Trudeau says immigration gives Canada ‘competitive advantage’ over U.S.

Trudeau said Canadians are “positively inclined” toward immigration and said they know from Canada’s experience over generations and centuries that immigrants have “created our success.” (File Photo: Justin Trudeau/Facebook)

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canada’s immigration policies are giving it a big advantage over the United States when it comes to attracting business.  

“We’re a country that’s open to immigration right now,” he said earlier this week, on the eve of the November 6 U.S. mid-term elections. “Being able to get the top talent and draw on big pools of well-educated, ambitious, forward-thinking and diverse [people] is a hell of a competitive advantage that I don’t see the U.S. matching anytime soon.”

Trudeau made the remarks in an appearance at the Fortune Most Powerful Women International Summit in Montreal, which brought together women CEOs, thought leaders, entrepreneurs and senior representatives of the Canadian government.

Trudeau said Canadians are “positively inclined” toward immigration and said they know from Canada’s experience over generations and centuries that immigrants have “created our success.”

“We are able to take in almost one per cent of our population every year in immigration — a little over 300,000 — and we’re able to do that because it’s a system that Canadians have confidence in; it’s rules-based, it’s controlled,” he said.

Last week, Trudeau’s Liberal government unveiled its new immigration levels plan, which will see admissions of new permanent residents through Canada’s economic, family and refugee / humanitarian programs reach nearly one per cent of Canada’s population in 2021.

Of the 350,000 immigrants that Canada is planning to welcome that year, nearly 60 per cent will arrive through Canada’s economic immigration programs. A majority of economic immigrants are slated to arrive through Canada’s Federal High Skilled immigration programs and its Provincial Nominee Program.