Permanent Indian residents can now be part of Canadian military
Darpan News Desk IANS, 14 Nov, 2022 12:06 PM
Toronto, Nov 14 (IANS) The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) has announced that permanent residents, which includes a large chunk of Indians, are now eligible to join the military.
The announcement came close to Remembrance Day, amidst reports that the Canadian military is struggling to recruit new members to fill thousands of vacant positions.
As of 2021, there were more than eight million immigrants with permanent residence living in Canada - roughly 21.5 per cent of the total Canadian population.
In the same year, nearly 100,000 Indians became permanent residents of Canada as the country admitted a record 405,000 new immigrants in its history.
As per data, Canada is likely to welcome more than a million new permanent residents between 2022 and 2024, which drastically widens the pool of candidates the military can choose from.
Permanent residents were previously only eligible under the Skilled Military Foreign Applicant (SMFA) entry programme, which was "open for individuals... that would reduce training costs or fill a special need... such as a trained pilot or a doctor," according to the Royal United Services Institute of Nova Scotia, a non-profit body.
The Department of National Defence (DND) is expected to make a formal announcement in the coming days regarding the change to the policy, the CIC News reported.
In March, Canadian Defence Minister Anita Anand said that the CAF needs to grow amid the changing global geopolitical landscape triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
In September, the CAF sounded the alarm over a severe shortage of recruits to fill thousands of vacant positions
The Toronto Star reported that Canada is about 12,000 regular force troops short of it's "full strength" of 100,000 regular force members.
Women make up 16.3 per cent of the Canadian military demographic; Indigenous peoples come in at 2.7 per cent; and visible minorities make up less than 12 per cent of the Canadian military. Three-quarters of its ranks are white men.
Recently, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) announced that they're changing their "outdated recruitment process" to allow permanent residents, who have lived in Canada for 10 years, to apply.
Immigration targets have shot up in Canada with nearly a quarter of the population aging out of the workforce by 2030.
The shortage is made more acute by the gradual rise in the number of deaths and the relatively low fertility levels in Canada.
In such a scenario, immigrants become prime candidates for the military as they typically arrive in Canada during their younger working-age years where they are likely to be more physically active, according to immigration experts.
Canadian industries are facing a significant labour shortage, with about 1 million job vacancies across the country. The new plan puts an emphasis on increasing the number immigrants who will be admitted based on their work skills or experience over the next three years.
The society says it's putting the parade on hiatus again "with a great deal of regret", after the event was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 because of pandemic precautions. The event traditionally features performances from bands and dance troupes, as well as an appearance by Santa and his helpers.
The storm prompted high streamflow advisories for waterways across Vancouver Island and the central and south coasts, but the River Forecast Centre expected levels to peak by late Monday, while another powerful rainstorm could arrive by the end of the week.
Johnstone says she was in her car when she told McCallum to resign and that she would be the one to bring him down. McCallum, who lost his bid for re-election two weeks ago, has pleaded not guilty to the public mischief charge filed against him last December.
The association says the agreement follows the provincial shared recovery mandate, which sets out specific wage increases, including inflation protection, while ensuring the government has the resources to protect services and support economic recovery.
Currently, family doctors are paid through a fee-for-service model and the government said the new plan will also pay them for hours worked, administrative costs, and the number and complexity of patients. Dr. Ramneek Dosanjh, president of Doctors of BC, said the deal represents a "seismic shift" in the way family medicine is practised in the province.
