Motion 44 Permanent Residency (PR) for Temporary Foreign Workers was agreed upon by the majority in House of Commons on May 11, 2022. The motion was initiated on January 31, 2022 by Randeep Sarai by placing a notice to House of Commons (lower house of the Parliament of Canada).

Randeep Sarai is a Liberal member of parliament from Surrey Centre, British Columbia. Before understanding Motion 44, let’s first understand what actually a motion is.

What Is A Motion?

A motion is a proposal moved by a member that the House:

do something, such as modify the sitting hours of the House;
order that something be done, such as order a committee to undertake a study on a given subject; or
express an opinion about some matter, such as a natural disaster.

A motion is adopted if it receives the support of the majority of the Members. Every motion, once adopted, becomes either an order or a resolution of the House.

Through its orders, the House approves bills at their various stages, regulates its proceedings or gives instructions to its Members or officers, or to its committees.
A resolution of the House is a declaration of opinion or purpose; it does not require that any action be taken, nor is it binding.

What Is Motion 44?

Motion 44 amendment was agreed upon by 323 members out of 324 on May 11. Motion 44 is a resolution that reflects the opinion of majority in the house in regards to Permanent Residency (PR) for Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada.

It states that, in the opinion of the House, the government should develop and publicly release a comprehensive plan within 120 days following the adoption of this motion:

to expand the economic immigration stream to allow workers of all skill levels to meet the full range of labour needs and
pathways to permanent residency for temporary foreign workers, including international students, with significant Canadian work experience in sectors with persistent labour shortages,
and such plan should incorporate the following elements:

(a) amending eligibility criteria under economic immigration programs to give more weight to significant in-Canada work experience and expand the eligible occupational categories and work experience at various skills levels;

(b) examining evidence and data gathered from recent programs such as Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway, Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP), Rural and Northern Immigration Program (RNIP), and Agri-Food Pilot, and Provincial Nominee Process (PNP);

(c) incorporating data on labour market and skills shortages to align policy on immigrant-selection with persistent labour gaps;

(d) assessing ways to increase geographic distribution of immigration and encourage immigrant retention in smaller communities, as well as increase Francophone immigration outside Quebec;

(e) identifying mechanisms for ensuring flexibility in immigration-selection tools to react quicker to changes in labour market needs and regional economic priorities; and

(f) specifically considering occupations and essential sectors that are underrepresented in current economic immigration programs, such as health services, caregivers, agriculture, manufacturing, service industry, trades, and transportation.