Safe Third Country Agreement will be reformed by the U.S. and Canada. U.S. president marked his presence in Canada officially for the first time. Joe Biden came to Canada recently for a two-day visit. Reportedly, the two authorities, the Canadian Prime Minister, along with President Biden, will be discussing the ongoing events. They would talk about immigration, the Russian-Ukraine war, trade, and Haiti’s situation. The U.S. president marked his official presence in the country after Barack Obama in 2016. Reports are rife that Donald Trump never officially visited Canada during his tenure between 2017 to 2021. After his selection as the President two years ago, Biden made his first official state visit.
Safe Third Country Agreement- what is it?
Canadian Prime Minister and the U.S. president have agreed to modify and update the Safe Third Country Agreement. The agreement will outline new terms based on Canada and the U.S. border. Furthermore, this will include ports of entry- both designated and undesignated.
Unless they meet the requirements for an exception to the Agreement, those seeking refugee status must first apply for protection in the first secure country they reach.
The agreement is applicable to the following people:
- Those who arrive at the Canada-U.S. land border crossings.
- Using trains
- at airports, but only if the person applying for refugee protection in Canada has already been denied refugee status in the United States and is traveling through Canada after being expelled from the United States.
It did not, however, extend to unauthorized land crossings, such as the well-known Roxham Road, which saw more than 39,000 unauthorized crossings from the United States to Canada in 2022. As of tonight, at 1:00 AM Eastern Time, this will change. This indicates that Canada will have the authority to deny entry to people seeking refuge at ports of entry who don’t possess specific authorization. Furthermore, Canada has committed to accept15,000 migrants from the Western Hemisphere in the upcoming year on a humanitarian basis.
U.S. and Canada- their shared interests
Canada and the United States both have a unique relationship concerning their geography and economy. Canada and the U.S. border holds a record of being the longest one. It stretches 9,000 km, and interestingly Canada has just one neighbor, the United States.
The U.S. is Canada’s top commercial partner in part due to their closeness. In 2021, the two nations exchanged products and services worth over $1 trillion.
Also, they take part in CUSMA, one of the world’s largest free trade areas, together with Mexico. Each nation’s citizens will live with enhanced standards of living thanks to this pact. The pact aims to stimulate economic progress.
In accordance with CUSMA, professionals with current employment in any of 63 different occupations may be eligible to work abroad. An LMIA is not necessary for CUSMA participants to receive their work permits. LMIA is submitted to Employment and Social Development Canada to demonstrate that hiring a foreign national will not have any adverse effect on the Canadian economy and labor force.
Moreover, the aspirant must have employment in Canada in a profession that fits their qualifications. Professionals that operate on their own are ineligible.
U.S. and Canada-prominent immigration destinations
New immigrants frequently choose to settle in Canada or the United States. Immigration, or 1.3 million individuals, or over one-third of this rise, is what has caused Canada’s population to increase from 36 million to 39 million since the last state visit in 2016. Nearly 24 percent of Canada’s current population is an immigrant, according to the census taken in 2021. By 2025, Canada hopes to increase immigration and accept over 500,000 new permanent residents.
The United States had 45.3 million immigrants residing there in 2021, or little over 13% of the country’s 339 million people, according to data from the Migration Policy Institute. This indicates a growth in immigration of less than 1% between 2019 and 2021.
The reuniting of families is given more priority in US immigration policy. 61% (451,086) of the 740,000 immigrants who were admitted as lawful permanent residents of the United States during the fiscal year 2021 did so through a family sponsorship program. Economic immigration comprised another 26% (193,338), and the final 13% (95,578) were categorized as humanitarian/other.
Contrarily, Canada received 252,975 skilled economic immigrants, 80,990 family immigrants, and more than 70,000 immigrants. These belonged to categories of refugees, those in need of humanitarian aid, and others in 2021. The economic category enabled to admit of over half (748,120) of the recent immigrants living in Canada who arrived between 2016 and 2021.
Canada is now experiencing a skilled labor crisis and depends on qualified immigrants to fill ongoing workforce deficits. Nearly all of Canada’s labor force growth and 75% of its population growth may be attributed to immigration.
Notably, the United States is one of the top ten nations from where immigrants come to Canada. According to Statistics Canada, in 2022, immigrants from the United States made up 10,400 (2.3%) of Canada’s new permanent residents.
According to estimates from the Prime Minister’s Office, pre-pandemic border crossings between Canada and the United States averaged roughly 400,000 per day. Also, in 2021, about 800,000 Canadian residents were residing in the US.
