“You see, it’s simple: we need more people.”
With these words, Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced that it plans to welcome around 1.4 million immigrants over the next three years.
According to Fraser, Canada expects to receive up to 465,000 new permanent residence permits in 2023, 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025. This represents an increase of about 13% from the Canadian government’s initial targets.
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The main purpose of the measure is to increase the country’s workforce. There are tens of thousands of jobs right now, but no one can fill them.
Canada is at odds with other governments, such as the British and US, which have been criticized for their strict anti-immigration policies.
“The migration plan will help companies find the workers they need,” Fraser said. Said.
Most of the job postings created after the height of the Covid-19 pandemic have yet to be filled.
In Canada, the numbers are contradictory: there are 950,000 vacancies in different sectors, while there are one million unemployed.
The problem is that many workers do not have the skills to fill these gaps or do not live in areas where there is a demand for labor.
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In addition, more and more Canadians are retiring from their jobs creating an unfilled void.
The program also aims to increase the participation of refugees who are already dependent on state aid.
But who are the people the Canadian government is looking for?
Health, IT and restaurants
This isn’t the first time Canada has opened its borders to attract more immigrants, but it is the first time it has done so on this scale.
“Canadians understand the need to increase our population if we are to meet the needs of the workforce, balance a problematic demographic trend, and continue to bring families together,” Fraser said. Said.
The government claims that a shortage of skilled labor is affecting all sectors of the Canadian economy. The figures show that one of the most affected sectors is healthcare.
Other sectors are civil construction, manufacturing industry, hotels, tourism and restaurants.
According to Fraser, there are about three workers for every retiree in Canada.
“We need more workers across all sectors in all regions of the country, whether front-line healthcare workers, truck drivers, builders or software engineers.”
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The need is so great that the Conservative Party of Canada, which opposes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, has acknowledged the need for an immigration opening, while criticizing the decision announced this week.
However, some experts point out that this will not be an easy process due to the financial crisis not only in Canada but also in the world’s major economies, marked by rising interest rates and high inflation.
University of Waterloo economist Mikal Skuterud points out that although there are many reasons to increase the number of immigrants in Canada, the current situation is not very positive.
“Rising interest rates may make it harder for these people to integrate into the country when they arrive,” Skuterud told Reuters news agency.
“We are at a real tipping point. There is tremendous uncertainty,” he added.
– This text was published at https://www.bbc.com/portuguese/internacional-63515652.
source: Noticias
