Ottawa took in 280,000 permanent migrants in 2010
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – Canada’s population grew by 280,000 in 2010. The higher headcount, however, was not caused by natural births, but by permanent immigrants.
The permanent newcomers are in addition to 182,000 temporary workers, 100,000 foreign students and 12,000 refugees accepted last year.
It is the highest number of migrants accepted by Canada in 57 years, according to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. The figure is 6 percent higher than the government quota of 265,000 permanent migrants yearly.
He defended the opening of the country’s gateways to newcomers because of the migrants’ contribution to Canada’s economic recovery. Kenney said the migrants cut backlog in applications for skilled workers.
Kenney said the federal government will soon amend its immigration laws to limit entry to 38 qualifying professions, particularly those whose job skills are in shortage in Canada even if they don’t have university degrees or language proficiency.
However, critics said the overemphasis on economic migrant affects other applicants such as those seeking refugee visas and family members still overseas.
Kenney stressed that abuse of Canada’s immigration system will not be tolerated. To ensure that the system would not be abused, Ottawa has filed a bill to prevent human smuggling.
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