Canada will gradually increase the number of permanent residents and plans to welcome nearly 1 million new immigrants by 2020, Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen announced on Wednesday.
The country plans to accept 310,000 new permanent residents in 2018 and will increase this number to 330,000 in 2019, and to 340,000 in 2020.
“The increase is to meet Canada’s ever-growing demand for skilled labor. We will continue to wisely use immigration as a tool to power our economy,” Mr. Hussen said. “The multi-year planning will ensure predictability and stability for provinces and cities to plan ahead and do their parts.”
The immigration minister, himself a former refugee from Somalia, said the multi-year immigration plan would foster economic growth in the face of slowing labor force growth and an aging population.
The gradual increase over time was designed so the system could adjust, he added in a news conference in Toronto.
Mr. Hussen said bringing a newcomer to Canada is half of the job; “we have to make sure people are being given the tools they need to succeed once they get here.”
Mr. Hussen said bringing a newcomer to Canada is half of the job; “we have to make sure people are being given the tools they need to succeed once they get here. We have to make sure we have the absorptive capacity, we have to make sure that our partners on the ground with the settlement and integration processes that they engage in every day have the tools necessary so they can plan ahead, so they can adjust to the numbers.”