Canadians are ‘overwhelmingly in favour’ of immigration because they trust their government’s immigration policies and state departments.

Speaking at a news conference in Mississauga, Ontario Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “One of the reasons Canadians do have confidence in immigration as a positive force in our country is because they have confidence in our immigration system”.

“We are dealing with larger than usual numbers and have had to make investments to account for that but the integrity of our immigration system continues to hold.”

Welcoming even more migrants

Canada is certainly dealing with larger than usual numbers, last year Canada announced it is making space for 1 million new migrants over a 3 year-period.

Last year the Canadian Parliament announced plans to add more than one million new permanent residents in the next three years. That's nearly one percent of the country's population each year.

"Thanks in great part to the newcomers we have welcomed throughout our history, Canada has developed into the strong and vibrant country we all enjoy," said Ahmed Hussen, Canada's minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC).

Hussen, himself an immigrant from Somalia, said the influx will help offset Canada's aging population and declining birth rate while growing its labor force.

By the start of 2019, Canada’s population reached 37,314,442, following a record increase of new immigrants in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Over the course of 2018, Canada’s population grew by over half a million, or 528,421 people. International migration accounted for 80.5 per cent of the growth, representing a combined total of 425,245 new immigrants and temporary residents to the country.

Canada has one of the best immigration policies

“Increased opportunities for well-managed migration bring massive increases in incomes and well-being for individuals, their families and their countries, through higher earnings potential, remittances, trade, and the increased circulation of ideas and knowledge,” states The Centre for Global Development.

To arrive at the index for each country, the center looked at three broad aspects of rich countries’ migration policies:

• A country’s willingness to accept migrants from the developing world
• How well those migrants are integrated
• Whether the country participates in a raft of international conventions on migration.

Based on those broad criteria, New Zealand, Norway and Australia have the most development-friendly migration policies. Of the G7 major economies, Canada ranks highest for its migration policies, at 4th place, with Germany 6th and Italy at number 12. The US, Japan, UK and France all lie in the bottom half of the table.

Source: The Globe and Mail, CNN, Canada Immigration News, The Centre for Global Development and Statistics Canada