Recently, Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino shared several updates regarding the coronavirus’ impact on Canada’s immigration system in the near future, touching on topics such as immigration levels, temporary foreign workers, and international students.
Mendicino observed that COVID-19 will not change Canada’s long-term demographic trends. Canada’s worker-to-retiree ratio is declining, which means that the country will continue to need immigrants to drive economic growth.
In his statement, Mendicino noted that COVID-19 would not change Canada’s long-term demographic trends, especially the decline of their worker-to-retiree ratio. Canada will continue on needing immigrants to drive economic growth.
“Immigration will absolutely be key to our success and our economic recovery,” Mendicino said.
“We continue to rely on immigration, it will be an economic driver and this will be the North Star of our policy going forward.”
He also observed that Canada has faced pandemics and economic challenges before, but has continued to grow in spite of them. He said such growth was thanks in part to Canada continuing to welcome immigrants into their borders.
The minister also gave an update regarding the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) staff, who, he says, have continued to work remotely due to measures in place to combat the spread of COVID-19. Despite the remote set up impacting the department’s ability to process immigration applications, IRCC has done their best to ensure their staff has access to the tools they need to facilitate processing, allowing them to innovate and improve in certain areas.
One notable example has been the expedited processing of seasonal agricultural workers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
With regards to foreign workers, the minister has said that IRCC continues to stay in touch with employers in the food sector in order to support the federal government’s efforts to strengthen Canada’s food supply.
“Is there more that we can do? Absolutely. And we are always looking at ways to create some additional flexibility around work permits, really removing any barriers that exist abroad,” the minister said.
The minister has also stated that IRCC has been grateful to stakeholders who have continued to provide feedback regarding international student policies in response to the pandemic, citing the recent Post-Graduate Work Permit reform that enables international students to remain eligible for the PGWP despite taking online courses.
IRCC continues to consult various stakeholders on how to aid international students enrolling in Canadian educational institutions in the coming September intake period. The minister has advised those who may be concerned to “stay tuned” for more information.
