CIMM – Q-2136 – February 28, 2024

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Question No: Q-2136

By: Ms. Lewis (Haldimand-Norfolk)

Date: December 12, 2023

Reply by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

The Honourable Marc Miller

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Minister or Parliamentary Secretary

Question

With regard to the government’s immigration levels plan for 2024-2026: (a) what analyses has the government undertaken to estimate the (i) infrastructure, (ii) housing, (iii) health, and (iv) social service capacity requirements to accommodate the immigration levels; (b) for each analysis in (a), what are the results; (c) has the government identified a risk of a lack of appropriate infrastructure, housing, or supports in meeting the needs of new immigrants; (d) if the answer to (c) is affirmative, what is that risk level and how is it being mitigated; (e) what external consultations has the government undertaken to assess the capacity requirements for the immigration levels plan; (f) what risks or concerns have stakeholders or experts raised; and (g) what are the government’s plans to ensure the (i) infrastructure, (ii) housing, (iii) health, and (iv) social service needs of new immigrants are met?

Original Text Translation: X

Reply

Insofar as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is concerned:

The 2024-2026 Immigration Levels Plan (Levels Plan), tabled November 1, 2023, was developed in close consultation with a wide variety of partners and stakeholders and took into account a range of factors. The 2024-2026 Levels Plan aims to balance Canada’s need for population and economic growth with its capacity to welcome and integrate newcomers, while maintaining confidence in Canada’s immigration system.

In developing the 2024-2026 Levels Plan, IRCC extended the scope and breadth of its consultations. This approach built upon extensive efforts undertaken through the Strategic Immigration Review, which outlined a roadmap to ensure that our immigration levels planning takes into account the need to address labour shortages in key industries, as well as social and infrastructure capacity.

As such, IRCC broadened its engagement at the federal level, to begin instituting a broader, phased approach to levels planning. This includes whole-of-government efforts to align various mandates, plan and work together to manage the potential impacts of population growth, in order to ensure strong outcomes for newcomers and Canadians alike.

• In 2024-2026, this included, among others: the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada on housing and capacity, Employment and Social Services Development Canada and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada on labour market trends, a multitude of departments on labour market needs (e.g., Health Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Transport Canada), and Statistics Canada on underlying data to support policy decision-making.
• As well, in the spirit of reconciliation, IRCC built on previous efforts to engage with Indigenous communities to increase its understanding of Indigenous perspectives on immigration and its impacts on Indigenous Peoples. IRCC also increased the number of Indigenous organizations engaged through its survey.

In addition, every year IRCC conducts bilateral and multilateral engagement on levels planning with a

number of partners and stakeholders, including:

• Federal delivery partners who perform security and immigration enforcement activities that are integral to the processing and execution of the multi-year Levels Plan, contributing to maintaining the integrity of the immigration system.
• Provinces and territories (PTs), including with Québec pursuant to the Canada-Québec Accord, to understand and respond to their needs and concerns, such as labour shortages as well as the capacity to welcome newcomers.

IRCC also takes into consideration public views gained through public opinion research, and conducts an online survey of key partners and stakeholders, including employers, educational institutions, faith-based organizations, Indigenous partners, industry councils, municipalities, and service providing organizations, among others, to inform the development of the plan.

Through its extensive consultations in the development of the 2024-2026 Levels Plan, IRCC heard about the need for talented and skilled newcomers to help address labour market shortages and contribute to economic growth, while also ensuring sustainable population growth to balance pressures on housing, health care, and other infrastructure and services. As such, the 2024-2026 Levels Plan aims to stabilize immigration levels in 2026.

Another factor that is taken into consideration in immigration levels planning is that key sectors such as health, transportation, agriculture, residential housing construction, teaching and early childhood education, and natural and applied sciences-related occupations, are facing labour market shortages.While population growth through immigration increases demand for housing, infrastructure and services, it also contributes to the supply of labour (e.g., health care occupations, construction sector to build new homes).

In addition to the input received through extensive engagement and consultations, the Levels Plan is also informed by humanitarian commitments as well as the overall downstream domestic capacity (e.g housing, health care, settlement services). Other considerations include the need to manage existing inventories and to continue to improve processing time, in a context of fiscal responsibiliy.

As such, the 2024-2026 Levels Plan aims to balance traditional immigration objectives such as economic and demographic growth, family reunification, and Canada’s humanitarian commitments, with the need to mitigate impacts on domestic capacity.

Immigration drives Canada’s economy and fuels its future growth. As Canada continues to face an aging population and critical labour shortages in key sectors, newcomers are critical to help spur innovation, grow the economy, and support local businesses and communities.

Moving forward, continued closer collaboration at the federal level will enable better alignment across departments in support of Government economic and social priorities. IRCC, alongside other government departments are committed to further engagement ahead of the next Levels Plan. Collaboration with PTs, partners, stakeholders, and Indigenous Peoples will be critical to help Canada adapt to the realities of immigration-driven population growth.