Marco Mendicino, Canada’s immigration minister spoke about several topics related to immigration on a TV interview along with explaining the government’s plans to deal with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. He talked on the Canadian TV show called The Agenda about Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023, Canadian citizenship and Municipal Nominee Program.
Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023
Mendicino said that the country had to choose between pausing or reducing immigration following the Covid-19 outbreak but it chose to continue bringing immigrants to the country during and after the pandemic. He also said that as immigrants are essential for job creation and to meet labour market needs of the country, over the coming years it aims to bring more than 400,000 immigrants. He explained that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been innovated and it can achieve this goal even with the travel restrictions and disruption caused by Covid-19. It would also facilitate permanent residency to the domestic population of international students and temporary foreign employees.
Canadian citizenship
With the aim to make all the immigration processes virtual, Canada is the only country providing online citizenship ceremonies through a new pilot program that helps eligible permanent residents to fill their Canadian Citizenship Application online. Due to the pandemic, there has been a delay in executing the promise made by him about removing Canadian citizenship fees in his December 2019 mandate letter and he also said that he wants to reduce the difficulties faced by newcomers.
Municipal Nominee Program
Along with the launch of a Municipal Nominee Program, initiatives like the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot and Atlantic Immigration Pilot are functioning to encourage immigrants to pursue satisfying lives in smaller cities of the country. IRCC has already started to consult with municipal, provincial, business and other stakeholders to design the Municipal Nominee Program.
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