Toronto ? Canada’s government unveiled changes to its immigration policy Monday, including plans to take in up to 300,000 new immigrants annually within the next five years.

Immigration Minister Joe Volpe, in a report on immigration introduced in the lower House of Commons, said Canada accepted nearly 236,000 immigrants last year, facilitated 2,000 international adoptions and reunited 6,000 refugee spouses and children with their families.

He said Canada intends to accept as many as 255,000 new immigrants next year.

Volpe told The Globe and Mail newspaper in Monday’s editions that Ottawa was “desperate for immigration” and would be prepared to accept as many as 300,000 immigrants a year within five years.

Canada has only 33 million people, compared with the U.S. Census estimate of 297 million people in the United States today.