Immigration in Canada’s Future
I recall speaking to a federal Liberal leadership candidate a couple of decades ago who took to calling Canada “the first international country.” It sounded appealing to me at the time since I was old enough to recall the post-war experience of the 1950s and 1960s. The overt and troubling racism of the United States at that time, magnified by the civil rights movements my father supported, had its milder version north of the border in Canada. It was present and troubling, but never the violent and raging kind practiced by our neighbours to the south.
And then there was the subject of immigration. Following World War Two, millions of people became dislodged from their historical settings and set about seeking new locations where they hoped to build life anew for their families. The logical options were the more open and wealthy countries that had emerged as victors from the conflict. Tempting to believe that places like Canada were the preferred setting, immigration policies during the Second World War spoke of just how difficult it could be. The average number permitted to emigrate to this country during that time approximated 7000 per year.
It came to be termed the “White Canada” policy, and it largely favoured those with lighter skin colour, mostly from challenged areas of Europe and even from America. Prime Minister Mackenzie King put it bluntly in a 1947 speech that there was a “general agreement in the country that an open immigration policy would fundamentally alter our character as a nation.”
I was born three years later, and although the change was slow, it was on its way to becoming transformational, to the point where today, as author Jonathan Tepperman put it,
“Today, aspiring immigrants barely need to seek Canada out. Canada is already looking for them, especially if they’re young, skilled, and educated. The country’s immigration minister tours the world touting the benefits of living and working in this country, and the government even advertises abroad.”
While successive Canadian governments, both Conservative and Liberal, have taken the lead in expanding our immigration policy, they did so with broad supports from citizens. Polls regularly show that over two-thirds of Canadians feel immigration is one of the things that makes this country successful and a model in the world. We are at the point where our per capita immigration rates are double that of America, and almost one-quarter of our citizenry is foreign-born.
But a problem is slowly simmering. At present, some 20 percent of Canadians want immigration numbers reduced. Though in the minority, they are rising incrementally. Yet, it hasn’t been increased to the point of political turbulence, like in Europe or America. Nevertheless, a growing right-wing sentiment made its presence known in the last federal election. If the economic constraints due to COVID continue, most observers feel the anti-foreign elements will grow across the country. Only time will reveal if this becomes a problem.
For now, however, immigration in Canada has two key selling points. The first is how it enhances our profile across the globe. We are a soft power, to be sure, but a highly successful one. Balancing various outlooks can be a nightmare in a rapidly shrinking world, as seen in numerous wealthy nations seeking to keep a lid on immigrant tensions. Canada has navigated those turbulent water with considerable success. The world looks at this country and sees a welcoming and friendly countenance. In our troubled world, this is a huge plus.
The other advantageous issue is an economic one. We’ve all heard of how our employment numbers would be hard hit if not for the number of new Canadians occupying critical roles in the workplace. Before the pandemic, the rationale for high immigration was simple: Canada has an ageing population and a low birth rate. These demographic realities will create economic and fiscal challenges in the years to come.
All nine million of Canada’s baby boomers will reach retirement age by 2030, while our birth rate is too low to fully replenish all the Canadians who will be exiting the workforce. Tapping into underrepresented talent groups such as our Indigenous peoples, women, and persons with disabilities is crucial but will still not be enough to compensate for all the boomers retiring. There will be more jobs than people to fill them.
For this reason, the Canadian government established a target of bringing in 400,000 immigrants a year to keep a healthy economic status. The decision will be fraught with disruption and opposition. Still, ultimately it is the only feasible way to keep the country virile enough to face an increasingly troubling economic global market.
Former British PM Tony Blair said recently, “A simple way to take the measure of a country is to look at how many want in. And how many want out.” Judged on this scale, Canada is one of the great success stories of modern times. Rapidly advancing the pace of immigration, however, will introduce a whole new set of problems simultaneously as it solves others. It will bring change at the same time as it brings increasing amounts of prosperity. It will introduce increased divisions just as it will also introduce a new dynamism in the nation. How all this plays out can only be determined by the capacity of our citizenry, not just the governments that represent them.
