Canada facing labour shortage — what does it mean for Indian immigrants

New Immigration Level Plans

The Canadian government has been vocal about facing acute labour shortage lately. To address the problem, it has decided to increase the immigration target.

A million job opportunities available in Canada

The new immigrants coming in the country will be filling roughly one million jobs that are currently vacant across various sectors and profiles. According to IANS, the recent job vacancy data showed there were 958,500 open roles in August and one million unemployed people.

How much has been increased?

The country has increased its 2023 immigration target to 465,000, 2024 target to 485,000 and 2025 target to 500,000.

The immigration minister Sean Fraser said in a statement that

the country aims to get 60 percent of the immigrants under the economic migrant category by 2025.

Economic class programmes for entry

According to the new plan, there will be 82,880 Express Entry landings in 2023, 109,020 in 2024 and 114,000 in 2025. There will be 105,500 landings through the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNPs) in 2023, 110,000 in 2024 and 117,500 in 2025.

This would mean that there will be a massive increase

in the number of immigrants getting permanent resident cards in Canada.

In 2021, Canada broke its all-time immigration record by welcoming over 405,000 immigrants.

What does the PM of Canada say?

“Immigration helps create economic growth, helps businesses find the workers they need, and helps us address workforce needs. This plan outlines how we are going to increase our targets in the years ahead, and it cements our place among the world’s top destinations for talent,” said Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, in a Linkedin post.

How is labour shortage affecting the country?

The Canadian economy lost around $13 billion in the last one year due to a nationwide labour and skill shortage in the manufacturing sector, a survey by Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters found.

Why is Canada facing a labour shortage?

Canada continues to have one of the lowest birth rates in the world with 1.4 children per woman, according to media reports. Low population is making it harder for the economy to run and therefore, it require immigrants to fulfill the job vacancies.