IPSOS CEO Darell Bricker says that Canada has a birth rate of 1.6 children for every woman. He argues that this replacement rate is extremely lower than the estimated 2.1 minimum birth rate needed to preserve a population from extinction. He added that if immigration is ignored, then Canada would suffer a great deal economically. The immigrants will be needed to build the nation by providing skilled and non-skilled labor to the firms and organizations and contributing to community programs such as education.
The Immigration Department initiated the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program to attract and retain international talent in Atlantic Canada. The IRCC and the minister for immigration were happy with the progress in the region at the end of 2018. The minister said that they no longer insist on skilled immigrants but also invite families who want to have permanent residency in Canada.
Due to the massive success of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program in the Atlantic provinces, the government has decided to implement these same tactics to attract foreigners to other provinces in Canada. Canada recently invested 54 million dollars into Ontario tech network from which 18,000 jobs are expected. In 2018, Canada received 3.2 million visa applications, which is an improvement from 2015 with processing time reducing by half.
The adoption of online submissions as the new method of applying for citizenship has seen a significant rise in visa applications. The online version has improved the efficiency of immigration procedures.The IRCC and immigration department is considering the application of Artificial Intelligence in the visa application process. Virtual assistant bots may be used in the future to run the provincial immigration systems.
Multi-year Canadian Immigration level plans will continue to be implemented. Since 2017, the government shifted the immigration plan from annual to a 3-year term which has seen significant improvement in strategy. The provinces, IRCC staff, employers and stakeholders now have enough time to understand the strategy and goals for every immigration level plan.
Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Immigration Minister, Ahmed Hussen confirmed that the Immigration Level Plans are here to stay. Through the Provincial Nominee Programs, the government intends to shift the immigration channel away from Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver to smaller cities and towns. It expects newcomers to settle in towns such as Sudbury and Moncton which are not far from the capital. At least 2 million Canadians have privately sponsored refugees since private sponsorship was introduced 40years back. Ahmed Hussen commented that the private support shows that Canadians are generous, humane and compassionate.
In the ideal world, refugees are non-existent and so would the need for their sponsorship. But because Canadians understand that we do not live in an ideal world, they have vowed continued support regardless of the party that forms the government.
