T he contrast couldn’t be clearer. With the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump adopting an increas- ingly exclusionary and punitive policy on immigration, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizen- ship Ahmed Hussen announced at the end of last year that welcoming more than 300,000 immigrants annually was the country’s “new normal.” A similar note was struck by CERC president and CEO Stephen Cryne in November, when he told attendees at a CERC immigra- tion symposium in Toronto that Canada’s stance on immigration was diametrically opposed to that of the U.S. He pointed out that Canada is planning to welcome nearly a million immigrants over the next three years: a huge contrast to what is happening south of the border. “We are unapologetically taking the opposite approach,” Cryne said. “We welcome the innovation, the innovative perspective, the entrepreneurial spirit and unique skill sets. This is our advantage. This is the time to make sure that we can get access to the talent that we need.” One need only look at the demographics of the country’s residents to see that this approach is falling on fertile ground. Today, one-fifth of the country’s population is foreign-born. Once here, newcomers are not referred to disparagingly as ‘recent immigrants.’ Rather, the uniquely Canadian and far more positive moniker ‘New Canadians’ has taken hold in the country’s lingua franca. Multiculturalism is yet another Canadianism that the country’s residents proudly boast of: not only is a diverse populace more readily welcomed into the fold, it is embraced as a positive Canadian attribute. IMMIGRATION SHINING EXAMPLE Canada stands apart from its southern neighbour as it makes it easier to bring skilled labour across the border By Andrew Brooks 24 PERSPECTIVES Spring 2018