Recently, David Suzuki commented that Canada was “full” regarding immigration (http://goo.gl/2PBcxR). According to the CIA World Factbook Canada’s population density is ranked 184th in population density out of 196 nations in 2006. Only Iceland and Australia are ranked lower out of the first world nations. The United States, by comparison, was ranked 142nd.[1] To say that Canada is “full” is an outrageous comment by an otherwise intelligent man. The fact that is it coming from the mouth of a man whose parents undoubtedly immigrated to Canada, like most of the Canadian population, makes them even more bizarre. The country was founded on immigration and is still built upon immigration. With the baby boomers becoming elderly, we will depend on immigrants to take their places in society to ensure that professional positions in society are filled. In 1961, the number of children per family was 2.7, but, during the last census in 2011, the number of children fell to 1.9 children per family.[2] That is a decrease of 0.8 children per couple. If this trend continues, our population will actually decrease if we do not allow any immigration. A decreased population may seem like a good thing to environmentalists such as David Suzuki but this view is underdeveloped. The fact is, not allowing people to immigrate into our country does not mean they don’t exist. People have already been born and are already contributing to the world’s population. The world population is still increasing dramatically regardless of if we allow new immigrants into Canada. Even if the Canadian population were to remain low or even decline, we would still increasingly export our resources to third world countries and continue to function in an unsustainable way, no matter if we were “full” or not. Canada should be opening its doors to migrants. Stopping people form migrating into our country does not stop the overall growth of the planet’s population.
Furthermore, I believe that increased immigration would improve the global population. The fact that the average Canadian couple only has 1.9 children is a reflection of a well-educated and working population. Canadian families are not forced to have children to help support their family by working in the fields or farms, like what can happen in other countries. We are able to choose how many children we feel like having, and more often than not, we have fewer children. So, by allowing immigration, we allow these new families to also have a choice, and I think they too will have a smaller sized family. Unlike in other countries, there are no outside pressures to have more children here. For example, if a family in another country only conceives girls, they may be forced to conceive again, for the hope of having a boy. Situations like these help drive the global population up. However, if we allow these families into Canada, it will give them a choice too, and I believe they will also choose to have fewer children. Therefore, allowing people into first world nations would ultimately lower the global population. According to the 2013 CIA World Factbook, Canada’s population grew by only 0.76% which ranks 144th globally. Population growth is not a major concern for Canada at this point in time and the more people that immigrate here that would now be able to make their own choices on family size, the more people would have fewer children than what they would have had if they had stayed in a third world country.
The idea of allowing only those that are in great need into our country such as those with refugee status is also of poor judgment. The Canadian government allows an average of 250,000 immigrants a year. Of those, about 34,000 are refugees.[3] If the government only allowed refugees into Canada, our population would still be in decline and that would still have a negative impact on the country.
The argument shouldn’t be about how many people we allow to immigrate but how we will integrate these new Canadians into our society. Many people who are lucky enough to migrate here are not able to contribute to our economy as they would like because we do not recognize the accomplishments that they have achieved in their home country, such as a legal and medical degrees. Many immigrants come here thinking that they will be able to find work but are unable to, even though their expertise is needed for our growing economy. Canada needs immigration to help build its infrastructure. The problem is simply that immigrants do not receive the kind of credentials in Canada as they did in their native country. Canada should be more focused on allowing migrants to use their skills here to help Canada grow, instead of complaining that we are too full.
I believe that Canada was and still is built on immigration and we have more than enough room to allow immigrants in. To say they cannot come into our beautiful country makes us sound prejudiced and racist. If it is truly full, then maybe all of us with European decent should go back to our native countries as well.
www.myvisasource.com
[1] all countries of the world listed by highest population density
[2] Fifty years of families in Canada: 1961 to 2011
[3] Immigration to Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Furthermore, I believe that increased immigration would improve the global population. The fact that the average Canadian couple only has 1.9 children is a reflection of a well-educated and working population. Canadian families are not forced to have children to help support their family by working in the fields or farms, like what can happen in other countries. We are able to choose how many children we feel like having, and more often than not, we have fewer children. So, by allowing immigration, we allow these new families to also have a choice, and I think they too will have a smaller sized family. Unlike in other countries, there are no outside pressures to have more children here. For example, if a family in another country only conceives girls, they may be forced to conceive again, for the hope of having a boy. Situations like these help drive the global population up. However, if we allow these families into Canada, it will give them a choice too, and I believe they will also choose to have fewer children. Therefore, allowing people into first world nations would ultimately lower the global population. According to the 2013 CIA World Factbook, Canada’s population grew by only 0.76% which ranks 144th globally. Population growth is not a major concern for Canada at this point in time and the more people that immigrate here that would now be able to make their own choices on family size, the more people would have fewer children than what they would have had if they had stayed in a third world country.
The idea of allowing only those that are in great need into our country such as those with refugee status is also of poor judgment. The Canadian government allows an average of 250,000 immigrants a year. Of those, about 34,000 are refugees.[3] If the government only allowed refugees into Canada, our population would still be in decline and that would still have a negative impact on the country.
The argument shouldn’t be about how many people we allow to immigrate but how we will integrate these new Canadians into our society. Many people who are lucky enough to migrate here are not able to contribute to our economy as they would like because we do not recognize the accomplishments that they have achieved in their home country, such as a legal and medical degrees. Many immigrants come here thinking that they will be able to find work but are unable to, even though their expertise is needed for our growing economy. Canada needs immigration to help build its infrastructure. The problem is simply that immigrants do not receive the kind of credentials in Canada as they did in their native country. Canada should be more focused on allowing migrants to use their skills here to help Canada grow, instead of complaining that we are too full.
I believe that Canada was and still is built on immigration and we have more than enough room to allow immigrants in. To say they cannot come into our beautiful country makes us sound prejudiced and racist. If it is truly full, then maybe all of us with European decent should go back to our native countries as well.
www.myvisasource.com
[1] all countries of the world listed by highest population density
[2] Fifty years of families in Canada: 1961 to 2011
[3] Immigration to Canada - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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