How Will the Result of Election 2021 Affect Canadian Immigration?

3.75 minute read

"The Liberal Party of Canada won its 3rd straight federal election following a 36-day campaign on Monday. The final results are yet to be released as the authorities count over 1 million votes mailed in by the Canadians due to pandemic restrictions. However, it is unlikely that the Liberals will secure a majority in this election."

Written by My Visa Source Team
Published on: Oct 5, 2021

The Liberal Party of Canada won its 3rd straight federal election following a 36-day campaign on Monday. The final results are yet to be released as the authorities count over 1 million votes mailed in by the Canadians due to pandemic restrictions. However, it is unlikely that the Liberals will secure a majority in this election.

What Is a Minority Government?

The Liberals are set to form a minority government again. Now you might be wondering how it works? The Canadian parliament has a total of 338 seats. To form a majority government, a political party will need to win at least 170 seats out of the total. A majority government can make any legislative changes without needing support from the opposition parties. However, in a minority government, the ruling party must work with the opposition to make important decisions.

How Will the Minority Liberal Government Affect Canadian Immigration?

The Liberal Party won the 2015 federal election by a majority. However, in the 2019 federal election they were forced to form a minority government. In 2021, the result seems to be the same. This election was held 2 years early before the current term of the government was set to expire since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hoped to win another majority through this election.

Much like the 2019 election, the Liberals are expected to win over 157 seats and 33.1% of the popular vote. The Conservatives are expected to win over 121 seats with a similar popular vote. The top 4 political parties in Canada include the Liberals, the Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois, and the New Democratic Party (NDP).

Throughout the election, immigration was not a major issue. Other issues such as climate change, affordable housing, and economic recovery post-pandemic took precedence over immigration. However, both the Liberals and the conservatives have made promises to increase immigration levels, reduce processing times and application backlogs, and improve credential recognition.

How Will the Result of the 2021 Federal Election Affect Canadian Immigration?

A minority government is expected to have no major effect on the Canadian immigration system. The Liberal Party is expected to continue its earlier immigration agenda without any troubles. Currently, the public debate in Canada is centered more around holding the government accountable on issues such as their response to the pandemic, economic policies, and the crisis in Afghanistan.

Based on their earlier immigration agenda which has been implemented since 2015, high levels of immigration along with strong family reunification policies can be expected. The government is also expected to welcome more refugees and focus on retaining talented temporary foreign workers and international students.

The Liberal Party has made promises to introduce the following changes:

End citizenship fee

High levels of immigration to support post-pandemic economic recovery

Electronic applications for the Family Sponsorship program

Welcoming more refugees

Welcoming more temporary workers and foreign students

Increase immigration of French-speaking immigrants in Quebec and across Canada

Reduce the processing time under 12 months

The Liberal Party promised to welcome over 2,000 skilled refugees and double their commitment to Afghan refugees by resettling over 40,000 refugees. The party is also planning to establish a Trusted Employer Stream to expedite the application process for temporary foreign workers and Canadian employers. They are also planning to improve the Global Talent Stream by introducing the following changes:

Simplified renewal process

2-week processing standard

New employer hotline to connect employers with foreign workers

What Is the Future of Canadian Immigration?

The new Liberal Government is expected to set up its new cabinet within 1-2 months. It is possible that the current immigration minister, Marco Mendicino will continue in his role. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will assign a mandate letter to each minister, highlighting the key policy priorities that every department has to pursue. The mandate letter issued to the immigration minister will decide the priorities set by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and also impact different provincial and territorial nominee programs.

The Immigration Levels Plan for 2022-24 is expected to be released between November 2021 to March 2022. This plan will highlight the admissions target and also classify what type of immigrants will be welcomed in Canada over the next 3 years. The liberal government will likely choose to continue the existing Immigration Levels Plan of welcoming over 401,000 immigrants every year.

During this time, the Budget for 2022 may also be introduced. This budget may contain new immigration policies, programs, or projects that the government is aiming to develop. For Budget 2021, the government allocated $430 million to improve the digital platform to expedite the processing of immigration applications.