How Immigration Impacts Canada’s Economy
The recent past has witnessed countries having heated debates concerning immigration. Many countries in Europe and America have imposed strict immigration policies that limit the number of immigrants that pour into their countries. Even so, Canada has endured unwavering support for immigrants and has been welcoming refugees from every part of the world. For instance, in 2016, during the height of the migrant crisis, the country famously accepted 30,000 refugees from Syria. In total, over 296,000 new immigrants and refugees were welcomed into the country in 2019.
Historically, the country has always allowed a high influx of immigrants, which can be attributed to Canada’s unique economy. Factors such as abundant supplies of natural resources, as well as the sparse population over a vast landscape, might have significantly contributed to the friendly migration policy. The exploitation of these resources required adequate labor, which the sparse population of the country could not offer. In the 19th century, for example, Canada brought in Chinese migrants to construct the Canadian Pacific Railway and aggressively advertised in Europe to find farmers using a campaigned dubbed Last Best West.
The impact of migration on the economy of a country has extensively been studied. Still, the studies are over and over again, driven by ill-informed opinions, which result in public hatred towards migration. The negative views risk jeopardizing efforts to adopt migration policies that allow migrants to the country to cater to the new economic and demographic challenges facing Canada. Consequently, migrant workers have significant contributions to the labor market in both low and high-skilled professions.