Canadian Immigration News

Canada Launches National Consultations on Immigration

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has launched a series of national stakeholder and public consultations on immigration issues, starting on July 31, 2012 in Toronto.

Two CIC Parliamentary Secretaries Chungsen Leung and Rick Dykstra will be holding cross-country meetings with stakeholders and the public to consult on immigration issues, including the appropriate level of immigration for Canada, and the most suitable mix of immigration for Canada among economic, family, and refugee and humanitarian classes in the coming years. According to a CIC release, the Canadian Government has welcomed the highest sustained levels of immigration in Canadian history since 2006.

In addition, the consultations will focus on the reform of the Canadian immigration system to become faster and more flexible, as well as recognize the more and more important role of immigration in Canada's economic growth and long-term prosperity.

Discussions will also be on deciding the total number of people to be granted Canadian permanent residency. CIC must give its decision after considering the balance of the Canadian government's immigration objectives, as well as broader government commitments, input from provinces and territories, and current and future economic conditions. The Department must also take into account its operational ability to process applications in a timely manner, as well as the capacity of communities to welcome newcomers.

According to CIC, the consultations present an important opportunity to generate greater public understanding of the difficult decisions involved in managing such a global immigration system with competing visions and diverging goals.

Stakeholders, including employers, labour, academia, learning institutions, professional organizations, business organizations, regulatory bodies, municipalities, Aboriginal groups, settlement provider organizations and ethnocultural organizations are invited to join the consultations. As CIC stated, engaging stakeholders and the broader public with their various perspectives "is key to CIC's development of an overall strategy for Canada moving forward."

After the Toronto session hosted by Parliamentary Secretary Leung on July 31, 2012, meetings with stakeholders will continue to take place in Windsor, Vancouver, Halifax and Ottawa. As of July 31, online consultations are also open to the public and stakeholders for input and will be available until August 31, 2012.