Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed significant changes to his cabinet, with the appointment of Marc Miller as the new Immigration Minister. Formerly serving as Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Miller’s new role will now involve overseeing immigration matters in the country. Meanwhile, the previous Immigration Minister, Sean Fraser, will take on the responsibilities of Minister of Housing, Infrastructure, and Communities.
Miller, who hails from Quebec, entered Canada’s Parliament in 2015 and had prior experience as a lawyer and service in the Canadian Armed Forces. His academic background includes degrees in Political Science from the Université de Montréal and a law degree from McGill University.
Cabinet shuffles are customary for Canadian Prime Ministers approximately every two years, offering opportunities to replace underperforming ministers, promote successful ones, and refresh government policies and public communications.
Trudeau has been in office since November 2015, during which time Canada has pursued increasingly robust immigration levels. Previously welcoming 250,000 new permanent residents annually, the country saw a rise to 300,000 and eventually 340,000 per year before the pandemic. Throughout the pandemic, Canada further increased its targets to over 400,000 new permanent residents yearly. With the Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025, the country aims to reach 500,000 permanent residence landings annually by 2025.
The push for higher immigration levels is driven by Canada’s aging population and low birth rate, with immigration seen as a vital measure to bolster the economy and fiscal standing as the country’s 9 million baby boomers reach retirement age within the next decade. This approach is taken amid historically low unemployment rates and record-high job vacancy rates.
Following a cabinet shuffle, the Prime Minister may issue new mandate letters to each minister, outlining their specific focus areas during their tenure.
In December 2021, Trudeau provided Fraser with a list of immigration policies to prioritize, such as increasing immigration levels, improving application processing for newcomers, reforming Express Entry, strengthening family reunification, and promoting francophone immigration.
Fraser has since implemented several of these measures, including introducing category-based selection for Express Entry to achieve economic priorities like boosting francophone immigration. Additionally, he announced measures in late May aimed at facilitating family reunification in Canada.