Want to settle abroad? Canada to welcome 14.5 lakh immigrants by 2025

Amid a critical labour shortage, Canada has unveiled a new immigration plan under which it will attract 14.5 lakh skilled talents during the next three years till 2025.

On Tuesday, Canada's minister of immigration Sean Fraser said that his country is now facing massive labour shortages causing uncertainty for Canadian businesses and workers.

To meet the shortage, Canada has come up with a plan which embraces immigration as a strategy to help businesses find workers and to attract the skills required in critical sectors — including health care, skilled trades, manufacturing and technology — to manage the social and economic challenges the country will face in the decades ahead.

Last year, Canada welcomed over 405,000 newcomers - the most it has ever accepted in a single year, the immigration ministry said on Tuesday.

"The Government is continuing that ambition by setting targets in the new levels plan of 465,000 permanent residents in 2023, 485,000 in 2024 and 500,000 in 2025. The plan also brings an increased focus on attracting newcomers to different regions of the country, including small towns and rural communities," it added.

The levels plan is a projection of how many permanent residents will be admitted to Canada in a given year and sets targets for overall admissions per immigration category.

Currently, immigration accounts for almost 100 per cent of Canada's labour force growth. And by 2032, it is projected to account for 100 per cent of the country’s population growth.

During the 2021 Census, nearly 1 in 4 people counted were or had been a landed immigrant or permanent resident in Canada. From 2016 to 2021, over 1.3 million new immigrants settled permanently in Canada, the highest number of immigrants recorded in a Canadian census.

Canada's labour shortage is such that it recently had to allow international students studying in the country to work full-time. Earlier, they were allowed to work only for 20 hours per week.

Immigration minister Fraser said last year, Canada welcomed the most newcomers in a single year in its history. "This year’s immigration levels plan will help businesses find the workers they need, set Canada on a path that will contribute to our long-term success," he said.