Immigrants the backbone of Canadian prosperity - South Asian English

PRINT - South Asian Post - Vancouver, 02/06/2020 - COMMENTARY, English

Summary: Don Curry - Canada offers opportunities for everyone and the COVID-19 pandemic is not going to change that. Some have argued that it’s time to close our borders, but they aren’t looking at the big picture. The pandemic has shown us how much we rely on immigrants—working in nursing homes, hospitals, farmers’ fields, canning factories, meat packing facilities, and driving the transports that deliver our food. They own many of the restaurants that are providing take-out food. The seafood industry in the Maritimes and the agricultural sector across Canada are in peril if travel restrictions seriously affect the number of temporary workers arriving this year. Attempts to hire locally are dismal failures. In a recent interview with Toronto Star journalist Susan Delacourt, Mendicino said: “We are at a moment where we are responding to COVID-19, but we are also planning for the future. The future of this country depends on immigration. We need to continue to grow because we have an aging population, an aging workforce.” In the short term, with our economy in tatters due to the pandemic, it is somewhat understandable that some people feel we should slow down on immigration. But, this too will pass, and the need for more immigration will become more obvious.

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Link to original article: https://www.southasianpost.com/article/7649-immigrants-backbone-canadian-prosperity.html