Budget 2021: What does it typify for Canadian immigration?
The Canadian government has deferred its first budget since 2019.
This important announcement usually takes place in the first quarter of each year, although this did not happen due to the coronavirus infection last year.
The Canadian federal budget receives much attention domestically because it includes policy priorities pursued by the government, government spending and revenue projections, and an overview of the state of the Canadian economy.
Today’s budget is extra important for a number of reasons. This is the first of two years in which we are living in an unprecedented way. Moreover, the ruling Liberal Party has a minority government and is rumored to be considering holding an early election in 2021, a budget to convince Canadians to give them a majority.
Occasionally, there are major Canadian immigration policy announcements in the budget.
For example, Budget 2014 proposed to stop the popular federal immigrant investor program and entrepreneurship program. In the same budget, he outlined that the federal government would invest millions of dollars to ensure that Express Entry successfully launched in January 2015.
Here are the immigration priorities outlined in Budget 2021. It should be noted that these are proposals, and the budget must seek the approval of a majority of parliamentarians to move forward with these priorities. Since the defeat of this budget, the passage of Parliament has sparked an election – an unwanted outcome for Canada’s federal parties, as the country continues to fight the coronavirus epidemic.
Nearly $430 million to modernize information technology infrastructure
The most important immigration proposal in the budget is an investment of nearly $ 430 million, which the federal government wants to modernize its information technology (IT) infrastructure. The budget calls for investment to replace the Global Case Management System (GCMS) used to manage immigration applications. The purpose of the investment, according to the budget, is to allow the federal government to respond to greater foreign national visits in the future, including better security and improved utilization processing.
Reforms for express entry
The budget states that the federal government has an eye on reforming express access. The government wants to give the immigration minister more power to “select candidates who best meet Canada’s labor market needs.” What these changes might bring is not specified in the budget.
Express entry is the main way to select Canadian economy class immigrants. This is a quarter of all immigrants welcome to Canada each year.
Improvements to the Temporary Overseas Personnel Program
The budget calls for $ 110 million in additional spending over the next three years on the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (TFWP). This cost provides information and support to vulnerable foreign workers, increases employer surveys to ensure they treat foreign workers well and improves service delivery to vulnerable workers to obtain open work permits if previous employers have abused them in Canada.
Supporting ethnic newcomer women
Newcomer women sometimes face barriers to employment in Canada due to reasons such as developing English or French skills, lack of Canadian experience, lack of affordable child care, and discrimination. The budget proposes to spend an additional $15 million over the next two years to improve employment outcomes and career advancement of new women to enhance existing initiatives.
Rapid routes to permanent residence
Budget 2021 outlines new immigration programs launched last week by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to provide quicker permanent residency avenues for essential workers and international graduates this year. About 90,000 people living in Canada can start applying for permanent residency from May 6.
