Canada’s Immigration Minister has hinted that the government will raise the immigrant intake target in 2017.
Speaking yesterday about immigration consultations held across Canada in recent months, Minister John McCallum revealed that there is strong support for welcoming more immigrants nationwide.
“I have been hearing a lot of input, and all the hundreds of people I’ve spoken to across the country, most of them, almost all of them, have advocated [for] more immigrants, whether for demographic reasons or for job-shortage reasons,” McCallum said. “But we as a government will not decide our proposal until November.”
Currently, Canada’s immigration-levels plan aims to bring in around 300,000 permanent residents this year, including between 151,200 and 162,400 economic immigrants.
However, Minister’s assessment of public attitudes towards immigrant intake is in direct contrast to the results of a Nanos Research survey conducted for The Globe and Mail earlier this month.
That survey found that of 1,000 Canadians, 39 per cent said the government should accept fewer immigrants in 2017 than the previous year. Meanwhile, 37 per cent said Canada should accept the same amount in 2017, while only 16 per cent said the target should be increased.
The government is set to announce Canada’s new immigration targets in November.
Article published 14th September 2016