Canada Immigration Act, 1976
In 1975 many changes happened to Canada’s immigration and population policies. The Liberal government, led by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, made a new Immigration Act in 1976.
This new law, which started in 1978, was very different from before. It set out the main goals of Canada’s immigration policy for the first time. These goals were to help Canada grow in terms of people, economy, society, and culture. It also said that family reunion, diversity and treating everyone fairly were important. The law also let different levels of government and community groups work together to help new immigrants fit into Canada. It was the first time refugees were officially recognized as a special group of immigrants in Canada and the government promised to help them according to international agreements.
In 1979, Canada started a special program where private groups like churches and ethnic organizations could bring refugees to Canada, help them become permanent residents, and help them settle here. This program has brought over 275,000 people to Canada, on top of those helped by the government. But in recent years, people have criticized the program for being slow and having too much paperwork, and for making it harder to bring refugees from certain places.
The law also let more groups have a say in making immigration rules and deciding how many people could come to Canada each year. It gave provincial governments, ethnic groups and humanitarian organizations a chance to talk to the federal government about what they thought.
The law also made changes to how refugee status is decided, especially related to national security. It said that the Immigration Board, a group created in 1967 should be fully independent and not have its decisions changed by the government, except for security reasons.
By 1980, there were five main groups of people who could come to Canada: those who came by themselves, refugees and other people who needed help, people with family already in Canada, people who were sponsored by family members in Canada, and people with special skills or who were willing to invest in Canada’s economy.
By the 1990s, more and more immigrants were coming from Asia, like China, India and the Philippines, instead of Europe.
Immigration Policy of Canada 2024
Immigration Policy of Canada: Immigration policy is the rules and laws made by the government to decide who can come and live in Canada. Since Canada was formed, immigration policy has been made to increase the population, develop the land, and bring in workers and money for the economy. Sometimes, immigration policy has been influenced by people’s views on race or worries about national security. This has sometimes led to unfair rules against certain groups of migrants.
In this article, we will discuss about Immigration Policy of Canada.