The economic scene ... needed: more immigrants?(A Light-Hearted Look back at 50 Years of Management)(Cover Story)

"People make the difference." So runs the slogan of one of Canada's larger chartered banks. No doubt the bank is using the term narrowly to define its attitude towards customers. But it is a well known fact that population growth in any country leads to a rising demand for consumer goods. It also leads businessmen to increase their expenditures on plants and equipment, both of which provide employment and income in the economy.

The dozen or so years since the end of World War II have constituted a period of tremendous growth in Canada and our high intake of immigrants to swell the labor force and also to consume goods and services has been a big factor in this expansion. Population increase, whether by natural growth of the native population or immigration, is closely related to the continuing health and growth of the Canadian economy. Since the war some 1,800,000 immigrants have come to our shores. During the same time our total population rose by about 5,350,000. In other …