The Governor General of Canada, Mary Simon accepted Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau’s request to dissolve the parliament on August 15, 2021. Canadians will be voting for their next federal government on September 20, 2021.

In this article, we will discuss about the effect of elections on Canadian immigration system.

Backgrounder:

There are 3 major political parties as per percentage of seats in previous elections:

Liberals – Justin Trudeau
Conservatives – Erin O’ Toole
National Democratic Party – Jagmeet Singh

Since year 2000, there have been 7 elections in Canada; out of which Liberals came into power 4 times, while Conservatives won 3 times.

There has been a lot of guesses about effect of these elections on Canadian Immigration. It has been normal perception among immigrants that Liberals are immigration friendly and Conservatives are strict for immigration. However, it is not the case.

Liberals:

We are all aware about the Liberals way of handling the immigration system. If they are re-elected, immigration system will continue the way it is, and improve further as per the plans announced in the budget of 2021 which promised improvements to immigration that will

deliver a modern immigration processing platform
support racialized newcomer women
enhance the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
accelerate pathways to permanent residence
streamline Express Entry, and
enhance capacity and service standards within the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) Client Support Centre

Apart from all these, Liberals have ambitious plan of welcoming 1.2 million immigrants from 2021 to 2023. To achieve this immigration minister, Marco Mendicino has announced new pathways and temporary policies time to time.

Conservatives:

Conservatives have clearly mentioned in their election manifesto following changes in immigration reforms:

Expedite the processing of applications already under review for an additional fee and using that fee to hire more people to reduce processing times.
Those who cannot afford additional fees will automatically get reduced processing time because of the people who are capable of paying an additional fee for processing.
Fairer visa system for visitor visa and voiding arbitrarily denying of visitor visas to people who want to visit their family and friends to attend family events.
Increasing capacity and expediting hearing of asylum claims.
Lottery system in Parents and Grandparents (PGP) program will be replaced with first-come, first serve principle. Conservatives also mentioned that they will expedite the processing of the PGP program.
Limit on Super Visa duration to be extended up to 5 years from 2 years.
Conservatives are determined to create new pathways for international students and workers to get PR. They have mentioned they don’t want to “force people with potential to leave.”
They are determined to improve Canadian refugee system and allowing more of private and joint sponsorship.

National Democratic Party:

NDP has never been able to make a government at federal level, but in this elections party’s leader, Jagmeet Singh is the most popular candidate. NDP is also aiming at improving the immigration system by:

Ending the caps on the Parents and Grandparents Program (PGP).
Clearing the backlogs and work with the provinces to improve settlement services and foreign credential recognition.
Taking strict action against fraudulent immigration consultants.
Prioritizing caregivers and families.
Expediting hearing of asylum seekers and remove backlog.
Ending gender based wage discrimination by prioritizing pay equity among immigrant women.

Conclusion:

Immigration plays an important role in Canadian economy and will continue to do so. Next government; whether it’s made by Liberals or Conservatives or NDP, they will have to focus on boosting the immigration for economic revival post pandemic.