Common sense says immigration works best when you pick and choose who gets into your country. But there's something to be said for letting hard-working people from around the globe decide Canada should be their new home.

A recent cable released by Wikileaks has unearthed an interesting phenomenon. Some people who illegally entered the United States got a taste of the American Dream and decided to leave for Canada, and their numbers may be growing.

The U.S. consul in Vancouver wrote home in 2010 to report an increase in the number of illegal immigrants to the United States who later decided to head to Canada.

That's the flipside to the news stories we usually hear. The standard tale describes desperate foreigners trying to head south from Canada, and they make the news when U.S. Immigration officers catch them.

The U.S. recession may have triggered this northern migration. As the American economy tanked, people lost their jobs, including people illegally in the U.S.

While some people may consider all immigration outside the government system to be a bad thing, it can't help but swell your patriotic heart to know we're a destination of choice for people seeking a better life.

While the CTV report quotes an economics professor in B.C. as saying we might want to increase our border security, I think he's mistaken.

First off – as the Americans have learned on their southern border – trying to control a boundary thousands of kilometres long is an expensive job. And after throwing dollars at the Mexican border for decades, the holes are still there.

And what exactly would we be trying to keep out? The immigrants filtering in from the U.S. aren't exactly a security risk. And they aren't dashing to the nearest government office to self-identify and seek refuge status.

These are people willing to work: they did so in the United States, likely for minimum wage and zero benefits. They have experience, but had some bad luck and lost their job.

If they're willing to risk a trip across the border – facing detention and a trip back to their homeland – all because they want to keep working, then we should welcome them.

If Canada seems like the right place to go, we should be proud of that fact. We have a lot to offer and a lot to share.

Welcome to our big tent. Bring a toque.

Is economic migration a good or bad thing? What if putting a stop to it costs us more than accepting it?