That is the only thing that one can conclude from reading its article reporting that there is a large backlog of immigrants waiting to enter the country. Canada allows 250,000 immigrants a year to enter the country (twice the per capita rate of the U.S.), with preference given to highly skilled workers. The article attributes the backlog to the fact that immigrants are not required to have job offers from Canadian employers, which it claims requires the government to assess their skills. (Congress is debating a similar provision.) It is not surprising that there is a backlog of applicants. No doubt tens of millions of people in poor developing countries would love the opportunity to work in Canada. The question that the article never answers is whether Canada is hitting its quota. If so, then the 8-year wait for the worker highlighted in the article is primarily a result of an excess supply of immigrants, not bureacratic bungling. The article also gives the mournful tale of the president of a construction materials company who can't get enough immigrant workers through this system. Life's tough. Maybe he should try offering higher wages, then he could get Canadian workers.
--Dean Baker
