One of the main reasons for the increase in immigration levels in every year of our government has been to listen to the concerns of business. Businesses have told us very clearly—small, medium and large enterprises across the country, not just in urban areas but in rural Canada—that they are facing a lot of pressure from not having workers to fill unfilled jobs. This impacts their ability to grow. In the process of growth, they also are able to create jobs for Canadians, especially when you're talking about skilled workers who are coming in to actually address particular skill shortages and who, when they're able to come through our immigration system, are able to unlock dozens and hundreds, if not thousands, of jobs for Canadians.
The second question is, investment follows talent. When particular investments are made in Canada, one of the main reasons and one of the key things they look at, the major investors, is the ability to be able to (a) find the talent in Canada and (b) bring in talent as needed in their growth trajectory.
A global skills strategy is certainly helping in that process. Bringing down the processing time from seven months to two weeks is really revolutionary when you think about it, and many employers have benefited from it. In addition to that, the express entry system allows Canada to continue to be a global leader in being able to use our immigration system to bring the best and the brightest from around the world.
In many industries across Canada, there is tremendous growth. They are taking up as much as is possible the local talent that is being produced in Canada through our wonderful educational institutions, but it's not enough, so the delta is being filled by foreign workers, who are coming in through various immigration streams to continue to power our economy and create jobs in the process.
I've seen this first-hand—