Canada is extending a plan to increase annual immigration levels out to 2022, a show of faith in a program that’s paying economic dividends, according to Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino

The country is raising targets by 10,000 immigrants a year to 361,000 in 2022, from 341,000 in 2020 and 351,000 in 2021, Mendicino said Thursday in Ottawa. The plan includes key provisions to grow the population in rural areas and expand the workforce to counter an aging demographic.

Last year, Canada added a net 437,000 people from abroad, including students and temporary workers along with immigrants, helping to drive the fastest population increase in 30 years. The country has relied on immigration to keep its economy growing as exports and business investment deteriorate.

“We understand that immigration is an economic driver for this country,” Mendicino told reporters. “And the future of this country depends on immigration.”

Canada’s economy had been expected to be one of the fastest-growing countries in the Group of Seven, until the coronavirus outbreak threw global markets and growth forecasts into disarray.