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Tag: Canada federal election

Canada federal elections and the future of immigration!

Canadians have re-elected the Liberal Party to power and favored Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to return to his office in Ottawa in the much-awaited federal elections that took place on October 21, 2019.

However, the Liberals under whom the Canadian economy grew with plenty of new jobs as well as the record integration of newcomers to Canada, will now only form a minority government. A minority occurs when no party has crossed the majority number which is 170 seats in the Canadian Parliament.

Should this have an effect on Canada Immigration policies?

The formation of a minority government at the federal level will give at least one smaller party an opportunity to dictate the Liberals to its will. The experts believe that immigration policy may be one such area where this influence could be more pronounced. However, all the major parties in Canada support liberal immigration in one form or the other and so, an adverse change in policies is less likely to happen. 

Keeping that in mind, let’s have a general outlook on immigration from the point of view of major parties that will have their representations in the 43rd Canadian Parliament:

The Liberals: the winner

They had a few interesting proposals regarding the future of Canada’s immigration policy: 

  • A responsible increase in immigration levels to 350,000 permanent residents by 2021 and potentially to 450,000 annually in the upcoming years.
  • Mooted the idea of the Municipal Nominee Program which would allow smaller Canadian cities and towns to nominate people and families for immigration to Canada, on par with the existing Provincial Nominee Programs. 
  • Giving more impetus to the Atlantic Immigration Program, thereby making it permanent. 
  • Reducing the cost of applying for Canadian citizenship for permanent residents to zero. 
  • Potential expansion of Student Direct Stream to include more source countries. 

With the Liberals forming the new government, it may be expected that some of the above proposals become law. However, the Liberals must gather enough support in the House of Commons which could potentially come from the NDP.

Take this free assessment before you begin planning your Canada Immigration. 

The Conservatives: second-highest in seat tally

The Conservatives gave economic immigration to Canada a new direction by first launching the Express Entry back in 2015. It was the Conservatives who also introduced the open work scheme for the sponsored persons in Canada in 2014. The Conservatives may only push for minor changes in eligibility requirements and no heavy demands for changes in immigration targets will be accepted from them. The Conservatives are equally receptive to International students and would continue to support their routes to settle in Canada long-term. 

Bloc Québécois

The Bloc party predominantly represents the French-speaking province of Quebec. The party has had major gains in this election and would likely continue to support greater devolved powers over immigration to include family reunification. One can expect increased immigration to Quebec in this term. 

New Democratic Party (NDP)

With the formation of a minority government at the federal level and growing relations with the Liberals, family reunification may be given a major boost. Removing the cap on parents and grandparents and reduce processing times for applicants, including spouses and common-law partners have been the biggest priority for the NDP. 

Green Party & People’s Party of Canada (PPC)

The Green Party favors economic permanent residence programs over temporary programs. People’s Party of Canada, an offshoot of the Conservatives, also is in favor of boosting economic immigration. It is expected from these parties that their demands in the Parliament will most likely be to push long-term economic immigration to Canada. 

What is in-store for those who have already moved to Canada?

Newcomers already in Canada may expect better health care and education support for the new government. Announced before the elections, an additional $9 million investment over three years is to improve the employment prospects of minority newcomer women. Tax reduction proposals will save an average family nearly $600 a year. 

The Liberals have always seen Foreign workers and international students in Canada as permanent residents and citizens of tomorrow and thus, the same treatment is set to continue.

If you are looking to Immigration to Canada, now is certainly the right time to kick-start the process by contacting us and letting us handle your Canadian immigration.