Immigration Critical to Canada

 
All Canadians know how important immigration is to our future. Not only do we benefit from an influx of new ideas and new faces, we also benefit from the increase in population that is so important to maintaining our present high standard of living.

An article on cnews makes the case [Census: Immigration critical to Canada].

Canada saw its native-born populace climb by a modest 400,000 souls between 2001 and 2006. It was the addition of 1.2 million immigrants that helped push the country’s enumerated population total to 31.6 million.

The 2006 census data, released Tuesday by Statistics Canada, shows overall population growth of 5.4 per cent — the highest among the Group of Eight industrialized nations. Canadian growth was up from four per cent in the previous five-year census period, which had been the slowest half-decade in modern Canadian history.

Thank immigration for Canada’s relatively robust growth. An average 240,000 newcomers per year more than compensated for the country’s flat fertility rate.

Canada's immigration rate is the highest in the industrialized world, higher by far than that of the United States, although the US has more immigrants in terms of total numbers (not counting Mexicans, I assume).

Canada’s net migration, per capita, is among the highest in the world. According to the OECD, Canada’s net migration of 6.5 migrants per 1,000 population between 2000-2004 put it at the head of the international pack. Australia, another immigration juggernaut, accepted 6.2 migrants per 1,000 population during the same period.

Canada’s influx offsets a flacid national birthrate of about 1.5 kids per woman, well below the replacement rate of 2.1 and just below the OECD average.

The United States, by way of example, accepts only 4.4 immigrants per thousand but has a fertility rate 25 per cent higher than Canada.

I don't know why the US birth rate is so much higher than Canada's or Europe's. Does anyone have an answer?