Canada will slash millions in spending meant to help immigrants. Here’s how hard Ontario is being hit

2026/02/25 Leave a comment

As expected given decline in overall numbers. Odd that services will be restricted to economic immigrants given that they are largely selected on the basis of higher levels of human capital and thus arguably in less need than other categories:

The federal government is going to slash its immigrant settlement funding by $98.1 million this year, including a 17.3 per cent reduction for organizations that support newcomers in Ontario, the Star has learned.

The across-the-board funding reductions outside Quebec are expected to affect all services, including employment counselling, information and orientation, translation help for appointments and other supports to assist newcomer integration. Newcomer women and caregivers, survivors of trauma, people with disabilities and others who are likely to delay language and other programs are feared to be disproportionately affected, though refugee services won’t be affected by the cuts.

The 9.5 per cent overall cut for the 2026-2027 fiscal year is in addition to the previously announced spending cuts to end all English classes beyond level 4 of the Canadian Language Benchmark (the government’s language assessment system with levels from 1 to 12) by September 2026. New eligibility will also take effect on April 1 to restrict access to services for economic immigrants.

Immigrant service agencies in Ontario will see funding reduced to $424.6 million from $513.6 million in 2025-2026. The hardest hit province is British Columbia, which will see a 25 per cent reduction in settlement funding, followed by Nova Scotia (23.3 per cent) and Prince Edward Island (22 per cent).

“The department recognizes the challenging impact these funding decisions will have on service provider organizations, and we will strive to provide transparent and timely information, as well as to respond to any concerns,” assistant deputy immigration minister Catherine Scott said in a Feb. 13 email to service agencies. “We can jointly ensure service continuity for clients.”

All funded agencies are expected to be contacted by the department before the end of the week on how their individual programs will be affected, as resources will also be reallocated to support organizations that serve French-speaking clients as a result of Ottawa’s priority to boost francophone immigration outside Quebec. 

The news has sent another shock wave to service providers, who had already had federal funding for the sector reduced from about $1.17B in 2024-25 to $1.12B in the current fiscal year.

“It’s a one-two punch,” said the executive director of one multiple service agency, who asked not to be identified for fear of repercussions to his organization by the department….

Source: Canada will slash millions in spending meant to help immigrants. Here’s how hard Ontario is being hit

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Depuis la fin du PEQ, les immigrants francophones se tournent vers d’autres provinces

2026/02/25 Leave a comment

Not surprising:

…“« Le fait qu’il y ait potentiellement des francophones qui, ne pouvant pas obtenir la résidence permanente au Québec, choisissent de s’installer dans une autre province est certainement une occasion », explique Kimberly Jean Pharuns, directrice générale de l’Observatoire en immigration francophone du Canada.

Les organismes de défense du fait français partout au pays martèlent depuis des années que l’immigration francophone est l’une des solutions pour rétablir le poids démographique des francophones au pays. La ministre de l’Immigration, Lena Metlege Diab, a promis de rétablir la proportion de francophones au Canada d’ici 2029, notamment en augmentant les cibles fédérales d’immigration francophone hors Québec.

La fin du PEQ pourrait-elle aider cet objectif ? Oui et non, selon Kimberly Jean Pharuns. « Les choses ne sont pas aussi simples, parce qu’il faut vraiment prendre en considération la nécessité d’avoir un bon niveau d’anglais pour pouvoir s’intégrer sur le marché du travail à l’extérieur du Québec, résume-t-elle. Ce n’est pas comme si tous les gens qui avaient prévu de s’installer au Québec pouvaient, en claquant des doigts, s’en aller au Manitoba ou en Saskatchewan. »

“Le Canada atteint depuis quatre ans ses cibles d’immigration francophone hors Québec. En 2026, 5000 places seront réservées pour les francophones voulant s’installer ailleurs qu’au Québec.”

