Since 2019, Canada has finally tabled the Budget for the country in 2021.
Unlike every year, in 2020, the budget tabulation was postponed because of the uninvited COVID-19 pandemic.
Citizens attentively monitor the Federal Budget of the country as many factors are involved and affected by this. The Budget holds and indicates the policies that are going to be treated on priority by the government. It also shows the spending and revenue projections, and that eventually suggests the state of the country’s economy.
The announced Budget has extra importance for various reasons. The important one is that it has been created after two years. The Liberal Party in power has a minority government, so to try and change this, they might push to conduct an election early in 2021. That implies that the party will rely on the Budget while convincing Canadians to give them the majority.
In some budgets, they mention important announcements about the immigration policies of the country.
To give context to the above statement, let’s take an example of budget 2014. It was proposed in the Budget that the federal immigration investor and Entrepreneur program will be terminated. It also stated that millions would be invested to ensure the successful launch of Express Entry.
Let’s see the immigration priorities mentioned in Budget 2021. But before that the proposals are not function, they will have to be approved by the Parliament majority first. However, it is expected that the Parliament will approve the Budget because if denied, there will be a need to conduct an election. At present, federal parties will try to refrain from elections as there’s already combat is going on with the pandemic.
Around $430 million for the IT sector to modernize infrastructure
The federal government is hoping to improve and modernize the IT infrastructure, and they have proposed $430 million for the same. This is the most notable recommendation in the Budget. They want to replace the Global Case Management System (GCMS). It is a system used to operate the immigration department. The investment will allow creating a plan that will help the federal government cater to higher levels of foreign nationals, provide enhanced security, and smooth application processing.
Changes in Express Entry
The Budget also indicates that the party is expecting to make some reforms in Express Entry. The new system will allow the Immigration Minister to allow entry of best candidates for Labour market without any hassle. However, the exact changes were not detailed in the Budget.
Express Entry accounts for almost one-quarter of all the newcomers entering the country. It is a major pathway for most of the economic class immigrants.
Improvements in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program
The government is proposing to spend $110 million for the next 36 months on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). There are multiple objectives around this investment. It will provide support and information to vulnerable foreign workers. Further, it will be utilized to inspect more employers to determine if they are treating foreign workers well. There will be improved service delivery, so if any worker is abused by any employer so he/she will have an option to get an open work permit.
Support for Racialized women immigrants
There are multiple factors that can affect a newcomer in the country, especially women. If they are learning English/French and are not very fluent, do not have Canadian work experience, discrimination, and lack of economic child care is there, so they may face a challenge while looking for employment opportunities. The government suggested spending $15 million in the next 24 months for improving the job outcomes and career advancements of new women immigrants.
High-speed pathways to permanent residence (PR)
The Budget mentions the new streams announcements by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The new streams announced by IRCC are focused on accelerating the pathways to PR. Those will help International graduates and workers to get permanent residence early than the usual processing time frame. Around 90,000 applicants will be able to apply under the new streams by 6th May 2021.
