Does Canada intend to stay a land of immigration much longer?

09/06/2016

In answer to this audience question, it is helpful to note that Canada is facing a demographic crunch and will need immigrants for years to come to avoid a decline in population numbers.

‘Not enough babies’

A large number of babies were born in Canada after the end of World War II in 1945. The birth rate declined after that and since 1971 has not been high enough to maintain population numbers.

Statistics Canada explains

The government statistics department puts it to Canadians this way: “Your great-grandfather was 1 of 7 children. Your grandmother was 1 of 4 children and you are 1 of 3 kids. You are thinking of having 1 or 2 kids, or, if you happen to be a statistician, that’s currently an average of 1.61 children per woman.

“Over the past 150 years, Canada has changed from a high-fertility society where women had many children during their lives to a low-fertility society where women are having fewer children overall and at increasingly older ages.

“Despite some fluctuations, the total fertility rate in Canada has been below the replacement level for over 40 years. In fact, 1971 was the last year the replacement-level fertility of 2.1 children per woman was reached—meaning that couples, on average, had produced enough children to replace themselves.

Consultations on immigration on-going

The numbers mean Canada needs immigrants, but just how many is to be determined. The current government is holding cross-country consultations to help it decide how many immigrants it should admit in the coming years, reports the Globe and Mail. A government official told the newspaper that the immigration minister has heard support for higher levels of immigration during these consultations.

This government admitting more

Since 2001, Canada has admitted  between 221,352 and 262,236 immigrants per year. This year that number is projected to be between 280,000 and 305,000. Part of the increase can be attributed to the commitment to resettle Syrian refugees. So far more than 30,000 have arrived.

A public opinion survey conducted for the Globe and Mail found that 39 per cent of Canadians want the government to accept fewer immigrants in 2017 than it did this year while 37 per cent say it should accept the same number and 16 per cent say more should be resettled.

So that’s a majority calling for the same number of immigrants or more.

Too soon to say, but…

The current government is ruled by the Liberal Party, which proposed many improvements for immigration when it ran for office last year. These included increased funding for support services, a commitment to family reunification and restoring health services for newcomers.

So, Canada’s demographic needs suggest immigrants will continue to be admitted to Canada. The current government has increased immigration in 2016 and, while it appears to have a positive attitude toward immigrants, we will not know exactly how many it will admit in future until after the current public consultations have concluded.

http://www.rcinet.ca/en/2016/09/01/does-canada-intend-to-stay-a-land-of-immigration-much-longer/

By Lynn Desjardins | english@rcinet.ca