Source: Depuis la fin du PEQ, les immigrants francophones se tournent vers d’autres provinces

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Migrant farm workers’ class-action suit against Canadian government certified

2026/02/25 2 Comments

To watch:

An Ontario court has cleared a major hurdle for migrant farm workers to pursue a Charter challenge against Ottawa for systemic racism and discrimination.

On Monday, the Superior Court of Justice certified a $550 million class-action lawsuit initiated by two lead plaintiffs, Kevin Palmer and Andrel Peters, who were brought to Canada under the federal government’s seasonal agricultural farmworker program (SAWP).

The lawsuit alleges that their rights were violated under the “tied employment” provisions of the program that restricted them to work for a named employer only, and their “compelled” payments to Canada’s employment insurance premiums despite their disqualification from receiving the benefits.

The certified class will cover current and former agricultural workers who are or were employed in Canada on a contract basis under SAWP, on or after Jan. 1, 2008. The federal government has already identified precisely 74,785 people who are members of the class, and has produced a class list with each member’s personal information.

Launched in 1966, the SAWP allows agricultural employers to hire temporary foreign workers from Mexico and participating Caribbean countries for up to eight months a year when qualified Canadians are unavailable. Between 30,000 and 40,000 seasonal migrants come to work here via the program each year.

In his decision, Judge Edward M. Morgan concluded that the plaintiffs’ proposed common issues predominate over any individual issues in the action, and focus on a common set of conditions imposed on all class members in the SAWP. 

“The breaches alleged are systemic and apply across the class,” Morgan wrote in his 25-page decision. “The Charter claims focus on state action in imposing oppressive and liberty-restricting terms in the SAWP contracts and legislation/regulation.

“Likewise, the unjust enrichment claim arises from a set of facts imposed by legislation and held in common by all class members — i.e. the payment of EI premiums, accompanied by restrictions imposed in the EI scheme and the SAWP that prevented access to EI benefits….

Source: Migrant farm workers’ class-action suit against Canadian government certified

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Senate committee calls for gutting of flagship immigration bill over human rights concerns

2026/02/25 Leave a comment

In the end, Senate approved without amendments:

A flagship bill that would tighten Canada’s immigration and asylum rules should be gutted, with key sections removed to address concerns regarding human rights and privacy, a Senate committee has recommended. 

The Senate committee on social affairs, science and technology has been studying Bill C-12 and hearing from experts. In a new report, it expressed fears that parts of the proposed legislation would lead to an “overreach of executive powers” and have a disproportionate impact on women and members of the LGBTQ community. 

The Senate committee called for the deletion of parts 5 to 8 of the bill and, failing that, for substantial amendments including to sections tightening up Canada’s asylum system. 

The Senate committee on public safety, which has also been examining Bill C-12, reviewed the proposed legislation in detail on Monday and discussed amendments after considering the social affairs committee’s recommendations. 

Of particular concern to the social affairs committee was part 8, which would prevent asylum seekers who have been in Canada for more than a year from having claims for refugee protection heard by the independent Immigration and Refugee Board.

The purpose of the rule, according to Immigration Department officials who addressed senators, is to prevent potential misuse of the system, such as by international students who claim asylum because they want to remain in Canada. 

But the Senate Social Affairs committee report warned that the change could mean that someone who visited Canada as a baby for a day and later returned at age 10 could be deemed ineligible to be heard at the independent tribunal. …

Source: Senate committee calls for gutting of flagship immigration bill over human rights concerns

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John Lorinc: This is the real crisis of Canadian immigration

2026/02/24 Leave a comment

Valid concern although I think Alberta is more open to immigration than Premier Smith calculates:

…Just think about Alberta premier Danielle Smith’s address to the province last week, in which she mentioned immigration no fewer than 17 times, disparaging the “status quo” system, and claiming that current (and significantly reduced) immigration levels are “out of control” and “overwhelming our core social services.” Those are the words of someone making hay.

It is worth noting that Trump hasn’t yet targeted Canadian immigration and diversity policies in his obsessive campaign to subsume America’s closest ally in the name of hemispheric hegemony. Yet. But even a cursory scan of the cultural horizon — Bad Bunny’s Spanish lyrics, Trump’s determination to edit out Black Americans’ experiences in the name of national pride — would indicate we are as just likely to become targets of his white supremacy as Europe.

