ARCHIVED – Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, 2007

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Section 1
Making Immigration Work for Canada

Canada has long been a destination of choice for skilled immigrants. It has been active in the resettlement of refugees and it has played an important role in efforts to manage global migration. Maintaining this position in the coming years will require a significant commitment on Canada’s part to ensure that its policies and programs are innovative, responsive and efficient, and that it contributes to effective responses to impending global challenges.

At one time, Canada was one of only a handful of countries actively recruiting immigrants. It is now seeing more and more competitors entering the field as all developed nations come face to face with the demographic reality of aging and shrinking populations. As well, some of the important source countries for Canada’s immigration program, notably India and China, are themselves beginning to offer more opportunities at home for their skilled workers. At the same time, the number of displaced people – most of them unskilled – is predicted to grow substantially as the world population increases by 2 billion people by the year 2050, the vast majority of whom will be struggling to survive in megacities in the developing world.

Supporting Canada’s Economy and Competitiveness

Immigration will play an increasingly important role in supporting Canada’s economic prosperity and competitiveness. In a few short years, given our aging population, Canadians who leave school for the workplace will only offset the number of retirements. Immigration will therefore be a key source of labour force growth in the future. Moreover, the country is currently facing significant labour market shortages in some sectors and regions. Immigration can contribute to addressing both short- and long-term labour market needs by attracting people with the right mix of skills and talents to support economic growth today and in the future. With other industrialized countries confronting similar challenges with respect to sustaining population and economic growth, Canada will be operating in an increasingly competitive worldwide market for higher skilled workers.

Despite the success in bringing roughly a quarter of a million new permanent residents to Canada annually over the past few years, there are still many more individuals who would like to come to Canada. This high demand for immigration has pushed the overall inventory of applications beyond 850,000 individuals. Given this large and growing inventory and the annual immigration levels plan tabled in Parliament, the challenge lies in balancing competing demands to process applications in a timely manner and to sustain high levels of client satisfaction. At the same time, CIC is committed to the timely processing of visitors, students and temporary workers applying to come to Canada. The volumes for these groups have increased steadily in recent years. The same resources are used for processing both permanent and temporary resident streams, so that increased demand in one stream puts pressure on the other.

Canada’s immigration program is taking action to meet the diverse skill requirements of an expanding and dynamic economy and to address the growing inventory of applications. This means doing more to meet immediate and regional skills shortages and the longer-term needs of the labour market by attracting and retaining highly qualified and skilled workers. In this regard, the Government has already introduced improvements so that employers across Canada will be able to hire temporary foreign workers more quickly and easily to meet immediate skill shortages. As well, a new avenue to immigration, the Canadian Experience Class, will allow qualified individuals with Canadian skilled work experience, or with a combination of Canadian work and studies, to apply for permanent residence from within the country.

Bringing immigrants to Canada is only part of the challenge. Just as important is ensuring that they settle successfully upon arrival and integrate fully over the longer term. The challenges newcomers face are many: acquisition of English and/or French; recognition of their credentials, skills and work experience acquired abroad; and familiarity with the norms of the Canadian workplace and society, to name just a few. It will be important to look at ways in which the current range of settlement programs and services – including those provided by provincial and community partners – can be improved to better help immigrants in the early settlement period. CIC is also committed to ensuring that the process of acquiring Canadian citizenship sets a solid foundation for newcomer integration into Canadian society over the long term.

2006 Levels

In the 2005 Annual Report on Immigration, the Government committed to admit between 225,000 and 255,000 permanent residents in 2006. In the end, 251,649 permanent residents were admitted to Canada in 2006, close to the upper end of the range. Of these, 138,257 new permanent residents were selected under the economic stream, and 113,380 were selected under the noneconomic family and humanitarian streams. It should be noted that, while the figures are reported in this manner, they reflect the criteria that was applied to assess eligibility for permanent residence when the application was submitted, not the intention of the applicant upon landing in Canada, nor the economic, social and cultural contributions that these new residents will make to Canada. For example, some new residents admitted under the economic categories do not enter the labour market, but rather attend school or contribute from the home. Conversely, research suggests that the majority of the new residents under the non-economic category find employment within five years of landing and go on to make economic contributions.

Critical Partnerships

Because immigration is a shared jurisdiction under the Constitution, provinces and territories play a vital role in ensuring that the program succeeds. Within the federal realm, a number of departments and agencies play key partnership roles in the program. CIC shares responsibility for the administration of IRPA with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which is responsible for the enforcement provisions of IRPA and immigration processing at ports of entry. As well, CIC works closely with Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC), given its role in assessing labour market needs and supporting immigrant labour market integration. Other federal partners include Service Canada, Industry Canada, Health Canada, the Public Health Agency, Public Safety Canada, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, Canadian Heritage, Justice Canada, the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB), the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), and the Canadian International Development Agency. CIC also collaborates with non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based service providers and voluntary organizations to address immigrants’ social and economic needs. Internationally, CIC tracks global trends and represents Canada’s strategic interest in bilateral, regional and multilateral fora and organizations addressing migration-related issues.

Canada’s Immigration Plan for 2008

CIC’s commitment is to admit new permanent residents in 2008 within a planning range of 240,000 and 265,000 admissions. In this way, Canada’s immigration program will continue to respond to the diverse skill requirements of an expanding and dynamic economy. To meet growing regional needs the Plan aims to admit a record number of provincial nominees. As well, the Plan includes the introduction of the Canadian Experience Class, a new avenue to immigration that will permit, under certain conditions, temporary workers and foreign students with a Canadian credential to apply for permanent residence. Finally, the Plan will maintain the Government’s commitments to support family reunification and humanitarian objectives.

Table 1: Immigration Levels Plan 2008

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