New immigration plan to fill labour market shortages and grow Canada’s economy

Ottawa – The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has tabled a new Immigration Levels Plan that aims to ensure Canada has the workers it needs to fill critical labour market gap.

The goal of the 2022–2024 Immigration Levels Plan is to continue welcoming immigrants at a rate of about one per cent of Canada’s population, including 431,645 permanent residents in 2022, 447,055 in 2023, and 451,000 in 2024.

To support these increased levels, the federal government recently announced a plan to modernize Canada’s immigration system to help address such challenges as reducing inventories and creating predictable processing times.

The plan is intended to increase the attraction and retention of newcomers in regions with acute economic, labour and demographic challenges. It will also increase Francophone immigration outside Quebec, while supporting the successful integration of French-speaking newcomers and strengthening Francophone communities across the country, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said in a news release.

Highlights of the plan:

• overall admissions amounting to 1.14% of the Canadian population by 2024
• a long-term focus on economic growth, with nearly 60% of admissions in the Economic Class
• help for vulnerable populations, like the special measures for granting permanent residence to refugee claimants working in health care during the pandemic
• support for global crises by providing a safe haven through humanitarian immigration to those facing persecution
• talent retention of those already in Canada by granting permanent status to temporary residents accepted through the time
• limited pathways for essential workers launched in spring 2021

This plan also recognizes the importance of family reunification and helps maintain the 12 month processing standard for spouses and children.

Late in 2021, Baking Association of Canada joined with FBC/ABC and other Canadian food producers to lobby the federal government to address the acute labour shortage in our industries.

BAC requests input from baking industry as it lobbies federal government to address labour shortage