Culture warriors don’t care about policy or data, and if the Carney government doesn’t get that basic fact, it will lose the existential fight to rebuild public confidence in our migration system, whether or not we continue to tell ourselves that diversity is our strength.    

Source: Opinion | John Lorinc: This is the real crisis of Canadian immigration

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Nadeau | Une aubaine!

2026/02/24 Leave a comment

Good critique of some Quebec immigration discourse:

..Au temps où Gérald Godin était ministre des Communautés culturelles et de l’Immigration, il écrivait ceci dans sa lettre type adressée aux immigrants : « Avec tous les Québécois, je me réjouis de votre arrivée chez nous. Je suis persuadé que votre dynamisme est le meilleur gage de votre adaptation à notre collectivité. Bienvenue au Québec. » Et il ajoutait ces mots : « Nous vous attendions. »

En plusieurs pays, le mépris envers les immigrants est aujourd’hui inouï. Pas une semaine ne passe sans que l’on désigne « les étrangers » comme les coupables commodes de tous les maux. Rien de plus facile que de crier au loup. Mais il faut distinguer les faits des fantasmes qu’entretient une idéologie de repli : pendant qu’elle désigne les étrangers comme coupables, elle épargne toute l’année les milliardaires qui se croient tout permis, comme l’affaire Epstein le montre.

La suspension d’une mesure d’immigration comme le Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ) profite désormais au reste du Canada, qui pourra attirer les immigrants francophones rejetés du Québec. Radio-Canada nous apprend que le nombre d’immigrants temporaires francophones du Québec qui cherchent désormais à s’installer ailleurs a quadruplé en un an. Plusieurs expliquent ce départ par l’abolition controversée du PEQ.

“Tout en répétant que la francophonie canadienne a des allures de mouroir, les nationalo-conservateurs québécois se privent paradoxalement de ceux qui pourraient l’aider à vivre. Ils dénoncent le déclin, mais ferment la porte à ceux qui pourraient l’enrayer. Ils invoquent la protection d’une culture, tout en sabotant les conditions mêmes de sa régénération et de sa transmission.

À force de confondre protection et fermeture, identité et repli, ces gens-là en viennent à transformer un projet de société en forteresse médiévale. Ce faisant, ils condamnent lentement mais sûrement ce qu’ils prétendent sauver. Qui en tire profit ?

Source: Nadeau | Une aubaine!

.. At the time when Gérald Godin was Minister of Cultural Communities and Immigration, he wrote this in his standard letter addressed to immigrants: “With all Quebecers, I look forward to your arrival with us. I am convinced that your dynamism is the best guarantee of your adaptation to our community. Welcome to Quebec. “And he added these words: “We were waiting for you. ”

In many countries, contempt for immigrants is now unheard of. Not a week goes by without being designated “foreigners” as the convenient culprits of all evils. Nothing is easier than shouting wolf. But it is necessary to distinguish the facts from the fantasies of a retreat ideology: while it designates foreigners as guilty, it spares billionaires all year round who believe everything is allowed, as the Epstein case shows.

The suspension of an immigration measure such as the Quebec Experience Program (QEP) now benefits the rest of Canada, which may attract Francophone immigrants rejected from Quebec. Radio-Canada informs us that the number of temporary French-speaking immigrants from Quebec who are now looking to settle elsewhere has quadrupled in one year. Many explain this departure by the controversial abolition of the PEQ.

“While repeating that the Canadian Francophonie looks like dying, the Quebec National Conservatives paradoxically deprive themselves of those who could help it live. They denounce the decline, but close the door to those who could stop it. They invoke the protection of a culture, while sabotaging the very conditions of its regeneration and transmission.

By dint of confusing protection and closure, identity and retreat, these people come to transform a society project into a medieval fortress. In doing so, they slowly but surely condemn what they claim to save. Who benefits from it?

