{"id":266668,"date":"2020-08-27T04:25:59","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T08:25:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=266668"},"modified":"2020-08-27T04:25:59","modified_gmt":"2020-08-27T08:25:59","slug":"what-will-canadian-immigration-look-like-post-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/08\/27\/what-will-canadian-immigration-look-like-post-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"What will Canadian immigration look like post-coronavirus?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Canadian immigration will be\u00a0shaped\u00a0by Canada\u2019s\u00a0demographics, economy, politics, processing capacity, and capacity to integrate newcomers. Externally, immigration levels will remain influenced by\u00a0global circumstances.\u00a0 (Pexels photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The coronavirus pandemic continues to create uncertainty. What is certain, however, is Canada\u2019s need for immigrants, and the desire of foreigners to come to Canada.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are internal and external factors to consider when imagining the future of Canada\u2019s immigration system beyond the coronavirus pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Canadian immigration will be\u00a0shaped<\/a>\u00a0by Canada\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>demographics, economy, politics, processing capacity, and capacity to integrate newcomers<\/span>. Externally, immigration levels will remain influenced by<\/span>\u00a0global circumstances.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Internal factors affecting Canadian immigration<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Internally,\u00a0<\/span>Canada is still looking to immigration to drive its post-coronavirus economic recovery. Canada\u2019s immigration minister, Marco Mendicino, promised that\u00a0<\/span>immigration will remain an \u201cenduring value\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0after the pandemic. Mendicino recently\u00a0<\/span>met with provincial immigration ministers<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to discuss immigration levels up until 2023, the importance of international students<\/span>, among\u00a0<\/span>other topics<\/span><\/a>\u00a0pertaining to the future of immigration in Canada.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Canadians themselves, especially younger generations, are also maintaining a generally positive outlook toward immigration, according to a recent\u00a0<\/span>Association for Canadian Studies<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>survey. About 61 per cent of the s<\/span>urvey\u2019s<\/span>\u00a0participants said they believe that immigration will help Canada\u2019s long-term economic recovery.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

D<\/span>emographic factors that drive\u00a0<\/span>Canada\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>need for immigrants have not changed. Canada has an aging population and a low birth rate.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>9 million baby boomers<\/span><\/a>\u00a0will reach retirement age by 2030, and Canada\u2019s birth rate is at about 1.6 babies per couple when a birth rate of 2.1 is needed in order to\u00a0<\/span>maintain the size of its<\/span>\u00a0population.\u00a0<\/span>Canada\u2019s birth rate may dip\u00a0<\/span>even further<\/span><\/a>\u00a0due to the economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By 2034, immigrants\u00a0are expected to be responsible for 100 per cent of Canada\u2019s population growth<\/span>\u00a0and an increasing share of economic growth<\/span>, the\u00a0<\/span>Conference Board of Canada<\/span><\/a>\u00a0says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I<\/span>mmigrants do well in creating jobs and succeeding in the\u00a0<\/span>labour<\/span>\u00a0market.\u00a0<\/span>Statistics Canada<\/span><\/a>\u00a0recently found that immigrant-owned businesses were more likely to create a new product or innovate on an existing process or method. Immigrants who come to Canada through\u00a0<\/span>the<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Provincial Nominee Program<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or the federal\u00a0<\/span>Canadian Experience Class<\/span><\/a>\u00a0tend to\u00a0<\/span>fare better in the labour market<\/span><\/a>\u00a0than other immigration programs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the same time, immigrants who arrive under the\u00a0<\/span>Federal Skilled Worker Program<\/span><\/a>\u00a0also successfully integrate into the\u00a0<\/span>labour<\/span>\u00a0market and\u00a0<\/span>tend to surpass the earnings<\/span><\/a>\u00a0of Canadian-born workers after five years or so<\/span>\u00a0of landing in Canada<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Global factors affecting Canadian immigration<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

When it determines its immigration levels<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0Canada\u00a0<\/span>also\u00a0<\/span>looks at the interest of foreign nationals who want to come to Canada. In addition, Canada\u00a0<\/span>makes<\/span>\u00a0adjustments to immigration targets\u00a0<\/span>based\u00a0<\/span>o<\/span>n<\/span>\u00a0global circumstances such as crises. The\u00a0<\/span>civil\u00a0<\/span>war in Syria, for example, prompted the Canadian government to lower the targets for economic-class immigration to make room for more\u00a0<\/span>Syrian\u00a0<\/span>refugees in 2015<\/span>-16<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This year, Canada has taken a hit to immigration levels due to the pandemic. Immigration started to recover in June when about\u00a0<\/span>19,000 new permanent residents were admitted to Canada<\/span><\/a>. Though this is still down from the over 34,000 admitted in June of 2019.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A new\u00a0<\/span>World Education Services (WES) survey f<\/span>in<\/span>d<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0that\u00a0<\/span>the\u00a0<\/span>coronavirus<\/span>\u00a0pandemic<\/span>\u00a0has\u00a0<\/span>increased global interest in immigrating to Canada<\/span><\/a>, as many people overseas anticipate that Canada will see a less severe economic downturn in comparison to their home country.<\/span><\/p>\n

More certainty to come this fall<\/span><\/b><\/h3>\n

Economic challenges abroad are a double-edged sword. They will increase demand to immigrate to Canada among some segments of potential immigrants, while blunting it among other segments who will be negatively impacted by factors such as losi<\/span>ng their jobs\u00a0<\/span>or currency devaluations.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fe<\/span>es to immigrate<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to Canada went up\u00a0<\/span>in April<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0while some<\/span>\u00a0global currencies dropped. Nigeria, which is one of the\u00a0<\/span>main source countries of Canadian immigrants<\/span><\/a>, saw its\u00a0<\/span>currency dragged down with the falling price of oil<\/span><\/a>. Other oil-rich countries\u00a0<\/span>face the same threat<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to their currency, meaning less disposable\u00a0<\/span>income will be<\/span>\u00a0available for<\/span>\u00a0some<\/span>\u00a0would-be immigrants.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The future of Canadian immigration in 2021 and beyond will remain blurred so long as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten the world\u2019s health and economy.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Canadian economy is seeing some recovery,\u00a0<\/span>with<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>55 per cent of jobs<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>lost due to the pandemic having been recovered as of<\/span>\u00a0June<\/span>. Moreover,<\/span>\u00a0attitudes toward immigration are still relatively positive, and foreigners still want to come to Canada<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

These are all factors that will be taken into account when Canada\u2019s 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan will be announced by November 1st, 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The coronavirus pandemic continues to create uncertainty. What is certain, however, is Canada\u2019s need for immigrants, and the desire of …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":266671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-266668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-immigration","mauthors-kareem-el-assal","mauthors-shelby-thevenot","mauthors-cic-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266668"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":266672,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266668\/revisions\/266672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}