Building on its image as the most welcoming country in the world, Canada is planning to roll out 3 new initiatives for refugees. According to Canadian Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, Canada will always keep its door open when others close them. Even during the height of the ongoing pandemic, Canada was still resettling refugees.
In roughly six months of this year, until May 29, Canada managed to invite 4,345 refugees who worked in Canada’s health sector as frontline workers to help in Canada’s response to the pandemic. In 2020, Canada welcomed 9,200 refugees despite the ongoing pandemic.
In 2018, Canada committed to welcoming an estimated 10,000 refugees from Africa and the Middle East over the next two years. Canada managed to deliver on that promise despite the several challenges of a pandemic.
What New Initiatives Have Been Introduced to Increase Refugee Resettlement to Canada?
On June 18, Canada announced that it was making changes to the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot (EMPP), the Private Sponsorship of the Refugee program, and that they would be increasing the number of protected persons accepted to Canada. Canada has increased the number of protected persons being accepted in 2021 from 23,500 to 45,000.
The government is planning to expedite the processing of applications to ensure that protected persons can transition to permanent residence without any delays.