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Conservatives call for investigation into asylum seekers’ access to health care

2026/02/24 Leave a comment

Safe target for the CPC… Arguably, recent changes by the government provide a needed correction:

The Conservatives plan to put a motion before the House of Commons on Tuesday aimed at reviewing how health benefits are provided to asylum seekers and restricting who has access to those services.

The planned text of the motion, which has been shared with The Canadian Press, says the cost of the Interim Federal Health Program has more than quadrupled since the 2020 fiscal year, growing from $211-million to $896-million in 2024-25.

That data was pulled from a report by the parliamentary budget officer published earlier this month.

In that report, which was requested by the House of Commons health committee, the PBO projects the program’s cost will reach $1.5-billion annually in 2028-29.

The federal government provides a host of medical services to asylum seekers, refugees and other protected persons through the Interim Federal Health Program.

Those services include routine medical treatment, hospital visits and lab work, and supplementary coverage for services like urgent dental procedures, some vision care, psychological therapy and prescription drugs. 

The Conservative motion calls for a review of the benefits provided to asylum claimants to find savings, and for asylum seekers appealing a rejected claim to be covered only for emergency, life-saving care. 

The motion also calls for an annual report to Parliament on program usage, with a specific focus on supplementary benefits, which generally aren’t covered for Canadians.

The PBO report says about 624,000 people were beneficiaries of the Interim Federal Health Program in 2024-25, up from about 200,000 people in 2020-21. A majority of those beneficiaries are asylum claimants….

Source: Conservatives call for investigation into asylum seekers’ access to health care

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Réussite des immigrants hautement qualifiés: Une étude souligne l’importance du statut à l’entrée

2026/02/24 Leave a comment

Interesting study and conclusion:

La réussite des immigrants hautement qualifiés dépend souvent moins de leur profil que de la façon dont ils arrivent. Une nouvelle étude de HEC Montréal montre que ceux qui entrent avec un permis fermé obtiennent en moyenne les meilleurs résultats, que les étudiants étrangers rattrapent leur retard et que le système de sélection ne choisit pas toujours les candidats les plus performants.

L’étude compare les trajectoires de plusieurs groupes d’immigrants économiques arrivés depuis 2015 : titulaires de permis de travail fermé ou ouvert, étudiants étrangers et résidents permanents admis directement de l’étranger.

Premier constat : la façon d’entrer au pays change beaucoup la suite des choses.

Les immigrants arrivés avec un permis de travail fermé gagnent davantage et se situent plus haut dans la distribution des revenus que les autres immigrants hautement qualifiés, y compris certains résidents permanents admis directement.

« Le statut à l’entrée est un fort prédicteur du succès économique », notent les auteurs, Xavier Dufour-Simard, Jean-François Gauthier et Pierre-Carl Michaud.

Ces travailleurs ont un emploi dès leur arrivée. À l’inverse, les titulaires de permis de travail ouverts ou les nouveaux résidents permanents doivent parfois chercher un premier emploi, faire reconnaître leurs diplômes ou acquérir une première expérience.

Les étudiants étrangers constituent un cas à part. Ils commencent avec des revenus plus faibles, mais une fois sur le marché du travail, leur progression est plus rapide que celle des autres groupes.

Un modèle en deux étapes

Depuis une dizaine d’années, de plus en plus d’immigrants passent d’abord par un statut temporaire avant d’obtenir la résidence permanente. Ce modèle en deux étapes est souvent présenté comme une voie d’intégration plus efficace.

L’étude invite à nuancer cette idée.

Dans l’ensemble, les résidents non permanents ne rattrapent pas les travailleurs nés au Canada plus rapidement que les résidents permanents admis directement de l’étranger. Il n’y a pas non plus de preuve d’une intégration économique plus forte pour ce groupe, sauf pour les personnes arrivées initialement comme étudiantes.

Le fait d’avoir déjà vécu ou travaillé ici ne garantit donc pas automatiquement de meilleurs résultats économiques. Tout dépend du type de parcours.

