My position is that Canada needs more skilled immigrants and fewer parents and grandparents. The current government's plan is to more than double the intake of foreign nationals who are the parents and grandparents of naturalized Canadians, while concurrently reducing the number of economic immigrants, such as skilled workers, entering the country. Doubling the quota for parents and grandparents moving to Canada coupled with other immigration flaws, such as not requiring these individuals to have basic knowledge of one of the country's two official languages, is not in the best interests of Canadians. I believe this policy-making is irresponsible because it does not take into account the financial burden on taxpayers when these individuals requires services, such as medical attention.
It also does not factor in scenarios when sponsors default on their commitment to support their parents and grandparents, who then rely on social assistance because they are unable to secure employment.
The number one argument for increasing the parents and grandparents quota to as much as six times the current level, or even removing the cap on those coming to live as permanent residents or citizens, is that they help young couples save on child care costs, and in turn that money will make its way into the economy through increased consumer spending.
The benefits to an individual's family do not offset the costs to taxpayers if these individuals require medical attention or social assistance. Parents and grandparents are the least likely of all categories of immigrants to report employment earnings, and family-class immigrants have a disproportionately high rate of reporting social assistance when compared to all immigrants. This can be attributed primarily to parents and grandparents.
Increasing the quota or removing the cap would put an additional burden on our already strained social programs. Canada already has an aging population, and it is facing a shortage of workers to support our aging population. I've included a chart for those of you who received the handout previously.
Since parents and grandparents being sponsored under the family reunification program are not required to meet the minimum education, skills, and training standards set forth by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, the Canadian economy will be negatively affected.
Another aspect of this argument is fairness. Those who are unable to secure employment because they do not have a command of either of the official languages, or because they are too old for employment and have never paid income taxes in Canada, are eligible for the same benefits, such as health care and social assistance, as someone who may have worked his whole life in Canada and who paid into these programs.
I have a number of questions. How is it fair that those who have used up their useful working years paying into and building up another society are able to move here, not pay any income taxes, and yet enjoy the same benefits as those who have paid into the system for a large part of their lives? How is it fair that the younger generation of Canadians, who are now working and paying to support Canada's seniors, now have to support people who have never paid a dime into our highly subsidized education system? How sustainable is this plan, and how does it benefit Canada? Our population is aging, and research has shown that approximately 1% of the population accounts for a third of health care spending. Of that 1%, 80% are seniors.
Health care is a significant expense. Provinces spend about half of their budgets on health care, so for the federal government to add more seniors to the health care roster is unfair to provinces. The Canadian immigration system's primary objective should be to accept people into the country who will work and pay taxes to help build a stronger economy and country. As the Canadian population ages, more people rely on social programs, such as health care and subsidized housing. The people entitled to these benefits should be first and foremost the ones who paid into these programs.
There is no real correlation between the rate at which the Canadian population is aging and the rate at which Canada is taking in economic immigrants to replace the aging workforce. Canada's focus should be more on economic immigrants and less on parents and grandparents.
The economic class is made up of skilled workers and business people. Skilled workers are educated and have knowledge of English or French. They are of employable age, and they are also adaptable. They can move from job to job as the economy shifts. Business immigrants are those able to create jobs for themselves and others, contribute capital to the Canadian economy, and stimulate economic activity. Currently the economic class of immigrants are in the minority, and we need to change that policy.