IMMIGRATION INTO CANADA

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXV, Issue 14211, 9 November 1946, Page 5

IMMIGRATION INTO CANADA

ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY OF COUNTRY RECOMMENDATIONS BY SENATE COMMITTEE Immediate Government announcement of a policy of selective immigration into Canada is recommended by the Senate Committee on Immigration. The report recOmme’hds that “such immigration be limited in numbers to what from time to time appears to be the absorptive capacity of the country,, and by practical considerations of transport and establishment.” The report urges that Canadian immigration and inspection officers be dispatched to Europe and offices be opened “with a view to meeting prospective immigrants and to the selection of those most desirable.” The report continued; “Surveys should be undertaken immediately in Europe to determine the localities where immigrants may be found and conditions and anticipated problems to be met. “Surveys should be undertaken in Canada to determine the agricultural and industrial resources for use by prospective immigrants.” The Committee declares that everything possible should be done to make shipping available for immigrants, and that “priority be given to relatives in all degrees and to the friends of Canadian citizens who assume responsibility for the care and establishment of the newcomer.” The report states that Canada has at least 27,000,000 acres of unused and reasonably accessible land suitable for agriculture, which would provide from 150,000 to 160,000 farms. As to industry, “we need men willing -*o undergo heavy labour: those who devote themselves to pro-, motion of new enterprises, to highly informed management and to technical and scientific skill.” “Canada has raw materials in abundance, together with power and transportation. We have local markets and access to the trade routes of the world. Industrial opportunities are here to be accepted, but they must be offered in a practical, businesslike way, backed by a generous and consistent Immigration policy.” Women immigrants are needed for domestic help and for public institutions, it is pointed out.