Canada raises immigration target

Citizenship and Immigration Canada announced that it will increase the target for new permanent residents by 15,000.

In tabling its annual report in Parliament on Tuesday, Citizenship and Immigration Canada said it plans to admit between 240,000 and 265,000 permanent residents in 2007. The target this year is 225,000 to 255,000, and the government expects the final figure will be in the upper end of that

The 2007 target represents an increase of 5.2 per cent over this year's target, measured by the change in the midpoint of the range. The highest previous increase in the last 15 years was in 2002, when the target rose 4.7 per cent.

The report also notes that the number of refugee claims is expected to drop in 2007 due mostly to the broad global decline in asylum seekers since 2001.

In an interview, Citizenship and Immigration Minister Monte Solberg said addressing labour shortages will be a priority for the government. He said the government is working on a number of measures to "re-orient" immigration policy to filling the shortages. The new targets will help employers looking for workers as well as refugees and immigrant families hoping to reunite.

"We've got on the one hand to always protect public security. But we also on the other hand have to address labour market needs."

"For the first time in many, many years, we're going to be matching the settlement funding with the immigration numbers so that newcomers have a much better chance to succeed and live the Canadian dream," said Solberg. He said the government considers labour shortages a priority, and is working on ways to "re-orient" immigration policy to meet labour-market needs.


Alice Daghavarian, Director of Immigration Services.