According to the statistical authority, the population increase is due almost exclusively to migrants and people with limited right to stay. This means that Canada – the second largest country in the world by area – has almost reached the 40 million mark. Specifically, the number increased from 38,156,138 to 39,566,248 people in one year. Canada remains the fastest growing country in the G-7, the group of seven most important industrialized countries.
Immigration accounted for 96% of the increase. The population grew 2.7% over the year and, at that rate, the number of people living in the country could double in 26 years. Just over 600,000 of them have a temporary residence permit. The strong increase also means “a record year” in terms of processing applications by the immigration service.
Canada’s economy and aging population depend on immigration. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has therefore increased immigration since taking office in 2015. Last year, the government set an annual population growth target of half a million by 2025. According to Statistics Canada, Canada’s population will continue to grow – it is projected to exceed 52 million by 2043.
AP/The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz Roxham Road Migration heightens tensions with the US
Dealing more openly with the issue of migration
Canada is repeatedly cited around the world as an example of how to deal with a dwindling population and increasing migratory pressure in Western countries. Unlike many other countries, it clearly recognizes that only migration can solve population aging and actively pursues policies in this regard, while in many other countries – from the US to European states – migration is used by the main parties to do so to stimulating raises concerns and fears. There are often no alternatives to migration to solve the problems themselves – from the lack of workers to the financing of social systems.
Which isn’t to say that migration isn’t sometimes an issue of conflict and dispute in Canada as well. However, due to its peripheral location, Canada has been largely unaffected by illegal migration. And in everyday life there are similar problems in Canada and other countries. Despite a much stronger selection process for migrant workers, there is also the problem in Canada, for example, that vacancies and migrant training often do not go together. Furthermore, infrastructure planning in cities – from housing to schools and transport – is often not adapted to population growth.
“Challenges” for infrastructure
When presenting the numbers on Wednesday, the statistical authority also pointed out that the rapid increase in the population could lead to “additional challenges in some regions of the country in terms of housing, infrastructure, transport and services”.
AP/Andrew Harnik Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau wants to change a border deal with Biden
Special programs for countries in crisis
The country has launched and is launching special programs for crisis-hit countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, as well as Turkey and Syria, after the devastating earthquake in February. Just this week, the government extended this admission program for people from Ukraine until July. More than 600,000 of the nearly one million applications from Ukraine alone have been approved so far. Over 130,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Canada to date.
Before that, Canada had its biggest population increase in 1957. At that time, the baby boom after the end of World War II and refugees from Hungary during the suppressed uprising were responsible for the rapid growth.
Central topic during Biden’s visit
Migration will also be the central theme of US President Joe Biden’s visit to his northern neighbor. As the US has been trying to reduce immigration, even under Biden, US migration to Canada has suddenly increased. Toronto wants to renegotiate an agreement that currently obliges it to accept asylum seekers from the United States if they enter the country through unofficial border crossings.
According to the New York Times, the sharp increase in these border crossings – a small street, Roxham Road, which connects the state of New York with Quebec, has been in the media for months – is also increasingly endangering the “hospitality” for with immigrants in Canada. Canada – favored by its geographic location – has generally always managed to control immigration well – unlike the US, for example, on the border with Mexico and the EU states with their external borders to the south and southeast.