Chuck Chiang for Business in Vancouver writes, “for a country that depends on immigration for much of its population growth, it is logical for Canada to look to newcomers to reduce its labour shortage, B.C. experts say. But while Canada has historically done better than others in integrating skilled workers into local economies and communities, there are still gaps that may derail Ottawa’s plan to lean on immigration as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes.
In 2020, the federal government announced plans to welcome more than 1.2 million immigrants to Canada between 2021 and 2023 – partially for “short-term economic recovery” as well as “long-term economic growth,” then-federal immigration minister Marco Mendicino said at the time. Statistics Canada confirmed there were 405,750 immigrants last year, more than 4,000 above the original goals announced in 2020; B.C., meanwhile, took in 69,326 during that time – or 17 per cent of the national total. The previous annual high for newcomers to Canada was 400,900 in 1913.”
