The Immigration in Europe

During an 1871 census, it revealed that 16.1% of the total population of Canada were immigrants with 83.6% of the people originating from the British Isles. Immigrants from over countries had far fewer people coming to Canada with 10.9% from the USA and 4.1% coming from Germany. The reason so many of the immigrants to Canada came from the British Isles was that starting in 1869 many children were sent to Canada. These children were from poor families who didn’t have the resources to raise a child properly.

It is believed that about 100,00 kids had to come to Canada. At the time Britain was facing issues with poverty, social inequality and pollution. The population in Europe was growing more and more as people were living longer and more children were being born. Unemployment started to grow and it was getting harder to get resources. Every day in Europe the political tension grew as borders began to change.

The Irish potato famine had a large impact on Canadian Immigration as well. The potatoes in Ireland became inedible due to fungus first discovered in America. Whole crops became infected all over Ireland making them completely useless. Potatoes were the main part of the majority of people’s diets because it could make 2-3 times more calories per acre than grain. Ireland felt the impact of the potato famine the most out of all of the European countries. By the time the famine was done nearly half of the population was either dead or immigrated. Over 5 years Canada received 300,00 immigrants mainly settling in Toronto

As Canada was just starting as a country the Canadian Government created the Dominion Act giving free and fertile land to settlers. For European farmers, this was a great opportunity for them as many of them had small farms and were already used to the colder climate. In 1909 the Canadian government started to advertise the west even more. Stating that Canada was ‘The Last Best West’ in the magazine Canada West. The advertisement of the west was extremely effective as many provinces began to thrive with Saskatachwans population growing 1124.77% in just 20 years. The creation of the Canadian Pacific Railway was another big pull-factor for immigrants coming to Canada. Not only the people it attracted after being built but as well as the 15,000 Chinese workers who helped build it.

When the World Wars started Immigration rates began to decrease although they always begin to rise after each war. Even today Immigration is a big part of our country. The 2016 census showed that 21.9% of the total population in Canada was Foreign-born. Canada has always been a great place for equality and multiculturalism. In 2005 Canada was the 4th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage with high levels of support all around the country. When Justin Trudeau was made Prime Minister he made a cabinet 50% males and 50% females. Females in Canada have many basic rights that many countries are still fighting for like voting, birth control and abortion. Canada has the 10th largest economy in the world with an output of 1.6 trillion dollars. The education system in Canada doesn’t discriminate, any race, religion, gender or people of the LGBTQ+ member.

Back in 2018, CNBC announced Canada to be the most educated country in the world with 56% of adults continuing education after high school. Starting the 1960’s Canada put in place universal healthcare. Every province or territory in Canada has a healthcare plan which gives every permanent resident healthcare without having to pay large amounts out of pocket for trips to the hospital or seeing doctors. The universal health care gives millions of Canadians access to medication and medical attention they might not have been able to get otherwise. Canada’s life expectancy is 82 years which puts us in 18th place for life expectancy in the world. Depending on the province many Canadians can expect 6 to 10 statutory holidays a year with 2 weeks of paid vacation. Workers in Canada are also permitted to have up to 18 months of parental leave.

Many Canadians are also backed by employment Insurance, old age security, Canadian Pension Plan and a federal child care benefit. For growing families how safe a country is could impact where they choose to immigrate to. Fortunately for us, Canada was ranked as the 6th safest country in the world by the Global Peace Index of 2018. The counties in the top ten safest places in the world are graded on militarization, homicide rates, diplomatic relations, conflicts, imprisonment rates and political stability. The crime rates in Canada are 5,334 per 100,000 residents with 1,098 crimes being violent. On top of Canada being number 1 in education, 6th safest country and 18th for life expectancy, it has also been ranked having the most secure banks in the world says the World Economic Forum.

Canada has upgraded from having magstripe cards to chip cards and PIN, as it is a lot more secure. Canada politics are also stable and secure, with not much concerning corruption or fraud. Many political parties in the election support women’s rights, LGBT rights, immigration and issues with the environment. Canada has never had a major conflict on the homefront and is a country that likes to keep out of conflict as much as possible. We are also allies with some of the most powerful countries in the world which helps us from being targeted by other nations. In 2017 the government announced a multi-year Immigration Levels Plan which sets a goal for the number of immigrants to enter Canada each year.

Canada was to welcome 310,000 new immigrants to Canada in 2018, 300,00 in 2019 and 340,00 in 2020. Between July 1, 2017, and June 30, 2018, about 132,417 immigrants came to Ontario. In the coming years, Canada will face a big problem with our ageing workforce. Couples are having fewer and fewer kids every year and are waiting later in life to have them. Therefore by the time, many people will be retiring their kids will be starting their post-graduation degree. As of 2015, there are more Canadians that are 65+ than there are Canadians that are under 15. That number keeps growing every year because Canada’s life expectancy is so high and fewer people are having more than two kids. If we wanted to keep our economy growing without immigration a woman would need to have 2 or more kids, one to replace the father, one to replace the mother and more to account for people who cannot or chose to not have any children.

As our society evolves it’s becoming harder for people to be able to have kids younger.  Therefore, the fewer kids we will have to go into the workforce as they age. The Canadian Government is saying that by the year 2040 Canada’s labour force will shrink from 19.8 million in 2018 workers to 18 million workers. To combat the ageing population the government needs more immigrants to come to the country every year. Since 2018, we have seen a significant increase in immigrants arriving in Canada only comparable to the late 1800s and early 1900s. Conference Board of Canada states that increasing immigration rates to 1% of Canada’s total population in 2030 would help Canada’s economic growth and ease the ageing population.

Every year we are expecting more and more immigrants to settle in Canada and we shouldn’t see a decline in it for many years to come. Without Immigration, the annual GDP would go to 1.3 percent by the year 2040. This would make tax rates to increase as the number of taxpayers goes down. This would also mean that without many people paying taxes our quality of living would go down. It could mean that our free health care couldn’t exist as not enough people are paying for it. The Conference Board of Canada has already predicted that by the year 2034 natural population increase will go below zero making immigration 100 percent of the annual population growth for that year.

Over the past few years, Canada has been seeing signs of shortages in the medical professions along with engineers. Professions of which many immigrants already have skills for in their birth country and could fill in the gaps needed. More than 50 percent of Canadian immigrants are very well educated and over 100,000 foreign students staying in Canada for our highly acclaimed universities. Canada alone cannot full in the gaps and support its people in the coming years and Canada will have a worse quality of life decreasing each year if we don’t keep our immigrant population up and thriving for years to come. 

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