Canada is socially, culturally, and economically stronger because of its immigrants. Immigration remains a top-of-mind issue for me economically – as a way to improve our country, and personally – as the daughter of immigrant parents.

When I was first elected in 2015, I pushed for our government to clear the pre-existing backlog of refugee claims and we were successful in clearing it in 2019. Since coming into office, the federal government has also launched a dedicated stream for human rights defenders, increased the number of applications for the Parents and Grandparents Program which helps reunite families, and welcomed nearly half of all refugees resettled around the world in 2020. While we have made great strides, I know there is still more to be done.

Maximizing our future economic success depends on immigration and the extent to which our immigration policies alleviate current long-term labour shortages and skills mismatches in the Canadian labour market. As Chair of the National Immigration & Refugees Caucus, I am acutely aware of the negative impact certain skills shortages are having on stakeholders across the country and their ability to grow, expand or export which is why this is a key focus area for our federal Liberal government.

Citizenship for Non-Status Workers

Canada is also a place which many migrant or non-status workers call home, and we need to continue offering these workers a fair chance of gaining citizenship. It is of utmost importance to recognize those that have for years been working, living, paying taxes, and raising families in Canada, but for one reason or another have lost immigration status over the years. Though they contribute to Canadian society, they have no legal pathway to regularize their citizenship. In Canada, these workers are already well-established and are vital to key parts of our country’s economy and ensuring them a path to citizenship is crucial to upholding our Canadian values of equality, diversity, and inclusion.

We must also protect any vulnerable temporary foreign workers. In 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic, the federal government took additional steps to better safeguard temporary foreign workers against COVID-19, improve living conditions and also announced the Mandatory Isolation Support for Temporary Foreign Workers Program to help farmers and food processors pay costs related to safely accommodating workers for the mandatory quarantine period.

Assuring the Canadian workforce can meet the demands of a changing world of work requires smart immigration policies, providing established non-status workers with a secure path to citizenship and protecting temporary or seasonal workers.

MP Julie Dzerowicz believes that immigration is a key economic driver for Canada. Canada has a rapidly falling natural birthrate and a high accelerating immigration rate.

There are 5 things that MP Dzerowicz is currently working on:

1. Pushing for more immigration.
2. Pushing for more money for processing and for staff to massively improve customer service.
3. With more immigration, there has to be additional settlement services support and a housing plan.
4. Matching new immigrants and the skills needed in our country.
5. And finally, advocating to find a pathway to citizenship for non-status workers in sectors where we have had labour shortages and continue to have labour shortages today.

Access videos of statements of speeches that Julie has made in the House on immigration here.

Access letters that Julie has written to Ministers and the community on immigration here.

Learn about the Federal Government Immigration and Citizenship services here.

Accomplishments:

1. Record numbers of immigration.
2. The highest number of refugees.
3. New investment for S.U.C.C.E.S.S. to provide  pre-arrival services for newcomers.
4. Investing in settlement services for newcomers.
5. Tackling the labour shortage by helping more skilled refugees and other displaced people build their careers in Canada.
6. Enhancing the Integrity of Canada’s Borders and Asylum System: legislative amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to better manage, discourage and prevent irregular migration.
7. Protecting People From Unscrupulous Immigration Consultants: to help protect newcomers and applicants wishing to obtain the services of legitimate service providers, Budget 2019 provided $51.9 million over five years, starting in 2019–20, and $10.1 million per year ongoing.
8. Improving Immigration Client Service: To help improve immigration client services, Budget 2019 provided Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) with an additional $42.9 million over two years, beginning in 2019–20.
9. Work to strengthen family reunification by introducing electronic applications for family reunification and implementing a program to issue temporary resident status to spouses and children abroad while they wait for the processing of their permanent residency application.
10. Build on existing pilot programs to further explore ways of regularizing status for undocumented workers who are contributing to Canadian communities.