India's High Commissioner to Canada, Dinesh K Patnaik, has said Canada will need about 15 million more people over the next decade to fill jobs created by planned investment, according to his interview with Canadian broadcaster CPAC's Open Question.
Patnaik argued that Canada, with a population of roughly 42 million and a shrinking share of working-age people, faces a labour gap as the government of Prime Minister Mark Carney pursues large investment plans.
He reportedly estimated every billion dollars of investment needs 10,000 to 15,000 workers.
On that basis, he reportedly said, $1 trillion of investment would require 15 million jobs over ten years, and so 15 million people. Carney has set out to "catalyse" $1 trillion of investment in the Canadian economy over five years.
The figure was challenged by a politician identified as Thielmann, who cited a Business Development Bank of Canada report.
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According to the same report, the bank's data suggests far fewer workers are needed per billion dollars than Patnaik assumed, by a factor of 12 to 17.
The comments echo earlier remarks by Patnaik. In a January interview with CBC News, he said Canada, with a population of around 40 million, needed "at least over 100 million". He also said India has talent and capacity that complement Canada's resources.
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The CPAC interview, published last week, mainly covered the recovery in ties after the diplomatic rupture sparked by the 2023 killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
Patnaik said "both sides broke trust", but that both governments were keen to get relations back on track, starting with national security concerns.
He described the rupture as "a blip" and asked Canada to produce evidence of Indian government involvement in Nijjar's killing. He said trade negotiations were moving faster because trust had improved, and that the two sides aim to double bilateral trade to $70 billion within five years.
Patnaik also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Canada towards the end of the year was "almost confirmed". On Khalistan, he said India had no objection to peaceful advocacy, but that violence, extortion and organised crime must not be linked to it.
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