Will Upcoming Elections have an Impact on Canada's Immigration System?

On September 11, 2019, the prime minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, met the governor-general, Julie Payette, to officially request to dissolve the parliament, all eyes are now stuck on the upcoming election that will begin on October 21. The decision of Canadian voters will decide their future government and its policies. The competition is stiff. Both major political parties, Liberals and Conservatives, have begun their campaigns in full throttle. It has rarely been seen that Canadian federal election campaign to begin with such uncertainty. Of course, the people of Canada are keenly waiting for the results. But along with them the people who want to migrate to Canada, as well as international students, are also worried about the outcome.

More than 3,00,000 people migrate to Canada every year, and it is highly likely that the rate will increase or remain the same in the future because both parties support immigrant intake. This is due to the fact that over 90 lakh baby boomers are set to reach the retirement age within the next decade so both the parties know that Canada will need more skilled people to sustain its economy. Earlier when Liberals were in power from 1996 to 2005, they increased the number of immigration intake to 2,25,000 after that from 2006 to 2015 Conservatives came to power and raised the intake to 2,60,000 per year.

Composition of the immigrants

Although both parties agree to promote immigration, the policies they follow differs. When conservatives were in power, then out of total immigrants, 63% under the economic class, 27% under the family class and 10% under the refugee class arrived in Canada. But in 2015, after the Liberals formed the government the policy changed and people coming to Canada under refugee class increased to 15%, immigrants under economic category decreased to 58%, and the family class remained unchanged.

Will international students have any impact on them?

International students are strategically crucial to Canada's economy. As stated earlier, Canada needs skilled professionals, and for Canada, the best way to acquire new talent is through giving opportunities to international students. Even Mr. Ahmed Hussein, recognize their importance and mentioned it in Canada's International Education Strategy for 2019-2024. He said, "international students … are often ideal candidates for permanent residency. Nearly 54,000 former students became permanent residents in Canada in 2018". In fact, the new Education strategy aims to make Canada a powerhouse in International Education and to implement the Strategy, the Government of Canada has funded $147.9 million which will be allocated over five years, followed by $8 million per year of ongoing funding. This means that Canada's immigration policy is not going to be affected by the upcoming elections. So, aspiring students should not worry about them.