Report of Findings: Online Stakeholder Consultation

Overview and Context

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act requires that the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration table in Parliament by November 1 of each year an annual report to Parliament on immigration. The annual report contains the Annual Levels Plan, which establishes the total number of permanent residents Canada expects to welcome in the upcoming calendar year.

As part of the development of the Plan, CIC consults key stakeholders annually to ensure it is informed by and responsive to changing trends and dynamics while supporting Canada’s economic, social and humanitarian objectives. CIC also regularly consults with the provinces and territories on immigration levels and issues.

In order to gather stakeholder insight in the development of the 2012 Levels Plan, CIC invited over 750 stakeholders to an online consultation from June 21 to July 15, 2011. Stakeholders included employers, unions, sector councils, settlement service providers, non-governmental organizations and other key stakeholders in immigration. They were asked to participate in an online consultation to gather their views on immigration objectives and factors to consider when establishing immigration levels.

The online consultation invitation set out the purpose of the consultation, provided an overview of levels planning considerations and included a background document to assist stakeholders in responding to the consultation questions (see Annex A: Immigration Levels Planning: Balancing Priorities to Meet Canada’s Immigration Objectives). The consultation questions sought stakeholders’ experience with the current level of immigration, views on immigration objectives, factors that may influence levels planning and their feedback on the balance between economic immigrants and non-economic immigrants (see Annex B: Stakeholder Online Consultation Questionnaire).

The online consultation questionnaire was built on consultations from past years in order to track responses from stakeholders and determine if their views on immigration levels had changed over time. The online component was complemented by consultations with Canada’s provinces and territories, the City of Toronto and other federal government partners.

Summary of Responses

N.B. The findings summarized in this report reflect only the views of those who participated in the online consultation. These views are not necessarily representative of the overall CIC stakeholder community.

From over 170 responses received to the online consultation, close to 45% were from immigration consultants or lawyers, followed by business and sectoral associations at around 12%. Almost 35% of responses were from the province of Ontario.

Current level of immigration

Stakeholders indicated a generally positive view or a neutral experience with the current immigration level. They also reported that the immigration system needed to first and foremost support the country’s economic needs while ensuring that immigrants can be properly integrated to give them a better opportunity to succeed and contribute to Canada.

As one stakeholder noted, “The current level of immigration has been a positive force to maintain the socio-economic sustainability in the rural and urban areas of our region. Labour market shortages have been benefiting from the current levels as well as the regional economy.” Others pointed to the strength of bringing diversity to Canada, where newcomers are “happy to be in our community, appreciate our schools and quality of life. They are generous in sharing about themselves and their cultures.”

Some stakeholders were of the view that current immigration levels are too low and that raising them could help Canada meet its immediate labour market needs and its longer-term challenges, such as our ageing population.

Immigration objectives and factors

The Levels Plan must balance several objectives and factors while adhering to operational constraints that limit the number of admissions that can be achieved within a given year.

For this year’s consultation, and like last year, stakeholders reported that supporting long-term economic growth was a very important immigration objective for Canada. This was followed by meeting current labour market needs and supporting population maintenance or growth. One stakeholder remarked:

I feel that supporting long-term economic growth is always the mandate of any immigration program, and the only way that we can do so is to recruit talent from outside of the country, both looking to bring in skills needed in the future, and to meet gaps in the current Canadian labour market.

After the economic objectives of immigration, stakeholders continued to view supporting population maintenance or growth, reuniting families and protecting refugees as important objectives. As in last year’s consultations, respondents reported that promoting regionalization was the least important immigration objective.

As for the factors to consider in establishing immigration levels, respondents believed that immigrant economic issues were most important, followed by the basic needs of the immigrants, integration issues, the impact on the host population, resource issues and the sustainability of immigration. One stakeholder noted that “Immigrant economic issues reflect on the success or failure of proper selection and integration of newcomers. If we are not successful in these two areas, then immigration is less likely to have the desired economic effect and be less fulfilling for immigrants.”

However, some stakeholders said we needed to consider all the factors important in establishing immigration levels, recognizing that they all contribute to success in either meeting immigration objectives or ensuring that newcomers thrive in Canada.

Other comments by stakeholders

In addition to the responses outlined above, stakeholders suggested broadening the federal skilled worker eligible occupational list, using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program to address immediate labour market needs, better approaches to foreign credential recognition, and a more holistic look at immigrant participation (economic, social, cultural and political) as factors to consider in determining levels.

Conclusion

In line with the responses of the previous year, economic factors were considered by stakeholders as the primary considerations when establishing immigration levels and objectives. These include consideration of the economic needs of Canada, such as long-term economic growth, meeting current labour market needs and supporting population maintenance. Economic factors also included the economic integration of immigrants, such as ensuring their level of earnings and that their skills are well used in the Canadian labour market.

CIC will pursue discussions with the provincial and territorial officials responsible for immigration as well as key immigration stakeholders with a view to balancing immigration objectives and exploring long-term immigration planning for the future.