In October 2021, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced his new cabinet to the public. Included in the recently appointed cabinet members is Sean Fraser, the new immigration minister. In one of his first major interviews, Sean Fraser mentioned that he had made enough preparations to increase the country’s immigration levels to attend to its labour shortages.
The country has suffered from a significant decrease in labourers because of the many interruptions in processing immigrant applicants for the past year. All of this is because of the worldwide pandemic. How will this big new change in leadership affect the aspiring immigrants to the country?
All About Sean Fraser
Sean Fraser used to work as a lawyer in Nova Scotia before he was elected as a member of the Parliament in 2015, the year his political journey began. Before that, he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from St. Francis Xavier University, a law degree at Dalhousie University, and a Public International Law master’s degree from Leiden University.
He was reelected in 2019 and 2021 and is now the country’s new Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship. As a cabinet member, he now has the power to set and update federal government policies. He is also responsible for determining what the department will prioritise. Still, as a whole, the government aims to lead the country out of the pandemic.
The Current Situation
For the past years, the Canadian government under Trudeau’s leadership has been strengthening the country’s immigration efforts. From the baseline of 250,000 immigrants welcomed by the Conservative Party of Canada back in the 80s, the Liberals increased it to 300,000 immigrants per year since 2015. In 2020, they announced that they would welcome 400,000 new immigrants every year as a means to help the economy recover.
What to Expect
So, what can hopeful immigrants expect from the new leadership?
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will continue what it began many years ago. It will still work hard to bring more immigrants to the country and work with local sectors and agencies with the same objective.
In fact, last October, the IRCC organised a meeting with immigration consultants, companies, and lawyers to streamline and make clarifications on some internal updates. In the meeting, the IRCC highlighted three priorities they want to focus on before the year reaches its end:
- Reach the 401,000 new permanent residents target.
- Strengthen family reunification by approving more family immigration applications.
- Help resettle the Afghan refugees.
The following immigration processes will continue, and they hope to bring in more immigration candidates from these efforts:
- Express Entry
- Provincial Nominee Program (PNP)
- Programs of Quebec
And the great news is that the immigration application processing continues and will not stop anytime soon.
You may be looking for an update about the promise the Liberals have made during their 2021 election campaign, such as waiving citizenship fees or the reduced application processing time. All of these details will be dealt with as soon as Trudeau releases his mandate letters for his ministers. The IRCC will receive one, and it will include a guideline on the policy priorities that the government directs.
Also, expect the Immigration Levels Plan 2022-2024 to discuss how they intend to reach the 400,000 new immigrants target.
Conclusion
Times might have been hard recently, but the world is slowly coming back. Canadian immigration’s new minister has many great plans to look forward to, one of which is the 100,000 increase in the total number of immigrants to welcome the coming years!
No matter what, Bright Immigration is still your immigration consultant, ready to help you every step of the way.
If you’re looking for professional help from a trusted firm, please contact us at info@brightimmigration.com or call 1888-404-8472.
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