Immigration to Canada has saved small towns claims report
Posted on 08 October 2009 by Maximillian
Several small towns in Canada are benefiting from immigration into Canada from skilled workers in the relevant industry’s.
A new report by the conference Board of Canada says that several small Canadian towns have found a new lease of life thanks to an increase in the immigration to Canada.
The report cites four small towns, with populations ranging from 1,539 to 18,510, which have been thrown a lifeline by well-planned immigration policy into Canada.
The report, ‘Immigrant-Friendly Communities: Making Immigration Work for Employers and Other Stakeholders in Small-Town Canada’, says that all members of the community have to be involved in helping newcomers to settle in Canada. It says that schools, immigration agencies, faith groups, local government and employers all have an important part to play in making the system work.
The report identifies the fact that small communities still suffer from skills shortages and benefit from Canadian work visa holders moving into the area. In addition, the more immigrants who move to regional communities, the less pressure is put on major cities such as Toronto and Vancouver.
One example of the benefit from immigration to Canada, given in the report, is the story of Yellowknife. Some 12.7 per cent of the town’s population consists of immigrants, mostly brought in to work in the region’s diamond industry. Immigration to this small Canadian town has seen the newcomers possess the specialist skills relevant to the industry, the workers have moved to Canada from China, Mauritius, India, the Philippines and Vietnam.
