India's High Commissioner to Canada (equivalent to an ambassador): "Canada is the second-largest country in the world by area, with a current population of about 40 million. It needs at least 100 million people to fully develop its domestic resources. We (India) have abundant human resources and talent—there exists complementarity between our two nations."

It is a fact that Canada lacks population. With the world's second-largest landmass and a population of just over 40 million, coupled with an aging demographic, Canada indeed faces a significant shortage of labor. In contrast, India is the world's largest populous nation, with official statistics already exceeding 1.4 billion, and external estimates suggesting India’s population may have surpassed 1.5 billion.

Theoretically, India does have the capacity to supply a large number of young workers to Canada.

But the question remains: Is Canada willing to accept them?

Canada could certainly accommodate hundreds of thousands or even millions of Indian immigrants. However, as India’s ambassador to Canada stated, Canada should ideally have at least 100 million people—but currently falls short by 60 million. To put it metaphorically, if all 60 million missing people were to come from India, would Canada still remain Canada?

Naturally, this is just a metaphor. India indeed has the potential to provide such a large population.

The issue is, while India might be willing to send so many people, Canada dares not accept them.

Regarding what the ambassador said about India having abundant human resources and talent, I cannot agree. Sure, India certainly has abundant population—I don’t deny that. But population is not the same as human capital or talent.

A large population does not mean abundant human capital, nor does it imply a surplus of talent.

If having a large population automatically meant abundant human capital and talent, then every populous country would be a developed nation.

In reality, countries like India, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and many African nations with large populations are barely managing to survive day-to-day.

So let’s stop equating large population with abundant human capital or talent!

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1871689348676608/

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.