Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Canada Plans to Welcome 500,000 Immigrants in 2025


Wed 02 Nov 2022 | 11:04 AM
Israa Farhan

Canada's Immigration Minister Sean Fraser said the country plans to receive record numbers of new arrivals to address the problem of labor shortage in the country.

"Canada needs more people," Frazier said during a news conference on Tuesday.

A large segment of the population in Canada is heading to retirement age, according to recent population statistics, the age of each person out of seven in Canada ranges between 55 and 64 years.

Canadian companies are also facing the biggest employment crisis ever, with 1 million job vacancies registered in March.

Fraser added that Canadians understand the need to continue to grow the country's population if it is to meet its workforce needs.

Last year, Canada welcomed more than 405,000 immigrants, the largest number ever in a single year. The minister indicated that the government hopes to reach 431,000 immigrants this year.

The Canadian government also modified its goals for the next year by raising the expected increase in arrivals to 465,000 immigrants, 485,000 immigrants in 2024, and 500,000 in 2025.

A total of 1.3 million new immigrants settled in Canada between 2016 and 2021.

By 2025, the target will be more than 60 percent of all admissions, according to Fraser. Canada also aims to reunite more families faster but is taking in fewer refugees.

According to the 2021 census, Canada's population has grown to 39 million, and one in four people is born abroad.