will allow governments to start targeting newcomers in specific occupations to ensure better matching with industries suffering the most intense labor shortages, Fraser said.
“This year’s immigration levels plan will help businesses find the workers they need, set Canada on a path that will contribute to our long-term success, and allow us to make good on key commitments to vulnerable people fleeing violence, war and persecution,” he said.
