That has to be answered at the political level, because at the economic level, we could double it overnight and there would be no particular problem for integration. The volume of applications has been the same for a very long time. One thing is truly noteworthy: the contribution made by immigrant investors is not just financial. Certainly, they buy big houses, but in demographic terms, they arrive with three family members, which is much more than for the other economic immigrant classes. From the demographic standpoint and the education standpoint, they contribute positively to mitigating the economic pressure caused by the aging of the population. They are not very numerous. You may say that 2,500 more families is not huge, since there are 33.5 million Canadians, but each of those families is putting pressure in the right direction. The question is really a matter of what commitment the department is prepared to make at the political level.
On April 22nd, 2010. See this statement in context.