Thank you.
Thank you very much for being here with us today and for sharing your thoughts and your concerns with us. This is necessary and valuable information for us as a committee as we move forward with our recommendations to the minister and to the government.
Canada, as you know and as we all know, is one of the most welcoming countries in the world. Last year, we let in a record 280,000 people. Having said that, there is a backlog. We don't see that backlog getting better unless something is done.
Mr. Mokhtari, you mentioned the number of hits you get on your website. There were 43 million hits on Immigration Canada's website in the past year. That's 120,000 an hour. Of those hits, 56% are from international sources and 44% are internal, so there are an awful lot of people who are interested or are showing interest in coming to Canada, and we just don't see the demand getting any smaller.
I think we can get bogged down in talking about numbers and statistics. We can speak about and debate those issues and the processing times and so forth, but quite often we focus on the quantity, and I don't know if there's enough focus on the quality, which is a point I've made before in this committee and outside of this committee. It's not just about the sheer number of people we let in; it's about making sure that the immigrants who come here are able to integrate, join the workforce, and fully participate in the economy and the community.
I represent the riding of Richmond Hill. It's one of the most diverse ridings in the country, with, I might add, a very dynamic and progressive Iranian community. I think the government has shown that integration of new Canadians is one of our key goals. Would you agree?
Also, can you please expand, from your perspective, on what the practical limits are as to how many people Canada can welcome every year? The question is for all four of you.