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Citizenship and Immigration Minister Elinor Caplan said her plan is to increase the level of annual immigration to one per cent of Canada's population - that means about 320,000.
"This is our desire in the long run," she told IANS on October 26, adding 'Prime Minister Jean Chretien has also said so'.
Canada is currently admitting 225,000 new immigrants, including family class, refugees and business people.
So, when Caplan's proposal actually materializes, it would mean an additional 100,000 new immigrants will be admitted to the country.
Caplan was the keynote speaker at the women's seminar organized by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto on October 26.
When asked whether visas for new immigrants could be made restricted to certain developing provinces in the country to ensure most new immigrants don't opt to stay only in Toronto or Vancouver, Caplan responded "We wouldn't and couldn't do that for two reasons - first: movement is the right guaranteed under the charter of rights. So, we couldn't do anything that could restrict movements of people."
"Secondly, when people come they want to be with friends and families or where they can get a job, find job opportunities," Caplan said.
According to her, India is the largest source for high tech professionals coming to Canada and second largest source for immigration.
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