The Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, unveiled his new cabinet this morning.
Sean Fraser is the country’s new Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
Fraser is a 37-year-old former lawyer from Nova Scotia who was first elected as a Member of Parliament in 2015. He was re-elected in 2019 and 2021. He replaces Marco Mendicino, who now becomes Canada’s Minister of Public Safety. Mendicino has held the position since November 2019. Fraser represents the constituency of “Central Nova” which covers part of Halifax. Prior to entering politics, he practiced commercial litigation and international dispute resolution. He holds a law degree from Dalhousie University, a Masters in Public International Law from Leiden University in the Netherlands and a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Francis Xavier University.
Once cabinet is established, the Liberals will continue the Government of Canada process and focus on getting the country out of the coronavirus pandemic. Parliament is expected to meet again on November 22.
The cabinet is the body of ministerial advisers that sets the policies and priorities of the federal government. Each minister receives a mandate letter from the Prime Minister. The mandate letter outlines the policies and priorities that the Prime Minister would like each minister to pursue during the term of government.
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Trudeau’s Liberal Party of Canada has governed since winning the 2015 federal election. They won a majority and have since won minority governments in 2019 and in the 2021 election, which took place in September. Majority governments can pass any law they present to Parliament. Minority governments need the support of the opposition.
Trudeau’s Liberals continued the process of increasing immigration levels, a process that began in the late 1980s by the Conservative Party of Canada. The Liberals, however, have increased immigration levels more aggressively in recent years to further support the Canadian economy. Shortly after coming to power in 2015, the Liberals announced that they would seek to welcome at least 300,000 immigrants per year, compared to the roughly 250,000 welcomed each year by the Conservatives in the previous decade. Then, in October 2020, the Liberals made the astonishing announcement that they would set the new baseline for immigration to more than 400,000 new arrivals per year. This higher target is intended to help stimulate Canada’s post-pandemic economic recovery.
What’s the next step for Canadian immigration?
Short term, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will continue to pursue its main priorities. In an Oct. 21 meeting with associations representing Canadian immigration lawyers and consultants, IRCC said their three priorities now are to reach their goal of 401,000 new permanent residents by 2021, family reunion, and the resettlement of Afghan refugees.
In the meantime, IRCC and the provinces and territories will also continue to invite potential immigrants through Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) and Quebec programs. The processing of requests will also continue.
The next major development will be for Trudeau to issue new mandate letters for his ministers. The letters will guide the strategic priorities of each federal department, including IRCC. During the 2021 election campaign, the Liberals made several promises on immigration. For example, they promised to end citizenship costs. They also want to reduce application processing times and make reforms to Express entry like offering more avenues of immigration for temporary foreign workers and international students.
Based on recent precedents, the new immigration levels plan will be unveiled by March 2022. This plan is usually released before November 1 of each year, except after elections. The 2022-2024 immigration levels plan should come as no surprises, as it will likely continue to articulate Canada’s goal of welcoming more than 400,000 new immigrants each year.
At that time, the federal government will likely also table the 2022 budget, which may contain major government immigration priorities.
In general, stakeholders should expect a continuation of the Liberal Party’s ambitious immigration program that they have been pursuing since 2015. That said, the Liberals will have major immigration issues to which they will have to address themselves. attack during their new tenure. These include identifying how they will reduce the backlog of applications that have increased during the pandemic, potentially reforming Express Entry and the Parents and grandparents program, the launch of the municipal candidates program and the elimination of citizenship fees.
Despite many immigration priorities on their plates, it’s relatively safe to say that the coming years will be less difficult for the federal government to manage than the previous and unprecedented 20-month pandemic period.
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