WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Canada remains committed to its plan of allowing 300,000 immigrants into the country in 2017 but has decreased its goal for refugee resettlement by more than 15,000 individuals, the Canadian government announced in a press release.
"The Government has established 300,000 as a new baseline for permanent resident admissions with the majority of these selected as economic immigrants," the release on Monday stated. "Though 2016 was an unprecedented year [with a target of 55,800 people], planned admissions for resettled refugees in 2017, [40,000] are double those in 2015 and preceding years."
The government, predicting that the new arrivals would help boost Canada’s economy, anticipates a 7 percent increase in economic-immigration programs for the next year compared with 2016, according to the release.
Canada's population is estimated at over 36 million.