L’étude montre aussi que le système de sélection ne permet pas toujours d’identifier les candidats qui obtiendront les meilleurs résultats une fois installés.

Le système de points utilisé pour sélectionner les immigrants économiques ne repère pas systématiquement ceux qui auront les revenus les plus élevés ou la progression la plus rapide. Ces critères actuels donnent une bonne indication du potentiel, mais ne suffisent pas toujours à prédire le parcours réel sur le marché du travail, analysent les auteurs.

Il serait possible d’ajuster ces critères pour mieux tenir compte des résultats observés, disent-ils.

« Parmi les personnes hautement qualifiées, dans tous les programmes, il y en a qui sont très bonnes, que ce soit les résidents permanents ou les résidents non permanents. C’est que le système actuel ne va pas nécessairement sélectionner les meilleurs dans chacun des programmes », explique Jean-François Gauthier.

« Il faudrait peut-être les écouter »

L’étude, qui est basée sur une enquête menée en 2025 auprès de 2500 immigrants récents, principalement des diplômés universitaires, apporte aussi un éclairage sur ce qui les pousse à rester au pays. Ce n’est pas seulement le niveau de salaire qui compte, mais aussi la progression.

Les personnes dont les revenus augmentent rapidement sont beaucoup plus susceptibles de vouloir s’établir durablement et de demander la résidence permanente.

« On parle beaucoup des immigrants en termes d’effectifs. Mais on n’entend jamais parler de leurs aspirations, souligne Pierre-Carl Michaud. On les a amenés ici, il faudrait peut-être les écouter un peu, puis voir ce qu’ils ont à nous dire. »

Pour les chercheurs, le message principal est de regarder l’ensemble des données pour ajuster les politiques d’immigration. Il ne s’agit pas d’opposer les personnes déjà au pays à celles recrutées à l’étranger, mais de mieux repérer celles qui ont le plus grand potentiel d’intégration.

Source: Réussite des immigrants hautement qualifiés: Une étude souligne l’importance du statut à l’entrée

The success of highly qualified immigrants often depends less on their profile than on how they arrive. A new study by HEC Montréal shows that those who enter with a closed permit get the best results on average, that foreign students catch up and that the selection system does not always choose the best performing candidates.

The study compares the trajectories of several groups of economic immigrants who have arrived since 2015: holders of closed or open work permits, foreign students and permanent residents admitted directly from abroad.

First observation: the way of entering the country changes the rest of things a lot.

Immigrants arriving with a closed work permit earn more and rank higher in income distribution than other highly qualified immigrants, including some permanent residents admitted directly.

“Entry status is a strong predictor of economic success,” note the authors, Xavier Dufour-Simard, Jean-François Gauthier and Pierre-Carl Michaud.

These workers have a job as soon as they arrive. Conversely, open work permit holders or new permanent residents sometimes have to look for a first job, have their diplomas recognized or gain initial experience.

Foreign students are a separate case. They start with lower incomes, but once in the job market, they are growing faster than that of other groups.

A two-step model

In the last decade, more and more immigrants have first gone through a temporary status before obtaining permanent residence. This two-step model is often presented as a more effective integration pathway.

The study invites us to qualify this idea.

Overall, non-permanent residents do not catch up with workers born in Canada faster than permanent residents admitted directly from abroad. There is also no evidence of stronger economic integration for this group, except for people who initially arrived as students.

Having already lived or worked here does not automatically guarantee better economic results. It all depends on the type of course.

The study also shows that the selection system does not always make it possible to identify the candidates who will obtain the best results once installed.

The points system used to select economic immigrants does not always identify those who will have the highest income or the fastest progress. These current criteria give a good indication of the potential, but are not always enough to predict the real journey on the labor market, analyze the authors.

It would be possible to adjust these criteria to better take into account the results observed, they say.

“Among the highly qualified people, in all programs, there are those who are very good, whether permanent residents or non-permanent residents. It is that the current system will not necessarily select the best in each of the programs,” explains Jean-François Gauthier.

