Originally produced by Qorax on other thread. I'm just pasting his post, very informative must read.
Ever really wondered why Canada needs us -
the Immigrants ?
Canada is a country of outstanding natural beauty - offering a high standard of living and unlimited outdoor adventures & cosmopolitan cities. Almost a million sq-miles of mountains, prairies, lakes, fiords & rivers. A large country – the world's second largest – in both size and spirit, Canada's booming economy and shortage of skilled workers means it puts-out the welcome mat for newcomers from throughout the world.
Canada has huge natural resources and is a sparsely populated country – just 3.3 people per sq-km compared to the US (29.1), the UK (242) and Japan (335.3). To demonstrate just how much space there is for us – the tiny territory of Macau, the former Portuguese colony but now a province of China, has the world's highest density at 17,684 per sq-km, while at the other end of the scale - Namibia has just 2.
Between 1956 & 1976, 63.6% of immigrants came from the UK & Europe, while only 11.9% from Asia. By 2004, however, the flows had almost completely flipped - with only 17.8% of immigrants coming from the UK & Europe, while 48.6% from the countries of South, East and Southeast Asia.
Why [more] immigrants?
There are two [2] main reasons Canada needs a continuous flow of immigrants:
ONE, the country's low fertility rate of 1.6 children per woman – which is well below the ‘replacement' rate of 2.1. The fertility rate was 3 children or more per woman from the mid-1940s to the mid-1960s. It then fell rapidly; and has remained below the rate for natural replacement for the last 30 years.
TWO, the other reasons are the advancing ages of the workforce and a serious worker shortage in a number of fields, particularly in construction but also including engineers, doctors and nurses.
Paul Darby, Director of the Conference Board of Canada, estimates a shortfall of three million skilled workers by the year 2020 and, according to a survey by Canada's Federation of Independent Business, one out of 20 jobs remains unfilled because of an inability to find suitably skilled labour.
This, it says, represents about 250,000 to 300,000 vacant jobs in small and medium-sized businesses alone. The worst off are employers looking for skilled construction workers who reported 7.7 per cent of jobs are going unfilled. Business services and agriculture sectors are also suffering, particularly in Manitoba, Ontario and Alberta.
Distinguished by rapid growth in industries such as construction, oil & gas, and services, the kind of workers most in demand now are the skilled trades, according to Cheri Tredree, National Recruitment Manager with Manpower Canada. "That is the case right across Canada, skilled trades encompasses a variety of roles from welders and carpenters to hairdressers and chefs," she adds.
Canada's 'Baby-Boomers'
-Ever wondered what this term really means?
Seniors, as Canada calls its elderly citizens, constitute the fastest growing population group. The proportion of seniors in the overall population went from 1 in 20 in 1921, to 1 in 8 in 2001 - when it was estimated that 3.92 million Canadians were 65 years of age or older, two-thirds more than in 1981.
As the "baby boomers" (born between 1946 and 1965) age, the seniors population is expected to reach 6.7 million in 2021 and 9.2 million in 2041 (nearly one in four Canadians). In fact, the growth of the seniors population will account for close to half of the growth of the overall Canadian population in the next four decades. In 2001, over 430,000 Canadians were 85 years of age or older – more than twice as many as in 1981, and more than 20 times as many as in 1921.
So, does Canada need us - the Immigrants?
U can bet on it that they do; and shall continue to do so for quite some time.
Now u know...
Qorax
