Liberal immigration plan focused on family reunification, middle class growth

AJAX, ON – A Liberal government led by Justin Trudeau will introduce a new plan to fix Canada’s broken immigration system, with a focus on family reunification, said Liberal candidate for Markham–Thornhill, John McCallum, today.

“After a decade of Stephen Harper, Canadians know that our immigration system is broken. Harper froze family reunification applications for two years, then made the rules extremely strict. The result is that hard-working people who want to bring their families to Canada don’t even bother to apply,” said Mr. McCallum. “Liberals are going to fix our immigration system, and make sure that families can be together, growing their communities and local economies alongside their loved ones.”

A Liberal government will significantly improve the current immigration system to ensure that families can stay together and successfully integrate into their new communities. Liberals will double the number of applications allowed for parents and grandparents to 10,000 each year, by nearly doubling the budget for processing family class applications. We will provide greater access to applicants who have Canadian siblings by granting additional points under the Express Entry system, and we will restore the maximum age for dependents to 22 from 19, to allow more Canadians to bring their kids to Canada. A Liberal government will also change the rules so that spouses immigrating to Canada receive immediate permanent residency, eliminating the current two-year waiting period.

“Strong families and strong communities are the backbone of our economy,” said Liberal candidate for Ajax, Mark Holland. “Immigration is critical to job creation and long-term economic growth for the middle class, right here in Ajax, and in towns and cities right across the country.”

“After ten years under a Conservative government that doesn’t understand the concerns of immigrant families, Liberals will restore fairness to our broken immigration system, and build a country where everyone has a real and fair chance to succeed,” concluded Mr. Holland.