MEDIA RELEASE - Liberals fail to fix delays in our immigration system

“In his announcement today, the Minister failed to acknowledge the real reason why Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada quietly stopped the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Through an Access to Information and Privacy request, it was revealed that “These reductions are due to admissions space required to accommodate the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident stream and the resettlement of Afghan nationals to Canada.”
The truth is the Liberal government failed to listen to calls from the NDP and those affected by these delays to ensure adequate staffing and immigration levels are available to meet the announcement of these two new immigration measures.
The lack of transparency and communication from this government is appalling and an insult to the people who are trying to balance important life decisions around possible outcomes of their applications. It should not take an Access to Information request for those aspiring to come to Canada to learn the truth about the processing delays.

April 22nd, 2022

Liberals fail to fix delays in our immigration system

NDP Critic for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Jenny Kwan issued the following statement:

“In his announcement today, the Minister failed to acknowledge the real reason why Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada quietly stopped the Federal Skilled Worker Program. Through an Access to Information and Privacy request, it was revealed that “These reductions are due to admissions space required to accommodate the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident stream and the resettlement of Afghan nationals to Canada.”
The truth is the Liberal government failed to listen to calls from the NDP and those affected by these delays to ensure adequate staffing and immigration levels are available to meet the announcement of these two new immigration measures.
The lack of transparency and communication from this government is appalling and an insult to the people who are trying to balance important life decisions around possible outcomes of their applications. It should not take an Access to Information request for those aspiring to come to Canada to learn the truth about the processing delays.
With respect to Canada's overall immigration policy for Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW), the Liberal government has chosen to perpetuate a system that favours abuse and exploitation by increasing their reliance on TFW. There is no denying that there is a power imbalance in the TFW program that has resulted in many migrant workers being exploited, including being subject to wage theft and poor working conditions.
The Minister should expand immigration Permanent Resident (PR) levels instead of increasing Canada’s reliance on temporary workers, who will remain vulnerable to labour exploitation.
Furthermore, over 500,000 people are already in Canada without permanent status. They range from students to migrant workers to those who are undocumented. Many will be able to fulfill the labour skill shortage if they can access a pathway to PR status. The Minister should recognize their talent and contributions to Canada, and help them on their permanent resident path.
New Democrats are calling on the government to regularize temporary and undocumented workers in Canada and provide new migrant workers with PR on arrival."

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