Immigration — not fertility — driving Canada’s population growth - New Canadian Media
Fabian Dawson
February 10, 2022
Immigration, not fertility, drove Canada’s population growth over the past five years,  says a Statistics Canada study as Ottawa plans to announce its new 2022-2024 immigration intake levels plan.
“Although the pandemic halted Canada’s strong population growth in 2020, it continued to be the fastest among G7 countries,” said the study released on Wednesday.
“Canada is home to almost 37 million people…approximately 1.8 million more people were calling Canada home in 2021 compared with five years earlier, with four in five of these having immigrated to Canada since 2016,” Statistics Canada said, noting that the national fertility rates has been decreasing since 2015.
The report’s authors said immigrants are far more likely to settle in an urban area rather than a rural setting. Consequently, rural Canada’s population has grown at a slower pace than urban centres.
Some of the key findings in today’s report that provides a portrait of Canada’s population growth include:
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Minister Sean Fraser is expected  to announce Canada’s new 2022-2024 immigration intake levels plan by the end of the month, which will also outline the programs under which these newcomers will be admitted.
According to the latest government data, IRCC has an estimated 1.8 million applications in queue waiting to be processed because of pandemic-induced delays.
The Canadian Immigration Lawyers Association (CILA) is calling on Ottawa to stabilize the immigration system before seeking more ambitious newcomer targets.
“While using this year as an opportunity for IRCC to catch its breath would be far from ideal, it would be beneficial for several reasons,” said a statement on CILA’s website. “It would allow many of those who have been waiting in limbo during the pandemic to finally land as permanent residents.”
A multiple-award winning journalist, Fabian Dawson is an internationally acclaimed author, filmmaker and media expert. His work over the last four decades spans the globe and he also serves as a consultant/strategic advisor to a variety of international companies. As deputy editor-in-chief of The Province, part of the Postmedia chain, Dawson led initiatives within a special publications group to provide directed content for a variety of organisations. He was named the 2019 recipient of the Bruce Hutchison Lifetime Achievement Award at Jack Webster Awards. Dawson has been invited by the governments of India, Malaysia, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and the United States to act as a media observer/advisor on a variety of Asian-Canada issues. Dawson, now operates FD Media, which specializes in harnessing editorial assets to revenue generating opportunities.
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