Over the past year, Canada had the smallest population growth since 1999.
According to Statistics Canada, this was mainly driven by a slowdown in international migration growth. Canada got nearly 30,000 fewer immigrants in the past year compared to the previous year.
I haven’t seen any studies on why fewer immigrants have chosen to come to Canada yet, but I can only assume this had nothing to do with the increasingly cold winters.
Over the past few years, the Conservative government made several changes to immigration programs, including the popular temporary foreign worker program.
When the government made drastic changes to this program, many foreign workers had to leave the country or apply to other immigration programs in a desperate attempt to stay in Canada. This ended up backlogging other immigration programs and substantially increasing processing times (and this is why your favourite editor is currently not in Canada) (yes, I was talking about me).
Over the past few years the federal government has also emphasized the importance of “preserving Canadian jobs.” You can see the phrase “Canadian jobs first” in most press releases about immigration policies, as well as in immigration programs descriptions on government websites. And of course, there is no denial that preserving Canadian jobs is vital. After all, the government has to make sure that graduates are able to enter the workforce.
The problem is that stressing the need to “preserve Canadian jobs” does not reflect the current reality and needs of the country. According to Statistics Canada, for the first time, there are more people over 65 than under 14 in the country. As baby boomers are retiring, there is a growing shortage of skilled workers in many areas of the country. So when politicians stress the importance of “preserving Canadian jobs,” they don’t seem to be tackling the real issue. Instead it seems they are communicating directly with people who fear foreign workers might steal their jobs. But are these politicians right? Are foreign workers really “stealing Canadian jobs”?
The answer that many experts will agree is that foreign workers are not simply “stealing Canadian jobs;” they are buying cars, buying clothes, buying houses, opening businesses. They are helping move the economy.
Of course, there were many problems with Canada’s immigration system that needed to be addressed, including issues with its temporary foreign worker program. But the federal government could have found a solution to these problems that did not result in a dramatic slowdown in international migration grown; a solution that did not send thousands of foreign workers home and discouraged new ones from coming to Canada.
This year the government also started a new immigration system called ‘Express Entry.’ The way it works is that people from all over the world create a profile on a website and are attributed a score based on their education level and work experience. The government then draws applications from the pool of applicants and “invite them to apply” for permanent residency.
The biggest problem with this program is that it does not benefit people who are already in Canada such as international students.
Many international students – who paid thousands of dollars to come to Canada and spent years adapting to Canadian culture – are being sent back home. I don’t see how this could be good for Canada or the economy. The message from politicians regarding immigration needs to be more consistent, and it needs to reflect the current reality of Canada – a country that needs skilled workers. Canada has one of the fairest immigration systems in the world, and it needs to maintain its good reputation.
