The context of immigration to Canada

Canada prides itself on a reputation for being a welcoming and inclusive country, promoting collective pride in a multicultural mosaic wherein a diversity of ethnicities, cultures and religions coexist. It is a country that often enjoys positive international assessment, with its reported comfortable standard of living, solid social programmes, mix of urban and rural lifestyles, vast and spectacular natural beauty, and people often considered polite and consensus-driven. It is also a country with a growing density divide between urban growth and rural out-migration, an ageing demographic, and regional variability in population growth (Statistics Canada, 2012). This scenic land of opportunity has evident appeal to immigrants leaving their countries of origin for a variety of social, economic and political reasons.

The Canadian government, reciprocally, views the newcomer to Canada as providing an answer to sustaining the country's demographic and economic growth. Under both Liberal and Conservative Party leadership, the Canadian government has sought to liberalise its labour and trade markets through policies including the North America Free Trade Agreement and programmes such as those designated for temporary foreign workers, skilled trade workers and professional immigrants (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2014). These efforts are considered to have been successful. For example, the Migrant Integration Policy Index determined that Canadian immigrant workers and their families benefit from the third-best integration policies in the 31 countries considered, citing specific government efforts towards improving equal access in education and labour (Migrant Integration Policy Index III, 2011). The International Migration Outlook, published in 2013 by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), cites immigration as accounting for two thirds of Canada's population growth of 1.2%, primarily in the age bracket of 20–44 years, which is otherwise in decline. It is this cohort that contributes significantly to the labour force, grows families, buys homes and forms the basis of taxation revenue (OECD, 2013). Canada reached a record high of 281,000 new permanent residents to Canada in 2010, followed by 249,000 new permanent residents to Canada in 2011 (OECD, 2013). Further, employment for foreign-born Canadians in 2012 earned Canada the ranking of third-highest in the OECD (OECD, 2013). This government priority continues.