Canadian Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced that Canada will strengthen its immigration goals, expressing his hope to receive record numbers of new arrivals to address the problem of labor shortage in the country.
"Canada needs more people," Fraser said during a news conference Tuesday.
A large segment of the population in Canada is heading to retirement age, according to recent population statistics, the age of each person out of 7 in Canada ranges between 55 and 64 years.
Canadian companies are also facing the biggest employment crisis ever, with one million job vacancies registered in March.
"Canadians understand the need to continue to grow our population if we are to meet our workforce needs," Fraser added.
Last year, Canada welcomed more than 405,000 immigrants, the largest number ever in a single year.
Fraser indicated that the government hopes to reach 431,000 immigrants this year.
The Canadian government has also modified its goals for the next year, raising the expected increase in arrivals to 465,000 immigrants, 485,000 immigrants in 2024, and 500,000 immigrants in 2025.
A total of 1.3 million new immigrants settled in Canada between 2016 and 2021.
By 2025, the goal will be for more than 60 percent of all admissions to be economic immigrants, Fraser said.
Canada also aims to reunite more families faster, but is taking in fewer refugees.
According to a census in 2021, the population of Canada grew to 39 million, indicating that one person - out of every four - was born abroad.