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Canada plans to accept between 240,000 and 265,000 newcomers as permanent residents in 2007 - the highest target in 25 years.
It is a jump from the planned range of 225,000 to 255,000 set out as the 2006 target.
“Canada’s new government believes that immigration should play an important role in building our country and helping our economy grow,” Immigration Minister Monte Solberg said while tabling his annual report to parliament.
Solberg acknowledged that Canada's current immigration model is flawed and pledged to introduce changes to address the enormous backlog of 800,000 applicants, as well as to adjust the selection process so that skilled tradespeople can qualify to come here.
"We were built on immigration and we think it wasn't just important in the past but is critical to the future," he told the Globe and Mail in an interview. "The numbers are big because we think they'll help the country."
A total of 262,236 immigrants were accepted in 2005, a higher-than-projected number. About 60 per cent of these were economic immigrants and their dependants (including skilled workers, those sponsored under provincial nominee programs and live-in caregivers), while the other 40 per cent were family members and refugees.
In 2007, Ottawa aims to accept 15,000 more economic immigrants, but will freeze the number of grandparents and parents at between 18,000 and 19,000.
The top source country for immigrants continues to be China, which represented 16 per cent of all newcomers in 2005, followed by India (13 per cent), the Philippines (7 per cent), Pakistan (5 per cent) and the United States (3 per cent).
Solberg stressed the importance of giving immigrants the help they need to succeed in Canada, and noted that $307-million was pledged in last spring's budget for language training and other settlement services, and $18-million for an agency to assess and recognize foreign credentials.
"Obviously the system must be much more responsive to labour market needs than it is today. We are working on that, but not prepared to announce today," he told the Globe and Mail. "It is important to find a pathway for people who don't have university degrees who want to play by rules and want to make a contribution . . . we want to find a way to get them in and find a pathway to permanent residency."
In 2005, nearly 54 per cent of immigrants settled in Ontario, while 17 per cent went to British Columbia.
Immigration by the numbers - 2005
Skilled workers: 130,242 - 49.67%
Business immigrants: 13,469 - 5.14%
Provincial nominees: 8,049 - 3.07%
Live-in caregivers: 4,552 - 1.74%
Spouses, partners, children and others: 50,881 - 19.40%
Parents and grandparents: 12,471 - 4.76%
Government-assisted refugees: 7,416 - 2.83%
Privately sponsored refugees: 2,976 - 1.13%
Protected persons: 19,935 - 7.6%
Dependants abroad: 5,441 - 2.07%
Humanitarian grounds: 6,653 - 2.54%
Permit holders: 143 - 0.05%
No category: 10 - 0.01%
*Numbers don't add up to 100 due to rounding.
Top 10 countries of origin, 2005
China: 42,491
India: 33,146
Philippines: 17,535
Pakistan: 13,576
U.S.: 9,262
Colombia: 6,031
U.K.: 5,865
South Korea: 5,819
Iran: 5,502
France: 5,430
Source: Citizenship & Immigration Canada
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