Najib Mangal during his virtual SACPA presentation (Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs on YouTube)

By Justin Goulet

SACPA: Discussing the importance of immigration in Canada

Jun 20, 2021 | 7:45 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Back in October 2020, the Government of Canada announced the 2021-2023 Immigration Level Plan.

The plan aims to bring 1.2 million immigrants into the country to help the national economy recover from the pandemic and drive future growth.

Najib Mangal with Immigrant Services at Lethbridge Family Services presented virtually to the Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA) on Thursday. He discussed the importance of immigration and discrimination faced by immigrants, newcomers to the country, undocumented people and refugees.

His full presentation can be viewed below.

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Mangal also touched upon myths and facts surrounding multiculturalism, one being that multiculturalism is “only about giving special rights to minorities.”

He stated that, “multiculturalism is about different cultural groups working together to understand each other’s points of view. It is not only the minorities. It means that everyone is treated equally.”

“When everyone is treated equally, it helps the entire community so it’s not about this group and that group, we’re all coming from different groups somewhere, somehow at some point.”

IMMIGRATION LEVEL PLAN

On the 2021-2023 Immigration Level Plan, Mangal said, “the health care system relies on immigrants to keep Canadians safe and healthy.”

“What I mean by that, or what I’m referring to is that a lot of our facilities where we provide care for seniors and healthcare aid, we attract a lot of healthcare aid from other countries and care-givers to provide care for our children and our elderly that our living or deciding to live home.”

He said other industries that benefit from immigrant workers are the food sector, agriculture, information technology and hospitality.

Mangal noted that COVID-19 led to a shortfall of newcomers to Canada, due to health restrictions.

“To compensate for these shortfalls, we need to find alternatives to meet the needs, so Canada aims to welcome 1.2 million newcomers in the next three years.”

Under previous immigration plans, 2021 would have seen 351,000 people immigrating to Canada. As part of the plan, that figure has gone up to 401,000. For 2022, it’s 411,000 and for 2023, the government hopes to welcome 421,000 immigrants into Canada.

More on the 2021-2023 Immigration Level Plan is available here.

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