A new letter of mandate was given by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino.

Immigration will remain central to the economy and culture of Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau emphasised this in the latest supplementary mandate letter he gave to Minister of Immigration Marco Mendicino today.

For Canada’s immigration department, the mandate letter is the most critical policy text.

It outlines the priorities that the Prime Minister of Canada is asking the Minister of Immigration and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to follow during the time of the government in power.

The mandate letter identifies key concerns such as the Immigration Levels Plan of Canada, where IRCC will implement new immigration services, increasing IRCC’s application processing times, among other issues. The publication of the mandate letter comes shortly after Canada unveiled a landmark new Immigration Levels Plan for 2021-2023 that will target more than 400,000 immigrants per year, the highest in its history.

The new letter of mandate complements the one that was given to Mendicino by Trudeau in December 2019.

The explanations for the current supplementary mandate letter are that a new session of Parliament was opened in September by the Canadian government and that it also implements new priorities born out of the COVID-19 crisis.

In today’s letter, main goals outlined include:

• Continue to accept immigrants by extending pilot programmes to welcome refugees across economic class immigration sources to support Canada’s economic development and post-COVID recovery; expediting family reunification; and collaborating on sectoral and regional pilot programmes.
• Continue to introduce initiatives to provide permanent routes of residence for those who, during the coronavirus pandemic, provided health care in long-term care homes, medical facilities, or who provided other critical services.
• To continue working with cabinet colleagues to safeguard the health and safety of Canadians, Canada’s ports of entry will be operated professionally and compassionately.
• Identify additional permanent avenues of residency for foreign temporary employees.
• Work with the Minister of Jobs, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion to protect workers vulnerable to COVID-19 and ensure that workers in agriculture and food processing meet the needs of the labour force.
• Continue to collaborate with the provinces and territories of Canada to provide settlement assistance to refugees, including training in the French language.

The latest supplementary letter contains no surprises and clearly describes objectives sought by the Canadian government during its time in office.

It adds to the priorities outlined in the IRCC’s mandate letter of December 2019 that it continues to follow. The underlying theme of today’s release is that during the pandemic, Canada will continue to run its immigration system to the best of its ability so that it can exploit the skills and talents of immigrants after the pandemic is behind us to help its economic health.