Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has provided immigration minister Marco Mendicino with a new mandate letter.
In the new supplementary mandate letter, he provided to immigration minister Marco Mendicino, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stressed that immigration will remain central to Canada’s economy and society. This mandate letter is the most crucial policy document for Canada’s immigration department.
It identifies the goals that Canada’s prime minister is demanding the immigration minister and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to follow during the government’s time in power.
The mandate letter defines key issues such as Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan, which new immigration programs for IRCC to create, improving IRCC’s application processing times, among other issues. The release of the mandate letter comes shortly after Canada announced a historic new 2021-2023 Immigration Levels Plan that will see it target over 400,000 immigrants per year, the highest in its history.
The new supplementary mandate letter was issued since the Canadian government started a new session of Parliament in September and it also includes new objectives that emerged out of the COVID-19 crisis.
Key priorities outlined in the letter include
Continue to welcome newcomers to support Canada’s economic growth and post-COVID recovery by expanding pilot programs to welcome refugees through economic class immigration streams; enhancing family reunification, and working on sectoral and regional pilot programs.
Continue to implement considerations to provide permanent residence pathways to those who have provided health care in long-term care homes, medical facilities, or who performed other essential services during the coronavirus pandemic.
Continue to work with cabinet colleagues to ensure the health and safety of Canadians will managing Canada’s ports of entry responsibly.
Identify additional permanent residence pathways for temporary strange workers.
Work with the Minister of Employment, Workforce Development, and Disability Inclusion to save workers who are vulnerable to COVID-19 and to secure workers in farming and food processing.
Continue working with Canada’s provinces and territories to provide settlement supports to newcomers including French-language training.
The new supplementary letter does not contain any surprises and explicitly outlines goals that the Canadian government has been pursuing during its time in power. It adds to the goals outlined in the December 2019 mandate letter which IRCC continues to pursue.
The theme is that Canada will continue to operate its immigration system to the best of its abilities during the pandemic so it can invest the skills and talents of newcomers to nourish its economic health after the pandemic is behind us.