Canada needs to increase migration by 110,000 places

A report released by the Conference Board of Canada says the Canadian Immigration and Citizenship (CIC) would need to increase their migration programme by 110,000 places annually by 2025 if it is to meet its labour shortage, reports Thaindian News.

Each year, the CIC allows around 250,000 migrants enter the country permanently, with India and China being the biggest sources of immigrants. However, the Conference Board of Canada, an independent research company, said this number would need to increase to 360,000 annually by 2025 for the Canadian economy to grow at a steady rate.

The report shows 15.3 per cent of the Canadian workforce is almost ready to retire, being above 55 years of age, and that only 2.7 workers are entering the workforce to replace every five retirees. One-fifth of the Canadian economy relies upon immigrants already, and it seems the growing shortage in the labour market will grow even more dependent on foreign workers.

The report suggested the CIC should allow more workers on temporary Canadian visas to become permanent residents, and to increase its annual refugee quota. In 2007, around 250,000 migrants to Canada were temporary workers while 75,000 arrived on a Canadian student visa.

The Canadian Government has recently increased measures to tighten immigration and give the Immigration Minister the power to fast-track applications for skilled migrants to Canada.

The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people apply for Canada visa and immigration services.

Article by Jessica Bird, Canadian Visa Bureau.