Hussen Says He Wants Canada to Accept More Refugees as Economic Immigrants

Hussen Says He Wants Canada to Accept More Refugees as Economic Immigrants
Ahmed Hussen, seen here as the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, responds to the 2019 Spring Reports of the Auditor General in Ottawa on May 7, 2019. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press
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OTTAWA—Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen says he would like to see Canada welcome more refugees than it currently accepts and believes more of them should be able to enter through economic immigration programs.

Speaking to participants in a conference marking World Refugee Day on Thursday, Hussen acknowledged that Canada cannot resettle every refugee in the world. After all, a United Nations report issued this week estimated the number of refugees worldwide at nearly 26 million.