Canadian Immigration , The Enormous Immigrants in the Departure Room.

Up from roughly one million in the immigration projections for 2020–22, the federal government says it intends to welcome nearly 1.5 million new permanent residents between 2023 and 2025. Apart from the economic advantages of more immigration, racism and discrimination against “visible minorities,” which is jargon for non-white immigrants, remain a significant issue with which Canada is currently ill-prepared to deal.

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Even if recent polls indicate that Canadians are more in favor of immigration than ever, recent events seem to indicate otherwise. Examples include discrimination against migrant labor, heightened surveillance of specific immigrant populations, and extensive scrutiny of some of their financial resources. Also, there have been incidents of hate crimes committed against immigrants. Using a number of wide-ranging initiatives, the government must address the issue of racism in immigration policy. Otherwise, if ignored, these occurrences could be detrimental to Canada’s goals of steadily raising immigration levels and expanding its economy.

This is the primary flaw in all previous and current government immigration policies. Despite the fact that the most recent plan discusses anti-racism initiatives significantly more than earlier iterations, it only does so within the framework of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada’s own organizational strategy. Sadly, it ignores the fact that racism is pervasive throughout Canadian society and is not merely an organizational problem.

If a national immigration policy ignores or fails to address racism and discrimination in society, it will not be successful in the long run. This is significant since eight of the top ten countries from which immigrants come to Canada—those that account for about 70% of the country’s annual intake—are non-white nations in the Global South.

In many ways, this divergence is becoming glaringly clear. For instance, it is hard to analyze the rise in immigration without considering how regressive legislation and regulations, like Quebec’s Bill 96, affect new immigrants.

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Racism has an impact on both our social interactions and our economic reliance on immigrants. The way that Canada has dealt with immigration has been to see it as a labor source. Tensions will inevitably arise as a result of that strategy over time.

The aging population and labor shortages in Canada may be helped by immigrants. However, an individual’s chances of advancing economically significantly drop if their surroundings are socially hostile. In such an event, persons looking to immigrate will no longer want to go to Canada. Or they’ll quit since the environment is unpleasant.

How Canada addresses immigrants in official capacities is a clear indication of its intolerance. In a specific amount of time, immigrants are to be achieved as numerical “targets.” The “perfect immigrant” label is often used by international students. Canada should not draw students based on how much long-term labor or income they can provide or because many students utilize this as a chance to obtain permanent status in Canada, but rather on how education might improve their futures. When numbers are increased based on labour shortages rather than the capacity to absorb new immigrants from various regions of the world, immigration levels are about “shattering records.”

The government perpetuates negative views about immigrants by using phrases like “filling labour shortages, providing jobs, and driving economic growth” to defend rising numbers. The politically correct phrase “racialized newcomers” or the term “visible minority” both refer to the ongoing “othering” of immigrants. The discriminatory idea that immigrants are only as valuable as their ability to provide income is concealed by semantics. The rest is their own concern.

Racism is a social and economic barrier for immigrants that is completely ignored in this strategy of converting them into demographic categories and useful economic tools. Canada views new immigration as a solution to address labor shortages, but the numbers reveal otherwise. The employment rates of recent immigrants are significantly lower than those of their Canadian-born peers. Nonetheless, efforts to drive up immigration numbers are still being made without any mention of the difficulty that immigrants are having finding employment with firms. Racialized groups’ unemployment rates may rise as a result of this.

Racism also refers to the way we handle immigrants and refugees. Several incidents have demonstrated how Afghan refugees continue to get distinct treatment from Ukrainian refugees by the government. Racism is more than just an organizational problem if Canada chooses to discriminate against significantly at-risk groups like refugees fleeing war and death based on—it can be inferred—their race or religion. In our society, it is pervasive.

For instance, the federal government’s concern that racism and violence against colored populations are normalizing is shown in Canada’s recent appointment of a representative to oppose the rise in Islamophobia. But it does not address the country’s historical bigotry against its founding citizens.

First of all, the terminology used to discuss immigration to Canada needs to be changed. Ottawa needs to start treating immigration and immigrants differently as a labor supply issue. It’s not a numbers game; immigration is a human right. It must benefit both the migrant and the receiving nation.

Second, immigration is never solely a business decision. Regular immigrants also make an effort to flee political unrest, prejudice, and conflict in their own nations. This is crucial to keep in mind while determining each immigrant’s eligibility and potential outside of just their financial capabilities.

Finally, the philosophy of services supplied to immigrants, such as settlement services, employment, housing, education, and health, must take anti-racism initiatives into account. To do this, several federal, provincial, and territorial departments must collaborate rather than operating alone.

Last but not least, any immigration strategy must include measures to not only economically compensate immigrants but also socially protect them. As a nation that prides itself on being multicultural, immigration policy must take addressing racism and racial relations seriously.

Immigration cannot be limited to reaching goals and numbers. This is not a factory opportunity. In the end, we are working with people and families who have their own dreams and ambitions for Canada. The last thing somebody looking to start a new life in a new country wants is for racial discrimination to undermine their expectations.