Canada's Wildly Different and Successful Approach To Immigration

In most countries around the world, immigration is tightly controlled by the federal government: except in Canada. For years, the country has had a unique form of immigration where trade groups, community groups and private employers each sponsor workers to get permanent residencies. This could include butchers, mushroom harvesters, greenhouse workers and hundreds more categories.

These microprograms add up. In 2019, the country accepted over 341,000 permanent residents and almost 30 percent were nominated by someone outside the federal government.

In other countries, immigration policy is defined by who to keep out (or kick out for overstaying their welcome). In Canada, this decentralized system is messy, accidental, inefficient ... and might just be brilliant. You can read more about the way this system works, its considerable problems and why it still is (and has been) attracting exactly the right kind of workers that the country will need in the future.