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Toronto, July 31, 2012 — Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)’s Parliamentary Secretaries Chungsen Leung and Rick Dykstra have launched a series of cross-country consultations on immigration issues, beginning today in Toronto.
The two Parliamentary Secretaries will be meeting with stakeholders and the public to discuss the appropriate level and mix of immigration for Canada in the coming years. Since 2006, the Government of Canada has welcomed the highest sustained levels of immigration in Canadian history.
Following the Toronto session today hosted by Parliamentary Secretary Leung, meetings with stakeholders will take place in Windsor, Vancouver, Halifax and Ottawa. As of today, online consultations are also open to the public and stakeholders for input.
The purpose of the consultations is to seek feedback on immigration issues, including the appropriate level of immigration for Canada, and the most suitable mix among economic, family, and refugee and humanitarian classes. Discussions with the Parliamentary Secretaries will also touch on CIC’s transition towards a faster and more flexible immigration system, as well as the growing importance of immigration to Canada’s economic growth and long-term prosperity.
In planning for the total number of people to admit as permanent residents, CIC must not only balance the Government of Canada’s immigration objectives, but also consider broader government commitments, input from provinces and territories, and current and future economic conditions. The Department must also take into account its operational ability to process applications in a timely manner, as well as the capacity of communities to welcome newcomers.
These consultations present an important opportunity to generate greater public understanding of the difficult decisions involved in managing a global immigration system. There are competing visions and diverging goals for the future of the immigration program, and there are no easy answers. Engaging stakeholders and the broader public is key to CIC’s development of an overall strategy for Canada moving forward.
Invited stakeholders represent a variety of perspectives, including those of employers, labour, academia, learning institutions, professional organizations, business organizations, regulatory bodies, municipalities, Aboriginal groups, settlement provider organizations and ethnocultural organizations.
The online consultations are open for input until August 31, 2012.
A summary report of the stakeholder and public consultations will be available on the CIC website once completed.
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For further information (media only), please contact:
Alexis Pavlich
Minister’s Office
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-954-1064
Media Relations
Communications Branch
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca
Backgrounder
- 2013 Levels Planning: Public and Stakeholder Consultations
Building a stronger Canada: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) strengthens Canada’s economic, social and cultural prosperity, helping ensure Canadian safety and security while managing one of the largest and most generous immigration programs in the world.
