The latest Canadian head count predicts that in about 20 years the sole source of population growth in our nation will be driven by immigration.

To some, this is startling news.

To most this is a given.

The demographic debate over the latest Census Canada figures however seems to have overlooked a central question - what is Canada doing to ensure effective integration of immigrants?

Canada leads the way globally in attracting immigrants but it it does not fare as well when it comes to integration of the newcomers.

Our national number crunchers paint this picture in three different studies.

Some 1.2 million newcomers arrived in Canada between 2001 and 2006, boosting our population growth rate to the top spot among the G8 nations.

Most of them were from Asia.

With a little help from the native born population - 400,000 - Canada’s population now stands around 31.6 million.

A second Statistics Canada study which tracked as many as 280,000 people over 15 years  found that despite the high education levels of new immigrants, they were doing poorly.

It said that one in five immigrants who arrived between 1992 and 2000 were living in a state of chronic low income.

A third StatsCan study showed that one-third of male immigrants leave within 20 years of their arrival -- more than half within their first year of arrival.

The Harper Conservatives, to their credit, have promised to create an agency specifically to help foreign professionals integrate into the workforce.

But so far money allocated for this initiative is only being used for consultations.

Note to Ottawa - 2030 is not to far away.

If immigration is going to sustain Canada’s growth, we need to implement policies that realise successful integration of immigrants goes well beyond the initial settlement process.

Our federal policy makers should stop feeling that they have done enough for new immigrants with superficial settlement programs like counselling and language instruction.

Granted these settlement programs may help overcome some early hurdles involving social integration, it does little to break down barriers that stymie our newcomers, who are critical for the growth and prosperity of this country. There has been enough talk on this issue. Its time for action.

Canada should start paying attention - now -  to the declining labour market performance of immigrants.

It needs to address - now - the difficulties in the recognition of foreign educational and professional credentials.

It must move - now - to assess the regional impacts and inter-governmental aspects of the uneven dispersion of immigrants across the country.

As University of Toronto demographics expert David Foot put it: “Just bringing in immigrants and dropping them down in Canada is not sufficient.”