By Alberto Calvi –

At a time when many developed countries view immigration as a problem, Canada sees a broad consensus of the population in favor of immigrants. The number of immigrants to Canada has increased in the past two years, and the major parties support this policy.
Last month, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser boasted that he would guarantee permanent residency to more than 430,000 people by 2022, surpassing the 401,000 legalized immigrants in 2021.
By comparison, the United States, with 9 times the population of Canada, allowed only 245,000 immigrants in 2021, down from 477,000 the previous year. In the years before the Trump administration took office, about 1 million immigrants entered the United States annually.
Germany and the UK have seen similar flows of migrants to Canada in recent years, a social impact that has led to increasingly influential anti-immigration parties in Germany and contributed to the UK’s Brexit vote.
Conversely, opposition to immigration appears to be decreasing even as the number of immigrants in Canada increases. The three main political parties that strongly support immigration are the Liberal Party, the New Democrats and the Green Party.
Even the main opposition party, the Conservative Party of Canada, has not strongly opposed Justin Trudeau’s government on the matter. The latter has strong support from the Liberal Party, the New Democrats and the Green Party.
The Canadian People’s Party, a populist party founded in 2018, has instead called for greater immigration restrictions, but has no members in parliament. Although official policies welcome newcomers, the response to meet demands has been slow due to outdated technology.