More than 75 percent of Canadian immigrants settle only in seven cities in 2015

The latest statistics of Canadian government revealed that more than 75 percent of permanent residents of the country last year made the seven major cities of the country their home. This approach of restricting themselves to the cities of Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg has not solved the problems of Canada, which is trying to address workforce shortages as a high percentage of labour population is aging.

Meanwhile, many small cities and towns in central Canada have already put in place new strategies to attract immigrants. This has made other municipalities in this North American country look up and take notice of the encouraging response they have been getting.

John McCallum, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, had stated that although their country has welcomed newcomers in record numbers over 2015, they are hoping to accommodate more immigrants in Canada in the next few years. The government’s thrust, however, has changed as it seeks immigrants to lesser known locations.

McCallum was quoted by the Canadian Immigration News as saying that they would like to see immigrants being spread across the country fairly evenly. They did not want every immigrant to be heading to Vancouver or Toronto, he said. McCallum added that there was an increasing feeling that Canada badly needed more immigrants as it has an aging population and that is why more youngsters were needed to keep their economies on track.

The scenario is grimmer in Atlantic Canada as its population growth between 2011 and 2014 was almost nil in all provinces barring Prince Edward Island. On the other hand, Nova Scotia has acted proactively by developing the Nova Scotia Nominee Program, an aggressive and fledgling program. In early 2016, Canada’s Atlantic Provinces followed suit by flagging off a new pilot program to make it more convenient for more immigrants to enter through PNPs (Provincial Nominee Programs), which is said to be a component of a new Atlantic Growth Strategy.

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