Canada wants immigrants but the pandemic is in the way. So it’s looking to keep people already there.

Flag Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

In recent years, many developed nations have experienced labor shortages due to declining birth rates and reduced immigration rates.  Amanda Coletta for the Washington Post reports that Canada currently is seeking to attract and retain immigrants to fill the labor force.

While the United States has closed its borders in response to the pandemic, Canada wants more immigrants — 401,000 this year, to be exact — and is not letting pandemic border controls get in the way. That means new programs, including ones granting residency status to people already in the country and in jobs that for which they might not have previously qualified.

“Canada has long been a destination for economic immigration. But the retooling of its policies reflects wider shifts globally as countries reel with the fallout of a global pandemic that has deeply disrupted movement and migration. From Chinese students who dreamed of studying in the United States to migrant workers in the Persian Gulf, pandemic border closures, flight bans and the scaling back of visa services have wrought unparalleled upheaval to the flow of workers, students and regular and irregular migrants across borders.”

“Immigration is increasingly becoming the primary, if not the only, source of labor force growth” in Canada as the baby boomers retire, according to a senior economist at the Royal Bank of Canada.

To make up the shortfall in 2020, the Canadian government announced a plan to welcome 401,000 permanent residents in 2021, up from a previous goal of 351,000. That target would increase by 10,000 in 2022 and again in 2023.

KJ