Bringing attention to Canada’s aging population and looming labour shortages, during his speech to the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines on August 12, 2016, McCallum made the pitch to substantially increase the number of immigrants to Canada.

The Liberal government is already seeking to admit between 280,000 and 305,000 new permanent residents in 2016, a significant increase from the previous Conservative government, who planned to welcome from 260,000 to 285,000 newcomers by the end of 2015.

Earlier this week, McCallum was in Beijing, with a plan to open more offices in order to attract more high-skilled workers from China.

McCallum intends to ease some of the rules for international students to become permanent residents.

He is also reviewing the labour market impact assessment (LMIA) process and could eliminate it in some instances.

The Liberal government also intends to review the controversial foreign worker program, and the results should be made public in the fall.

During their federal election campaign last fall, the government promised to reduce processing times in all categories — it appears they are keeping their promise. Based on our experience, spousal sponsorship applications are being processed in between 4 to 6 months, while in-home caregiver applications are being processed within 6 months.

For more details, please refer to this link: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/john-mccallum-substantially-increase-immigration-labour-shortages-1.3718831