2003 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration
OTTAWA, October 30, 2003 -- The Honourable Denis Coderre, Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), today tabled the 2003 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration. The report highlights the activities and initiatives CIC undertook in 2002 to select the people Canada needs and includes the government's immigration plan for 2004.
"This report demonstrates that Canada has a carefully managed, controlled and balanced immigration program," said Minister Coderre. "It provides a broad picture of what goes into realizing the social, cultural and economic benefits of immigration."
The Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration, which must be tabled at the latest by November 1 each year, is a requirement under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), which came into effect on June 28, 2002. As IRPA was implemented halfway through 2002, the report touches on the selection decisions made under both the former Immigration Act and the new legislation. In addition to looking back on the 229,091 permanent residents welcomed to Canada in 2002, the report includes future projections. CIC expects to select between 220,000 and 245,000 new permanent residents in 2004 and is proposing the same target range for 2005.
"Working within available resources, immigration planning means setting priorities, balancing workloads and ensuring the capacity to integrate newcomers," explained the Minister. "CIC also recognizes the critical role of the provinces and territories in immigration planning and is committed to working with them."
Key provincial and territorial considerations are included in the report, along with a complete list of federal-provincial-territorial agreements. The report also includes the linguistic profiles of last year's permanent residents, a gender-based analysis of the impact of IRPA, and the number of temporary resident permits issued.
