In current politics, we are often hearing the messaging that we need to protect our country from immigrants. Indeed, we frequently hear that immigrants will take our jobs, use up our social services, overcrowd our cities, and plunder our natural reserves.
These claims are entirely false. There are many reasons why immigration is good for Canada and all nations. Indeed, immigration infuses the country with an abundance of new cultural, financial, and educational opportunities, and provides further prospects for growth and progression.
Here are the six reasons why immigration is good for Canada:
Reason #1: Immigration helps to grow Canada’s culture
Diversity is one of the reasons why immigration is good for Canada. When immigrants move to a new country, they bring their own unique cultures and traditions with them, and this is a wonderful thing. Instead of erasing the current cultural landscape, new immigrants expand it when they bring their own cultural customs.
In Canada, hundreds of ethnic groups live together and respect each other’s traditions. We are lucky to live in a place where there is a multitude of opinions, experiences, cultural customs, religions, food, and art. All of these things mesh together to become “Canadian.”
As more immigrants come to Canada, we will continue expanding these cultural notions of what it means to be Canadian. This help ensure that our country will continue to be tolerant and multicultural.
Reason #2: Immigration will help Canada’s economy
When an immigrant moves to a new country, they don’t only take their customs and traditions with them, they also transfer their hard work ethic and hopes of entrepreneurship. Indeed, there has been an abundance of research done around the positive financial impact of an economy following immigration.
There is a common misconception that immigrants steal jobs of Canadian citizens. That is simply not true. Immigrants often do not compete for the same jobs as citizens. Given their specific educational background and work experience in their own countries, they often go for very niche jobs.
On a broader scale, research has shown that immigrants often fall into two categories of employment. The first consists of very specific roles that involve specialized knowledge and extensive education. Two prominent examples are medicine and engineering.
The second niche that immigrants temporarily fill is low paying, often unwanted roles such as jobs in the janitorial service, the food industry, or retail. Without immigrants, these jobs would often go unfilled.
Reason #3 – Immigrants help support social services
Contrary to popular beliefs that immigrants take away from social services, immigrants actually help pay for them. All immigrants pay taxes, which help fund key services such as road development and maintenance, schools, healthcare, and numerous other essential services.
Furthermore, compared to Canadians, immigrants often do not receive the same level of services. Studies have often shown that immigrants do not tap into welfare services as much as their Canadian counterparts.
Reason #4 – Immigrants make Canada connect with the world
Immigrants enhance an existing culture through injecting it with new traditions, languages, knowledge, and culture. When combined together, immigrants help form a larger international perspective.
This is extremely important when it comes to battling global issues such as child health, poverty, AIDS, war, and malnourishment. Immigration is good for Canada because it help us see the bigger picture when it comes to global issues. Over time, this will hopefully promote a larger understanding of these problems.
Reason #5 – Immigrants help to address racism
Racism often stems from a lack of knowledge. However, when immigrants from a wide multitude of cultures move to Canada, they help showcase their unique cultures and experiences. This education helps Canadians see things from their point of view, which is important in reducing racism over the long run.
Immigrants help one travel, without having to leave their house! Canada is a vastly multicultural place. It’s easy to get Korean food for lunch, go to an exhibition at the museum about Indian jewels, walk around China Town, and stop at your favourite Greek tavern for an evening show.
This cultural clash helps us live side by side, which ultimately promotes a deeper understanding, tolerance, and friendship.
Reason #6 – Canada’s immigrants help improve our society
Immigrants and other asylum seekers leave their home in order to seek a better life in a new country. By doing so, they are actually slowly moving the needle along in the desired direction for change. By moving to a new country to lead a better life, they are working on making the country better.
Indeed, we often enact the values that are important to us. Through this, our nation becomes much more compassionate and hospitable. It goes full circle!
Despite common misconceptions in the media and politics, immigration is very important for the growth and prosperity of our nation. Through supporting immigration, we sustain the future of our nation and protect its long-standing values.
