Should other countries adopt Canada's immigration model?

The Inquiry

BBC

News Commentary, News

4.6 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 January 2023

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Canada is just one of a number of countries with an ageing population and shrinking workforce. The second largest in the world in terms of land mass, and with a population of just 36 million, Canada has announced a plan to invite 1.5 million people to migrate there over the next three years. The ambitious target is not without challenge politically, the most prominent is the housing crisis currently being felt in the country.

Canada is not alone in needing more people of working age to bolster its economy, developed nations all around the globe are finding themselves in a similar situation and struggling to find answers. Despite this need, many countries remain reluctant to embrace the notion of inviting larger numbers of immigrants in for a whole host of reasons, from a lack of space to negative media portrayals of migrants. None-the-less, gaps in their skilled trades’ sectors demand resolution, and increased immigration can offer it.

Whilst increased migration can help a country like Canada overcome the challenges of a diminishing labour force, it also has the effect of denying a migrant’s home country of expertise. Not only can this have the effect of denying a country their brightest and best, it also comes with a financial cost too, with countries training more than they need in anticipation of losing a high percentage of those workers.

So this week on the Inquiry we're asking, should other countries adopt Canada's immigration model?

Transcript

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0:00.0	The dark is rising from the BBC World Service.
0:03.6	The powers of the dark are reaching out now steadily and stealthily all over this world.
0:10.0	Find out more at the end of this podcast.
0:16.2	Welcome to The Inquiry. I'm Sharma Inkosia, each week one question for expert witnesses
0:22.1	and an answer. February 15, 2022. It's National Flag of Canada Day.
0:30.0	It marks the date that the country's distinctive red and white maple leaf flag was raised for the very
0:35.1	first time back in 1965. It's also a day that 29 people from 13 countries will never forget.
0:44.9	They're all on a life-changing video call. Please turn on your microphones every
0:50.8	means silent and raise your right hand. By the time it's over they will be official citizens of
0:57.0	Canada. Please repeat after me. I swear that I will be faithful
1:08.8	and bear true allegiance to her majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
1:17.4	The virtual ceremony takes 35 minutes and even includes a surprise login from Prime Minister
1:23.0	Justin Trudeau. Citizens also hear their new national anthem.
1:38.8	Canada has a people problem. It doesn't have enough of them. Immigration targets are being raised
1:44.8	to half a million people each year until 2025 to help stem critical labour shortages.
1:51.3	It's not the only nation in that situation.
2:00.8	So this week we're asking should other countries adopt Canada's immigration model.
2:11.6	Immigration and multiculturalism are very important in Canada. It's part of the national narrative.
2:17.8	Anatriya and Defilido is a Canada excellence research chair on migration and integration
2:23.9	at Toronto Metropolitan University. There is a feeling that immigrants bring talent,
2:31.2	bring skills, bring new traditions. So I think the filling is both the more the merrier but also
2:37.6	the more diverse the merrier. Canada is the world's second largest country by surface after Russia
	...

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