After winning the recent elections, Liberal Party’s Justin Trudeau is now officially the new Prime Minister of Canada. The eldest son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Mr. Trudeau will be the second-youngest person to hold the position in the country.
Naturally, new things can be expected with this new government. As he himself said during a speech:
“Canadians have spoken. You want a government with a vision and an agenda for this country that is positive and ambitious and hopeful. I promise you that I will lead that government.”
As the Prime Minister, it is anticipated that he will implement several changes soon, especially regarding immigration policies. Besides, the Liberal Party has always been more sympathetic compared with other political parties in the country. During his father’s time as the leader in Canada, the party pledge support to multiculturalism which means integrating immigrants into the society while respecting their unique values and culture at the same time.
As shared by the website CanadaIM, here are the 10 proposed Liberal reforms for Canada’s immigration system:
1) Double the number of immigration applications allowed for parents and grand-parents sponsorship from 5,000 to 10,000 visas per year.
2) Double the budget for processing family class immigration applications to reduce wait times
3) Increase points allocation to applicants who have siblings in Canada on their Express Entry application
4) Lift the visa requirement for Mexican travel to Canada.
5) Eliminate the $1000 Labour Market Impact Assessment fee for families seeking caregivers to care for family members with physical or mental disabilities.
6) Restoring free access to healthcare for refugee/asylum seekers pending a decision on their case by the government.
7) They have pledged to make it easier for international students to achieve Canadian Citizenship. The exact details are not specified, but they have stated they will do this by making adjustments to the Canadian Experience Class program that will ‘remove barriers’ to international students.
8) Restore the Canadian Citizenship residency time credit for international students in Canada.
9) Bypass the two years wait period for “conditional permanent residence” for spouses of sponsored individuals.
10) Restore the maximum age for dependents from 19 to 22, making it easier for immigrants to bring their older children to Canada.
With all these upcoming changes, Canada is definitely shaping up to be one of the most immigrant-friendly countries in the world.
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