Immigration Commitments Included in the Liberal Party’s Official Platform

With Justin Trudeau winning a minority government in Canada’s recent federal election, it’s important to take a look at where the governing party stands on immigration.

To help give you a better understanding of what to expect going forward, we will go over the Liberal Party’s official platform released during the lead-up to the September 20 election.

Where The Liberal Party Stands on Immigration

The Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, lists the following commitments  on its website as part of its official platform:

Strengthening Family Reunification and Reducing Processing Times

When it comes to family reunification, the Liberal Party promises the following:

  • Reduce processing times for immigration applications to under 12 months

  • Create electronic applications for family reunification

  • Build a new program that will provide spouses and children abroad with visas while they are waiting for their permanent residence applications to be processed.

Promoting Democracy and Human Rights

“We stand with citizens and activists around the world who are risking their safety to demand democratic rights and freedoms and will continue to promote democracy and human rights alongside civil society and international partners,” states the party’s website.

Here are a few ways the Liberal Party will address this issue:

  • Establish Canada as a safe haven for those facing persecution by resettling those fleeing political or security crises. This includes human rights defenders, journalists, feminists, LGBTQ2 activists, members of religious or ethnic minorities, and other persecuted groups

  • Expand the immigration stream for human rights defenders and ensure safe passage and resettlement

  • Resettle Afghan citizens fleeing the Taliban and increase the number of eligible refugees from 20,000 to 40,000.

Matching Workers With Jobs

The Liberal Party will continue to prioritize economic immigration to fill labour shortages by:

  • Reforming economic immigration programs and expanding permanent residence pathways through Express Entry for international students and temporary foreign workers

  • Expanding the Economic Mobility Pathways Pilot and bring in 2,000 skilled refugees to fill labour shortages in high-demand employment sectors like health care

  • Creating a Trusted Employer system that will help streamline application processing for Canadian companies hiring temporary foreign workers

  • Expanding and improving the Global Talent Stream program by streamlining permit renewals, maintaining a 2-week processing time, and establishing an employer hotline

  • Continuing to work with Canada’s provinces, territories, and regulatory bodies to help improve foreign credential recognition

These are all of the immigration commitments outlined by the Liberal Party in the official platform listed on its website. It will be interesting to see how many of these promises the federal government will fulfill over the next two years.