“Maybe we should listen to them”

The study, which is based on a survey conducted in 2025 of 2,500 recent immigrants, mainly university graduates, also sheds light on what drives them to stay in the country. It is not only the salary level that counts, but also the progression.

People with rapidly increasing incomes are much more likely to want to settle permanently and apply for permanent residence.

“We talk a lot about immigrants in terms of staffing. But we never hear about their aspirations, says Pierre-Carl Michaud. We brought them here, maybe we should listen to them a little, then see what they have to tell us. ”

For researchers, the main message is to look at all the data to adjust immigration policies. It is not a question of opposing the people already in the country to those recruited abroad, but of better identifying those who have the greatest potential for integration.

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Immigration program’s new focus on military recruits unlikely to solve shortages, experts say

2026/02/23 Leave a comment

Of note. USA also had a program, not sure if continued under Trump, that provided a pathway to permanent status and citizenship for military recruits. This proposed EE pathway is more for support staff, doctors, nurses, technicians than active combatants save for pilots:

…Defence policy experts say that the CAF doesn’t struggle to attract Canadian citizens interested in serving in the military. Instead, they argue, there are significant bottlenecks in the recruitment process that result in applicants frequently being rejected or waiting unduly long periods to obtain responses to their applications.

Charlotte Duval-Lantoine, vice-president of Ottawa operations at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute, described the recruitment of foreign service members as a new move for the country.

She cautioned, however, that the success of this immigration pathway will depend on improving a recruitment system that’s struggled domestically.

In October, 2025, the federal Auditor-General’s office published a scathing report on the CAF’s recruiting problems, stating that “ineffective” decision-making and “disjointed” ownership of the recruiting process between various committees and groups had affected its operational readiness and ability to respond to threats. 

The report found that in the period between April 1, 2022, and March 31, 2025, almost 192,000 people applied to the CAF, but only 15,000 were accepted. The CAF had planned to recruit roughly 19,700 people in that period. Moreover, it often took twice as long to recruit than the target of between 100 and 150 days, leading to more than 100,000 applicants voluntarily withdrawing from the recruiting process.

“The system is broken. Recruiting has been a chronic, ongoing problem for many years. Young people are coming to CAF’s doors, they are just not getting through,” said Grazia Scoppio, professor of defence studies at the Royal Military College of Canada….

Source: Immigration program’s new focus on military recruits unlikely to solve shortages, experts say

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Ottawa places a sensible limit on the right to claim asylum

2026/02/23 Leave a comment

Agree. Previous approach not sustainable:

…Refugee advocates have said the idea that students here for more than a year are more likely to submit fraudulent claims is unfounded. However, the government shouldn’t wait until problems mount to fix vulnerabilities in the system, especially given that Immigration Ministry staff say the measures are needed to ward off future misuse. 

There are trends that justify pre-emptive action. In 2024, international students filed a record 20,245 asylum claims, six times more than in 2019. In 2024 alone, 720 claims came from students at Conestoga College, which had a massive surge in international enrolment. Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab said that last year, 17 per cent of asylum claims came from students. 

Many students who are claiming refugee status are from India, which is also the home of the largest number of international students. There are certainly groups of people at risk from India – about half of refugee claims regarding India were accepted between 2018 and 2024 – but it’s not a country generally considered to be a huge source of refugees. There were just 375 refugee claims from Indian citizens in 2015, compared with 17,180 last year. 

The federal government needs to make sure it can quickly identify legitimate refugees, while at the same time, reduce abuses, such as the recent instance where 14 temporary residents suspected of extortion claimed refugee status to avoid deportation. 

Canada must maintain its status as a safe haven for people facing persecution, and the best way to do that is by carefully managing the immigration system. Streamlining the process for refugee claimants already in Canada is a good step to maintaining the public trust needed to help the world’s most vulnerable.

Source: Ottawa places a sensible limit on the right to claim asylum

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