In Coping with the Digital Economy, Canada Declares ‘We Need More Immigrants’

The minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship for Canada, Ahmed Hussen, announced last week a new immigration plan which will increase the intake of immigrants to 350,000 in 2021. Canada continues to recognize the need to meet the demands of what many call the “digital economy.” As a result, attracting and placing talented professionals is vital to the country’s economic sustainability.

The new plan aims to grow the number of permanent residents Canada welcomes annually over the next three years: to 330,800 in 2019, 341,000 in 2020 and 350,000 in 2021. The figure for 2021 is 40,000 more than it expects to admit this year and approximately 1% of the country’s population.

The plan focuses on attracting the best and brightest immigrants from around the world with the majority of the increase in 2021 allotted to high-skilled economic migration.

In the expanding information and communications technology sector, one third of employees are immigrants.

“The new multi-year immigration levels plan supports Canadian employers and businesses by ensuring they have the skilled labour they need to spur innovation and help to keep our country at the forefront of the global economy,” said Hussen.

He added: “Building on the strong foundation set out last year and continuing to increase economic immigration will help Canada stay competitive and attract talent from around the world.”

Hussen underlined that immigration is a central pillar of Canada’s future economic success and that it helps address challenges the country faces with an ageing population.

This will come as good news for US technology workers who are hunting for jobs in Canada who are worried following President Donald Trump’s immigration ban on some Muslim countries and proposed reform to the H1-B visa program that occurred in the last year.

Tightening immigration laws and a fear of surprise raids on the workplace have also driven illegal immigrants northwards to Canada, as the White House warned employers against hiring undocumented workers.