Is Canadian Immigration too high? A Labour Market and Productivity Perspective

This paper presents some of the economic considerations that should underlie Canadian immigration policy from the point of view of an economist. It then reviews the available data on the performance of recent immigrants against this backdrop. It also offers some observations on the changes in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act contained in Bill C-50, the Budget Implementation Act, 2008. Finally, it concludes with some suggestions for the conduct of an immigration policy that would be based more on Canada’s economic interests and that would establish a lower annual target for immigration more consistent with Canada’s absorptive capacity