Canada is revamping its immigration policy. Yesterday, the government made significant changes to the Express Entry system by introducing new streams to bring in skilled immigrants who can contribute to the country from day one.
The new policy was announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney. According to him, the new policy aims to reduce dependence on the US and address critical labor gaps in health care, aviation, and defense. This new policy focuses on researchers, senior managers, pilots, doctors, and military recruits from abroad. This was announced by Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab.
“This is about Canada’s future. We need a workforce ready for a changing economy and capable of supporting both civilian industries and national defense.”
The new policy focuses on skilled workers in transportation, research, health care, and defense. This new policy also allows the Canadian Armed Forces to recruit military personnel from other countries. Doctors, nurses, and pilots are included in this new policy. This new policy aims to align immigration policy with Canada’s priorities to ensure that immigrants contribute to the country from day one.
Canada has been working to balance immigration policy with housing and infrastructure issues. For this reason, the number of immigrants was kept relatively low to prevent any burden on resources. This new policy does not increase the number of immigrants but focuses on quality rather than quantity.
Carney’s larger vision goes beyond immigration policies. The day before, Carney announced a comprehensive defense strategy to reduce Canada’s reliance on the US. The strategy will increase funding for defense-related R&D by 85% in ten years, increase revenues in the defense sector by more than 240%, and increase defense exports by 50%. The strategy will also create up to 125,000 high-quality jobs to reinforce Canada’s economic and strategic independence.
“Canada must be able to stand on its own—economic and defensible,” Carney said. “A skilled workforce is the backbone of that independence.”
Like many other NATO members, Canada has agreed to increase its defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.
Existing Express Entry streams will continue to be available to French language workers, health care professionals, and skilled tradespeople in Canada. The new targeted immigration streams will be added to the existing ones to ensure flexibility in the new program.
Experts say that Canada is being practical and forward-thinking in its new immigration policies. “Canada is addressing its labor shortages while planning for the future,” said a senior policy analyst.
With the new Express Entry program, Canada is opening its doors to skilled immigrants but only to those whose skills will help Canada thrive in the years to come to become a better innovator and defender in a challenging world. As Canada balances its immigration policies with its economic and defense needs in the coming years, it is likely that Canada will have a new and improved workforce in the coming years to face the challenges that lie ahead.
