Sober Second Thought Needed On Proposal To Raise Immigration Levels To 450,000

Previously published on Lawyers Daily- October 12, 2017

The Conference Board of Canada, in its latest report on immigration, advocates a 50 per cent increase in annual immigration levels to 450,000 a year. It comes as the federal government is on the verge of deciding how many immigrants will be accepted over the next several years. Ottawa is well advised to exercise caution with the theoretical assumptions raised in this report.

The Oct. 2 report, titled "450,000 Immigrants Annually? Integration is Imperative to Growth," establishes three scenarios based on three different immigration levels as a percentage of Canada's population: 0.82 per cent (the current level was set at 300,000 for 2017), one per cent and 1.11 per cent.