Federal-Provincial-Territorial Meeting of Ministers responsible for Immigration

BACKGROUNDER – JOINT FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL-TERRITORIAL VISION FOR IMMIGRATION

Federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) governments commit to welcoming and supporting newcomers, to join in building vibrant communities and a prosperous Canada.

This vision aims to ensure that:

Canada is a destination of choice;
Immigration contributes to increased economic growth, innovation, entrepreneurship, and competitiveness;
The benefits of immigration are shared across Canada;
Communities welcome and support newcomers;
Immigrants participate to their full potential, economically and socially;
The immigration system is trusted and valued; and
Social and humanitarian commitments are strengthened.

To achieve this Joint Vision for Immigration, FPT partners commit to working together over the next three years in three priority areas: Immigration Levels Planning, Economic Immigration, and Settlement and Integration of Newcomers. The Vision Action Plan sets out shared FPT strategic objectives, key actions and expected results.

	Immigration Levels Planning	Economic Immigration	Settlement and Integration of Newcomers
Strategic Objectives	Immigration levels plans that reflect economic demand	A fast, flexible economic immigration system focused primarily on meeting labour market needs across Canada	Improved economic and social settlement and integration outcomes
Expected Results	• Ongoing multilateral discussions on levels planning • A solid evidence base of labour market information identifying skills needs. • A flexible model of distributing immigration among provinces and territories that responds to labour market and regional needs.	• Selection of immigrants to respond to labour needs, based on labour market information, regional needs and employer demand. • Economic immigration programs with strong design, management and integrity mechanisms. • Fast, transparent and easy processes for prospective immigrants and employers.	• Coordinated, seamless settlement service delivery focused on reducing barriers to social and economic integration, including barriers to labour market participation. • Continuous assessment of newcomer settlement outcomes based on common measurement mechanisms across jurisdictions.
Key Actions	Develop and implement an Expression of Interest application management system Continue immigration levels planning, including development of evidence base and distribution model for overall economic immigration Strengthen the design, management, accountability and integrity of economic immigration programs Develop and implement a Pan-Canadian Framework for Settlement Outcomes that establishes common settlement outcomes and measurement mechanisms Develop principles and guidelines for FPT partnership models for settlement

Implementation of the Vision Action Plan will improve Canada’s immigration program to the benefit of all regions.

Under the Canada-Québec Accord relating to immigration and temporary admission of aliens, Québec fully assumes sole responsibility for establishing immigration levels, and for the selection, francization and integration of immigrants. In areas under its responsibility, Québec develops its policies and programs, legislates, regulates and sets its own standards.