What is Canada’s Migration Strategy for Afghans?

The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced its commitment to take in 86,300 Afghan refugees shortly after the federal government outlined plans for its lofty aim of seeing 500,000 immigrants enter the country by 2025.

Canada is relying heavily on immigration to bridge the economic vacuum created by the retirement of the Baby Boom generation as it recently announced taking 500,000 immigrants in a year.

The federal government of Canada revealed an ambitious goal earlier this month to welcome 500,000 immigrants annually by 2025, with about 1.5 million newcomers entering the nation over the following three years.

Following the announcement, the IRCC released a migration strategy for Canada with the aim of expanding immigration, the economy, and the population.

According to the IRCC’s plan, Canada has committed to taking in more than 40,000 Afghan refugees as part of its aim to increase aid and safeguards for refugees and vulnerable people all over the world.

“IRCC is working actively to support the resettlement of Afghans with a Canadian nexus, such as past interpreters, as well as vulnerable Afghans,” the strategic plan reads.

The strategic paper also mentions Canadian refugee protection operations to evacuate Afghans who were in peril after the Taliban took control of the country.

Before the air bridge collapsed on August 31, 2021, Canada received 3,000 landings. Canada has also pledged to relocate 86,300 people by the end of 2025.

This occurs as a surge of migrants departed Afghanistan for neighboring Pakistan and Iran after the Taliban seized power.

According to statistics, Afghanistan already has one of the highest refugee populations, with 5.5 million people internally displaced as well as over 2.2 million refugees in Pakistan alone.