Canada and its immigration policies have been in the news regularly over the last 2 years. In the latest changes, the new policy has for the first time introduced a numeric quota on the skilled worker program. A grand total of 20,000 applications will be accepted over the next one year. Given that the number was more like 230,000 on an average in the last few years, the quota should fill up by the end of July (a month from the announcement on June 26).
A well regarded Ottawa based think tank, Conference Board of Canada, has come out with a report on their thoughts about immigration policies and the impact on the country’s economy.
Some excerpts from this report -
- The report, written by the Conference Board’s chief economist Glen Hodgson, said the recent recession provided some relief from tight labour markets. However, he predicted the supply of workers will soon become an issue for the country’s economic development with steady job growth once again the norm, and the large baby-boomer generation either at or approaching retirement age.
- Hodgson reasoned that, without improved immigration policies, Canada will hit a wall in terms of growing the workforce, given that the current birthrate of 1.66 children per woman is far from the level of 2.1 that’s considered enough to sustain a population.
- The Conference Board’s report assumes the rate of immigration will grow to about 350,000 per year by 2030 from the government’s current target of as much as 265,000.
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