The Honourable John McCallum served as Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada from November 2015 to January 2017. A Member of Parliament from 2000 – 2017, he also served as Defence Minister under Jean Chrétien, and Veterans Affairs Minister, National Revenue Minister, Natural Resources Minister and as Chair of the Expenditure Review Committee under Paul Martin. As Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship in Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, Mr. McCallum led Canada’s effort to welcome 25,000 Syrian refugees over a period of three months. He also increased the age of dependency from 18-22, repealed conditional permanent residency and reduced family class processing times. 5:00 – The resettlement of 40,000 refugees in Canada. 22:00 – The division of immigration repsonsibilities between IRCC, CBSA and ESDC. Should they be combined? 28:00 – What goes into reducing processing times. 33:00 – Abolishing conditional permanent residence. 39:00 – Mr. McCallum’s approach to being immigration critic towards the end of the Harper era. 42:30 – The Barbaric Cultural Practices Act and the Niqab ban. 44:00 – Caregivers 48:00 – Helping as Minister on individual files. 54:00 – What goes into levels planning?
The 2016 Liberal Immigration Numbers
On March 8, 2016, John McCallum, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) tabled the 2015 Annual Report to Parliament on Immigration (the “2015 IRCC Report”) It states that in 2016 Canada will welcome between 280,000 and 305,000 immigrants, with a target of 300,000. While this target if fulfilled would be Canada’s highest annual immigration number in over a century, not all immigration categories are being increased. The 2015 IRCC Report reveals that 2016 will be a good year for the spouses and common-law partners of Canadians. It also suggests that it will be a frustrating one for economic migrants, especially international graduates seeking to transition to permanent residency. Before proceeding, it is important to note that while IRCC in the 2015 IRCC Report released a detailed breakdown of immigration statistics to Canada in 2014, it did not publish data for 2015. As such, as of writing it is only possible to compare what the Liberal Government of Canada (the “Liberals”) is planning in 2016 with what the previous Conservative Government of Canada (the “Conservatives”) achieved in 2014, and what it planned in 2015. Economic Immigration Programs In 2016, Canada will accept between 54,000 to 58,400 immigrants in … Read More