OTTAWA, Canada – Canada will aim to welcome 1.2 million immigrants from 2021 to 2023 to make up for a shortfall this year blamed on the pandemic, the immigration minister announced Friday. ADVERTISEMENT“The key to both short-term economic recovery and long-term prosperity is immigration,” Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino told a news conference. “As with every other aspect of our lives, the pandemic has affected migration to Canada,” the minister commented. To help make up the shortfall, Mendicino said the government would offer permanent resident status to temporary foreign workers, international students and asylum claimants already in Canada. He noted that immigrants have been “critical” to Canada’s pandemic response, representing one in four health care workers in hospitals and elderly care homes.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer October 30, 2020 19:41 UTC