Research Paper on Immigration Policy

Immigration Policies: the block to our own economic growth

Introduction

Nowadays, immigration plays an important role in the socioeconomic life of Canada. Basically, the number of immigrants steadily grows and, therefore, Canada has to implement effective immigration policies to prevent possible problems that may be caused by the uncontrollable immigration and maximize profits from this process. It should be pointed out that one of the strategic goals of the contemporary Canadian immigration policy is to improve the quality of immigration. What is meant here is the fact that the current policy of Canada basically targets at the attraction of well-qualified specialists from other countries of the world that could contribute consistently in the economic development of the country.

In fact, the economic factor is the determinant factor that defines the current immigration policies, which actually stimulate immigration of highly qualified labour force to Canada. At the same time, it is necessary to remember about possible threats that the growing immigration may bear to Canada. To put it more precisely, it is obvious that the increasing number of immigrant population naturally increases the competition in the labour force market of Canada that means higher competition for the native-born Canadians. In addition, the positive effects of the attraction of a large number of well-qualified specialists from abroad may be accompanied by numerous negative effects, which may lead to the deterioration of socioeconomic situation in Canada on the national scale. Therefore, it is extremely important to take into consideration both positive and negative effects of immigration on the national economy, especially national labour force market, and define whether current immigration policies really stimulate the economic growth in Canada or, in contrast, block it.

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Current trends in immigration policies

On analyzing the current immigration policies in Canada, it is necessary to take into consideration statistical information and basic trends in regard to immigration in the country. To put it more precisely, it is necessary to analyze the growth of the immigration population in Canada and its share in the total population of the country. In addition, it is important to take into consideration economic opportunities of immigrants in Canada and their place in the national labour market. In such a way, it will be possible to assess perspectives of the further immigration and its impact on the national economy and opportunities for native-born Canadians in the national labour market. Also, it is worth studying educational level of immigrants since this information can help better understand the segments where immigrants may be particularly competitive compared to the native-born population of Canada. in this respect, it is also necessary to take into consideration the age of immigrants and socioeconomic categorization of immigrants that will reveal their perspectives in the labour market of Canada.

In fact, it is obvious that the current immigration policies do not create substantial barriers on the way of immigrants to Canada. At any rate, the number of immigrants is constantly growing and their share in the total population of Canada grows considerably. In this respect, it should be said that within a decade, from 1991 to 2001, the share of foreign born population as a percentage of the total population in Canada has increased from16.7% in 1991 to 18.8% in 2001 and within a decade the share of foreign born population increased by approximately 1% per five years (see Table 1). Such a tempo of the growth of foreign born population is very fast that naturally may lead to the appearance of various socioeconomic problems, including the problem of the integration of immigrants in the socioeconomic life of Canada, for instance. Also, it should be said that, even though foreign born people that reside in Canada do not always get Canadian citizenship, the level of the latter still is very high. In this respect, it is possible to refer to the table 3, which shows the growth of the number of the acquisition of citizenship in Canada from 1991 to 2002. Even though the peal of the acquisition of citizenship was in 1995, when the number of acquisitions of citizenships exceeded 227 thousands, this number is still very high that naturally explains the constantly growing share of foreign born population in Canada.

At the same time, speaking about the growth of immigration to Canada, it is worth mentioning the fact that traditional sources of immigration have started to change. Historically, it was Europe and the US that were the major sources of immigrants for Canada. However, in the second half of the 20th century, the share of immigrants from Europe and the US has started to decline progressively (see Figure 1), while the number of immigrants from other countries, especially from Asia, has started to increase consistently. As a result, by the early 2000s, the number of foreign born population from Asia almost reached the number of foreign born population from Europe, while the share of immigrants from the US has increased dramatically and is even lower than immigration from Latin America and Africa.

In such a way, it is obvious that the current immigration policies do not really limit the immigration from developing countries of the world, especially from Asia and the Canadian authorities prove to be unable to stimulate the immigration from the US and Europe. However, it proves beyond a doubt that, from the point of view of economic efficiency, it is immigrants from Europe and the US that are the most perspective for Canadian economy because they are, as a rule, highly qualified and their standards of life and work are comparable to those of Canadians. In this respect, it is worth mentioning the fact that the number of business applicants from developing countries also grows consistently and the number outweighs the number of business applicants from developed countries (see Figure 4).

