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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.

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But as someone who arrived in Canada as a refugee himself, Hussen spoke with passion about the need for Canada to do more.

“My wish is that we continue to increase levels in our immigration system for refugees. I’m very open to saying that, and I will do whatever I can, in whatever position I am in, to continue to push for higher refugee numbers every single year.”

One way to dramatically increase those levels would be to open up economic immigration streams to refugees in addition to humanitarian programs, Hussen said.