Canada’s Immigration Minister Insights on COVID-19 and Immigration.

Immigration has been one of the significant topics today in Canada’s economic issues as a way to accelerate recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. In the recent interview of the television show, The Agenda, with Canada’s immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, the following immigration issues were discussed. You can find the video of the interview at the end of this page.

Immigration Plans for 2021 and beyond

Minister Mendicino expressed his conviction on immigration as a key to grow and prosper the economy through bringing in workers and international students. Hence, the target of bringing over 400,000 immigrants is the clear goal for the next two years. As shortages in the workforce are from essential sectors based on the economic survey, this makes immigrants more important since they help fill in these gaps.

When asked about the difficulty of bringing these immigrants due to travel restrictions and tighter borders due to pandemics, Mendicino answered that innovating new policies, adding resources to the borders, and implementing additional protocols to ensure safety are some of the steps taken to address this issue.

Mendicino stated that foreign workers and international students may stay here for the short term, but their contribution to the economy is long-term. Thus, the opportunities to accelerate the pathways to permanent residence are of IRCC’s top considerations. Questioned how these international students remain helpful in the economy when most are attending classes remotely from their home country and not in Canada, Mendicino said that an innovative process towards more flexible policies was provided for these students to consider coming back and staying in Canada. Combining all these populations including migrant workers from different sectors will help Canada meets the immigration targets.

Addressing the question about protecting refugees, Mendicino specified Canada’s being the top country to resettle as recognized by the UN and that the country continues to seek ways through partnering with stakeholders to remain a safe place for the vulnerable amidst the pandemic, as Canadians are compassionate in nature.

Technology on Canadian Citizenship

In today’s virtual world, Canada is leading in terms of advancing technology in the immigration process through the availability of online platforms according to Mendicino. The country held its first virtual citizenship ceremonies in 2020. He is envisioning a completely integrated digital and contactless immigration system in the future. In terms of Immigration, he said that Canada’s competitive advantage is being recognized by OECD as the best in class in integrating newcomers.

When Mendicino was asked about the status of the 2019 pledge on dropping the new immigrants and citizenship processing fees, he said that he hopes to advance the work on this. He mentioned that he is enthusiastic about reducing barriers to immigration and will further discuss this issue in the future.

Municipal Nominee Programs

According to Mendicino, Municipal Nominee Program is like the other series of pilot immigration programs produced to encourage more immigrants to settle in smaller regions in Canada. Thus, IRCC continues to engage with various partners to work together in inspiring newcomers to look at the opportunities offered by these regions.

Key Takeaways:

• Canada is committed to meeting the immigration target to fast-track economic recovery from the pandemic.
• There may be various barriers and disruptions that could restrict activities around the world due to Covid-19, but not the immigration in Canada. This will remain one of the country’s top priorities.
• Canada’s continuous innovation in immigration towards a digital and contactless system and the creation of various nominee programs are some of Canada’s significant undertakings to meet the immigration goals in the coming years.

If you are determined to immigrate to Canada in 2021, then it’s time to start now. Contact our experienced team of licensed immigration lawyers and let’s work together on your immigration project!