Canada to welcome 1m immigrants in next 3 yrs

The Canadian Parliament has announced a plan to add nearly one percent of the country's population each year by taking over one million new immigrants in the next three years, CNN reports.

Canada welcomed more than 286,000 permanent residents in 2017 and it is assumed that the number could reach 350,000 this year and subsequently 360,000 in 2020 and 370,000 in 2021.

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"Thanks in great part to the newcomers we have welcomed throughout our history, Canada has developed into the strong and vibrant country we all enjoy," Ahmed Hussen, Canada's minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC), told CNN.

This initiative will help countering Canada's aging population and declining birth rate while growing its labour force, said Hussen, who is also an immigrant from Somalia.

Canada's friendly stance towards new residents comes at a time when Western nations in general, including the United States, are adopting more restrictive immigration policies.

Canada especially tries to offer protection to refugees. The United Nations Refugee Agency reported unprecedented levels of refugees in 2017, with the number of forcibly displaced people reaching 68.5 million, CNN reports.