Canada’s immigration-oriented population growth is going to increase the number of people in Canada by more than half in the coming 50 years.
The population of Canada is going to increase 57 per cent to 62.8 million by 2073, which is up from 40.1 million last year, as per forecasts released by StatsCan.
This is an average annual growth rate of roughly 0.9 per cent, according to the agency’s “medium-growth” scenario.
StatsCan further included low and high growth projections, with population estimates from 47.1 million to 87.2 million. The average annual rate would be between 0.3 per cent to 1.6 per cent under those scenarios.
In the main scenario, Canada’s natural population growth (births minus deaths) will become negative by 2036, which would making immigration the main driver of future population rises.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – in the face of housing shortages – is looking to lower Canada’s temporary foreign immigration number by roughly 20 per cent in the next three years.
Further, according to Housing and former Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, Canada will cut its number of temporary foreign workers (TFWs) after a post-COVID surge that – according to some researchers – has boosted immigrant unemployment rates.
He justified the Ministry’s decision under his tenure as Immigration Minister by saying that pandemic-related shortages led to it.
However, he further said that circumstances are different now, according to CBC.
“The landscape has changed. We don’t see that acute labour shortage that existed even two years ago. As the economic landscape changes, so too must the policy landscape,” Fraser said.
“You should expect to see in the future additional changes that will ensure that the programs we put in place to help grow the Canadian labour force first and foremost create opportunities for Canadian workers.”
Trudeau himself addressed the situation by announcing on Monday that Ottawa will reduce the number of temporary workers coming to Canada due to reasons seconded by Fraser, CBC said.
Trudeau said that employers in high unemployment areas (which are places with a six per cent or higher unemployment rate) will be unable to hire low-wage TFWs, with limited exceptions for “food security sectors” such as agriculture and food and fish processing.
Canada’s current immigration levels plan is set to admit roughly 485,000 PRs in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025 and 2026.
“We’re making sure that the entire package makes as much sense as possible for the needs of Canadians and for the needs of our economy,” Trudeau said.
“We’ll be looking at unemployment rates and opportunities to make further adjustments over the course of this fall as we come forward with comprehensive level plans that will respond to the reality that Canada’s facing now and in years and decades to come,” he said.
