Plan is launched to help address labour market shortages
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Canada hopes to attract more immigrants to address its labour market shortages which it sees to be “causing uncertainty for Canadian businesses and workers.”
“Last year, we welcomed the most newcomers in a single year in our history. 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,” Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said in a press statement.
Fraser referred to the over 405,000 newcomers – the most ever welcomed in a single year — that Canada had last year.
He released Canada’s 2023–2025 Immigration Levels Plan last November 1, 2022.
The plan sees immigration as a strategy to help businesses find workers and to attract the skills required in key sectors—including health care, skilled trades, manufacturing and technology—to manage the social and economic challenges Canada will face in the decades ahead.
The Government is continuing to stick to its plan of having 465,000 permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025.
The plan also brings an increased focus on attracting newcomers to different regions of the country, especially small towns and rural communities.
Among the highlights of the levels plan are:
- a long-term focus on economic growth, with just over 60% of admissions in the economic class by 2025
- using new features in the Express Entry system to welcome newcomers with the required skills and qualifications in sectors facing acute labour shortages such as, health care, manufacturing, building trades and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
- increases in regional programs to address targeted local labour market needs, through the Provincial Nominee Program, the Atlantic Immigration Program, and the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot
- reuniting more families faster
- ensuring that at least 4.4% of new permanent residents outside Quebec are Francophone
- support for global crises by providing a safe haven to those facing persecution, including by expanding the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot
The focus on regional immigration aims to spread the benefits of immigration to communities across the country, including supporting the vitality of Francophone communities outside of Quebec.
It also sees regional economic immigration programs, like the Provincial Nominee Program, as increasingly important in the sustainable growth of the country.
The plan outlines year-over-year growth so that it can continue to support provinces and territories in attracting the skilled newcomers they need to address the labour shortage and demographic challenges in their regions.
“Canada’s Building Trades Unions are pleased with today’s announcement to increase immigration levels in Canada. Historically it has been through immigration that we have been able to grow our workforce, fill our union halls and build Canada’s infrastructure. Increased economic immigration is an important step to addressing labour availability across the country and we look forward to continuing to work closely with Minister Fraser and the federal government to find the solutions we need going forward,” said Sean Strickland, Executive Director of Canada’s Building Trades Union (CBTU).
Over the past year, Canada also implemented improvements to address the challenges faced by those using the immigration system. To support the plan, it will continue to streamline and digitalize its immigration system to further expedite processing and give users the experience they expect and deserve.
This plan helps cement Canada’s place among the world’s top destinations for talent, creating a strong foundation for continued economic growth, while also reuniting family members with their loved ones and fulfilling Canada’s humanitarian commitments.