In a press release yesterday, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced the start of a new “broad-based engagement” venture called “An Immigration System for Canada’s Future”.
With an emphasis on collaboration, this program will set out to utilize collected public opinion and ideation to help Canada create “an immigration system that is strong, easy to navigate and adaptive to change.” To create an optimal immigration system, Canada believes public opinion will be crucial because “we need to ensure our policies and programs are aligned with the needs of our communities.”
What does this initiative involve?
Beginning with a first in-person dialogue session in Halifax that took place yesterday, which was chaired by Immigration Minister Sean Fraser himself, Canada is “launching this … initiative to provide [Canadians and a wide range of other stakeholders with the opportunity] to share their ideas and perspectives on how we can build a stronger, more adaptive immigration system for Canada’s future.”
Built with the intention of capturing “a diversity of perspectives”, the many groups that will be given a chance to provide input and ideas through this effort include “all levels of government, businesses, academia, post-secondary institutions, settlement organizations, implicated sectors in Canada and our clients.”
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Broadly, this effort from Canada’s government will include more in-person dialogue sessions like the one in Halifax, as well as “thematic workshops and a survey for the public and our clients”, says the press release.
IRCC says that “the input gathered [through this initiative] will inform Canada’s future immigration policies and programs and will help shape a system that will benefit communities across the country for decades to come.”
The future of this initiative
At this time, Canada’s “An Immigration System for Canada’s Future” initiative is expected to continue through the spring of 2023, as noted in the official release from IRCC, which concludes by inviting the participation of Canadians across the country.
Those who “would like to contribute to the future” of Canadian immigration, says the press release, are invited to partake in a survey that will be launched by IRCC and made available to the public “later in March”. To learn more about how to get involved with “shaping the future of immigration in Canada”, visit the initiative’s dedicated Government of Canada webpage here.
About Canada’s need for immigration
This country’s most recent population and census data highlights why initiatives like these are necessary to optimize Canada’s immigration system.
In fact, 2022 saw Canada welcome a record-high number of new permanent residents (437,000+), just one year after setting a new record for the percentage of Canada’s population accounted for by immigrants (23%). Further establishing the importance of immigration to Canada’s prosperity is the reality that immigrants are “helping rejuvenate Canada’s [aging] population”, as almost two-thirds of this country’s immigrants from 2016-2021 are between the core working ages of 25 and 54 years old.
Note: The above data was taken from IRCC’s press release on February 23, 2023
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