Canada unveils plan to welcome 1.4m migrants by 2025

The Canadian government has unveiled a plan to welcome 1,450,000 migrants between 2023 and 2025 to tackle the problem of labour shortage.

Sean Fraser, Canada’s minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship, released the 2023-2025 immigration plan on Wednesday.

The plan embraces immigration as a strategy to help businesses find workers and to attract the skills required in key sectors.

According to the immigration ministry, the Canadian economy is facing critical labour market shortages, causing uncertainty for businesses and workers.

The immigration plan is expected to manage the social and economic challenges Canada will face in the decades ahead.

The Canadian government hopes to bring in 465,000 permanent residents in 2023; 485,000 in 2024; and 500,000 in 2025. In 2021, Canada welcomed over 405,000 newcomers, the most in a single year.

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“Our plan has a focus on economic growth. By the third year of this plan, 60 percent of new immigrants will be admitted under economic immigration categories,” Fraser said.

“Last year, we welcomed the most newcomers in a single year in our history.

“This year’s immigration levels plan will help businesses find the workers they need, set Canada on a path that will contribute to our long-term success, and allow us to make good on key commitments to vulnerable people fleeing violence, war and persecution.”

The plan also aims to attract newcomers to different regions of the country, including small towns and rural communities.

Immigration accounts for almost 100 percent of Canada’s labour force growth and, by 2032, it is projected to account for 100 percent of Canada’s population growth.

Canada is one of the top countries Nigerians migrate to for education and employment opportunities.