Family reunification top priority for Canada in 2020

Canada is one such country that acknowledges the importance of immigration for economic recovery post-coronavirus. However, “family reunification” is the core of Canada’s immigration policy. Therefore, Canadians are giving preference to immigration through family-class over other immigration categories such as refugee-class and economic-class. As per a new survey by the Association of Canadian Studies, nearly 36 percent of the people interviewed have mentioned that Canada should give priority to family members of Canadians this year in the immigration process. Whereas when a similar survey was conducted in 2016, only 30 percent of people wanted family class immigration to be a priority. Coming to economic-class immigration, almost 27 percent of the respondents want it to be a priority. This figure at 27 percent has remained the same between 2016 and 2020. However, this year the support for refugee class immigration has dropped to only 16 percent of people in favor of it. Considering the support from different provinces of Canada, Alberta has turned out to be the most supportive province for family-class immigration. 44 percent of people in Alberta want family reunification to be given preference in 2020. Atlantic Canada and Ontario have also come ahead in promoting family reunification with 42 percent and 36 percent of the respondents respectively being supportive of immigration through family-class. In Manitoba and Saskatchewan also, 28 percent of the people preferred family reunion over other immigration classes. Around 1,531 Canadians were questioned for this survey between 31st July and 2nd August. The Canadian government has come under scrutiny by the critics for not giving enough preference to family reunification. During the coronavirus pandemic, many people are separated from their family members. Therefore, critics have urged the government to prioritize the immigration applications of the family-class program. Jenny Kwan, a Member of Parliament, has initiated the petition for creating a Special Temporary Resident Visa, which will allow spouses and children of Canadians to come and live with them. The petition is signed by more than 6,000 people and has received enough support. However, it will go in the parliament only on Septemeber 23 when the House resumes. Before the outbreak of the coronavirus, the federal government announced the Immigration Levels Plan for 2020-2022 in March. As per that plan, the immigration target for the family class was set at 91,000 new immigrants each year. And for economic-class and refugee-class immigration, the levels were set to increase each year.

Canadians feel optimistic about immigration

Most Canadians, especially the younger generations, have a positive attitude towards Immigration. They believe that immigration is the key to Canada’s economic recovery. About 61 percent of Canadians trust that immigration will help the country. 67 percent of people in Atlantic Canada are hopeful about new immigrants helping in economic revival. The government of Canada also recognizes the importance of new immigrants in stimulating economic growth. Lately, the Ministers of Immigration attended a meeting in which they discussed the immigration plan after coronavirus. They also talked about the role of international students and the need for making immigrants settle in the rural communities of Canada.