Canada’s latest update gives a peek into the future of government spending.
Financial Minister Chrystia Freeland announced The Canadian Finance Minister’s economic and fiscal update to Parliament in the evening of the 14th of December.
This update is the initial revision to the economic forecast of the government following the release of 2021’s Federal Budget was released in April.
These kinds of announcements tell Canadians what direction the government’s spending priorities are headed. For instance, the financial update last year recommended an increase in the amount of child benefit spending and, in spring, the government announced it would implement the $10-dollar-a-day child care program.
Financial updates and the Budget typically include action items which directly and indirectly impact immigrants. Government policies on a wide range of subjects like the creation of jobs as well as education, health childcare, infrastructure and much more, affect everyone living in Canada as well as immigrants. Sometimes, the policy items are tailored specifically to immigrants like with Budget 2021. “In her most recent location, Freeland went over the arrangements that the public authority is seeking after to empower Canada to recuperate socially and monetarily from the pandemic.” Freeland expressed that “Movement is a vital wellspring of financial development just as is a Canadian benefits in intensity. The government of Canada is determined to welcoming 411,000 new immigrants in 2022, which is the largest amount of immigrants in Canadian history. To support this goal and speed up the processing of permanent and temporary residence and citizenship applications, we’re investing $85 million into our immigration system.”
The statement emphasized that the Canadian government is dedicated to achieving the challenging goals set out in the Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023. Additionally, Freeland alluded to the need to cut down on immigration processing time. The backlog of applications has increased during the epidemic.
This year, the Budget 2021 had five major commitments to immigration. Some of these are already in place including the funding in the Temporary Resident to Permanent Residence (TR to PR) route.
Financial plan 2021 likewise requires the substitution of the old Global Case Management System (GCMS) that processes citizenship and migration applications. It also suggests that the government may be looking to change Express Entry, giving the immigration minister more power to pick candidates based on the market requirements, though more details aren’t yet available.
Additionally, Budget 2021 announced more expenditures for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). The extra funds will help enhance the number of inspections conducted by employers to stop mistreatment of workers and assist weak foreign employees by giving them be granted open work permits in the event that they are victimized from their Canadian employers.
The Budget 2021 also proposed an increase in funding for initiatives that increase the chances of employment for the women who are racialized as newcomers.
