That's a very good question.
In response, Mr. Chair, I would say that immigration is one source of new labour for the Canadian labour market. School leavers now and in the future will continue to form the vast majority of new entrants into the labour market. So while people look to immigration as the solution, it is part of the solution for labour markets and population growth.
With regard to the overall levels plan, we look at a number of factors as we develop options for the minister to bring to his colleagues. In essence, it is about balance and looking for the right balance among economic, social, and humanitarian classes, and, within the economic class, provincial programming versus federal programming, backlog reduction, etc.
But we also have to look at the continuum of immigration, not only in terms of those we select, but how we're going to settle folks once they arrive in Canada. So while settlement funding has increased quite considerably in the last five to six years, we still know that on outcomes for immigrants, particularly those not selected for their skills, folks continue to need more support. We do know that while most people who do come to Canada are not selected for their skills, the overwhelming majority do end up in the labour market, whether it's in transitional jobs or finding a foothold while they upgrade their official language skills or have their credentials recognized.
We're looking at the continuum and at how we can best manage within the resources we have, as well as at the capacity of some of our communities to accept and integrate newcomers.