Thus, the current immigration policies apparently contribute to the growth of the number of immigrants and their share in the total population of Canada increases steadily. At the same time, it is important to underline that the quality of immigrants is one of the major concerns of the Canadian authorities. To put it more precisely, the educational level of immigrants and their professional level and experience area among the most important factors that define their chances to acquire Canadian citizenship. It should be said that the share of immigrants having a University education has increased consistently by 2000 compared to the 1980s and 1970s (see Figure 2) that refers to both males and females. Moreover, the number of immigrants having a Bachelor’s degree or higher by origin has also increased considerably (see Figure 7). In this respect, it is important to underline the fact that the number of immigrants with a Bachelor’s degree and higher from developing countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa, grows faster than the number of such immigrants from the USA and Europe. This fact basically explains the general growth of the share of immigrants from developing countries in the total population of Canada. On the other hand, this fact reveals the trend of the existence of certain prejudices in regard to immigrants from the US and Europe and immigrants from other countries. Obviously, the former have larger opportunities to acquire Canadian citizenship, since their educational level has not increased consistently compared to previous decades, while their number is still high. At the same time, immigrants from other countries basically do not always fully benefit from their higher education and job experience when they move to Canada.

The reasons for supportive immigration policies

Nevertheless, it is obvious that Canadian immigration policies are basically supportive since the number of immigrants from different countries of the world grows and the Canadian authorities stimulate the immigration of people with higher education, having high professional qualification. At first glance, such a policy seems to be paradoxical because, in such a way, the Canadian authorities increase dramatically the competition in the labour force market, especially in knowledge based and high tech industries. However, there is a logical explanation of such immigration policies supported by the government of Canada. In fact, the current immigration policies are, to a significant extent, determined by objective socioeconomic factors.

First of all, it is necessary to underline the fact that the present epoch, i.e. the 2000s, is the period when baby boomers are retired en mass. As a result, the share of the non-working, retired population increases dramatically, while the low population growth and the aging population of Canada leads to the widening gap between the current needs of Canadian economy and the demand for the labour force and the existing offer on the national labour force market (Sweetman, 2004). In actuality, this means that the native born Canadian population cannot fully satisfy the demand for labour force to maintain the further progress of Canadian economy. In such a situation, immigration proves to be the most efficient way to substitute the retired native born population by newly arrived, younger population from other countries of the world. In this respect, that the major age group of immigrants, both males and females, is represented by immigrants at the age of 25-44, i.e. the age when people are the most efficient from economic point of view, since, as a rule, they have already got education and have some work experience and, therefore, they can work effectively on the national market and substitute the retired baby boomers. It is worth mentioning the fact that even by 2004 the total number of was even lower than in 2001, for instance, but the share of immigrants at the age of 25-44 remained very high (see Table 2).

Another reason for the growing immigration is the process of globalization, which eliminates barriers between countries and stimulates international economic cooperation that leads to the faster and larger movement of human resources or human capital worldwide (Ferrer and Riddell, 2004). Canada, being one of the leading countries of the world, naturally actively participates in this process.

Economic effects of immigration policies

Speaking about economic effects of the current immigration policies, it is necessary to underline that they have dubious effects. On the one hand, they really contribute to the maintenance of the stable growth of Canadian economy due to the permanent and increasing flow of immigrants, which enlarge the national market of the labour force. On the other hand, there are numerous negative effects of the growing immigration on the national economy, among which the growing competition for the native born Canadians is not the most serious problem.

First of all, it should be said that economic reasons are dominant reasons which force people from other countries seek for opportunities to acquire Canadian citizenship (see Figure 3). In fact, economic reasons explain the high number of immigrants from developing countries, since their socioeconomic position in their countries of origin is consistently worse compared to their position in Canada. However, it is necessary to underline the fact that, in spite of the improvement of their socioeconomic position, they still occupy the lowers strata of Canadian society. To put it more precisely, the low income rates among immigrants from developing countries, especially from East Asia are the highest, while the low income rates among immigrants from the USA and Europe are consistently lower (see Figure 6). Moreover, this trend has grown stronger since the mid-1990s.

Actually, this means that, even though immigrants can improve the situation in the national labour market, but, at the same time, they deteriorate the general situation in Canadian economy because they increase the share of low income population in Canadian social structure. This means that Canada will need to spend additional financial and material resources to support low income families, develop special programs to improve their position, etc. What is more important, low income immigrant families since their children also live in poverty and, therefore, they will have difficulties with the improvement of their position in the future without the support of Canadian government and society at large. In fact, the poverty rate among immigrant children is the highest compared to the rest of Canadian society (see Figure 5).

Conclusion

Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that the current immigration policies target at the stimulation of immigration from different countries of the world. At the same time, the educational and professional level of immigrants is the major factor that determines their chances to acquire Canadian citizenship. This trend in immigration policies is determined by the growing demand on the national labour market. on the other hand, the growing share of immigrant population in the total population of Canada leads not only to the improvement of the situation in the national labour force market, but it also leads to the deterioration of the general situation in Canadian economy, especially in a long-term perspective. To put it more precisely, the higher education does not always provide immigrants with good job opportunities in Canada, especially in relation to immigrant from developing countries. As a result, a large share of immigrants lives in poverty, enlarging the share of low income population in the total population of Canada that naturally deteriorates the economic situation in the country and slows down its economic development.

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