The federal election taking place on September will shape Canada’s immigration system for up to the next four years.
The election result is the most important event in Canada’s immigration system since the federal government is largely responsible for the policies that impact the system. The Constitution outlines immigration as an area of shared federal-provincial jurisdiction, with the federal government having the final say. In practice, while provinces and territories across Canada are very active in recruiting and settling newcomers, it is the federal government, namely Immigration,Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that has the greatest control over the nation’s immigration policies. For instance, IRCC determines national immigration levels as well as allocations for each province, processing times, and is the largest funder by far of the settlement and integration services offered across the country.
IRCC gets its direction from the political party that forms, government after each federal election. Hence, the party that leads the country after September 20 will leave a lasting impression on the immigration system. The following is an overview of what you can expect and is based on the events that followed the 2015 and 2019 federal elections.