Greater Collaboration Between Centre and Provinces on Immigration, Says Minister

Although no new initiatives were announced at the press conference that followed the FMRI meeting, the federal government and provinces discussed several immigration related topics. These included the importance of provincial nominee programs in meeting regional labour market requirements, foreign credential recognition, and Francophone and rural community programs.

Working Together to Strengthen Immigration and Rural Economies

Diab set the stage by reiterating that immigration falls under a shared federal and provincial jurisdiction. She also stated that immigration will continue to be central during Canada’s nation-building phase.

Addressing the media, Minister Diab stated that Canada’s approach to immigration needs to be balanced. Immigration needs to complement, not replace, the domestic workforce.

Reiterating the Centre’s commitment to work collaboratively with the provinces, she stated that IRCC will prioritize provincial and territorial needs. The government will also continue to support small and rural economies where needed.

The federal and provincial governments will work together to strengthen immigration and settlement programs, with the goal of improving integration outcomes.

The overall objective, according to Diab, is to create a fair, secure immigration system that equips newcomers to contribute to the economy.

The Forum of Ministers Responsible for Immigration brings together federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for immigration to set shared strategic objectives for Canada’s immigration system.

The FMRI meeting was co-hosted by Newfoundland and Labrador’s Minister of Immigration, Rural Development, and Francophone Affairs, Lin Paddock. In his address to the media, he stated that the Centre and provinces have a shared commitment to “get immigration right for all Canadians” across the country.

He focused on the importance of economic immigration programs like PNPs in addressing labour shortages in provinces and territories. He reiterated the need to keep provincial nominee programs stable and transparent.

Responding to a question about past integrity concerns surrounding PNPs, Minister Diab stated that the partnership between IRCC and the provinces and territories has come a long way. She said that maintaining program integrity is in everyone’s best interest and that there are agreements and information-sharing practices in place to support that. She also highlighted the role PNPs play in bridging regional labour gaps and the important place they hold in the provincial/territorial economy.

Adding to that, Minister Paddock stated, “We don’t view it as decentralization.” Instead, he stated PNPs allow provinces to be agile and respond to labour market needs quickly.

Improving Economic Immigration and Integration

Minister Diab also highlighted some ways in which the Centre plans to improve economic immigration to address both national and regional needs, including through more effective and efficient foreign credential recognition and collaboration for occupation-specific reforms.

Already, the IRCC has been leaning heavily on category-based selection through Express Entry. These draws have prioritized skilled workers in certain in-demand occupations including healthcare and trades (including home builders). Several other priority categories, such as researchers, STEM, transport, and education, have also been identified for 2026.

Minister Diab went on to talk about some of the department’s achievements over the last 13 months, since she was appointed Immigration Minister. She mentioned the steady decrease in temporary resident arrivals and stated that Canada is on track to meet its target of reducing temporary residents to under 5 percent of the population by 2027.

Discussions were also held on provincial division of asylum seekers.

Questions About Citizenship-By-Descent Fiasco Remain Unanswered

The only revelation was in response to a question about the IRCC’s recent U-turn on citizenship certificates under the Citizenship-by-Descent policy. Last week, some individuals had received letters from IRCC asking them to return their Canadian citizenship certificates. This was followed by updates to the document checklist, clarifying that documents proving line of descent must come from the original source authority. To add to the confusion, these changes were quickly reversed. Some of the affected individuals reported receiving letters stating that their citizenship had been reconfirmed after a review of their case.

Following today’s press conference, Minister Diab said that the government is looking into this. She said that IRCC is not finalizing any new citizenship certificate applications under Bill C-3 at this time. Existing applications are being reviewed and those who meet the requirements will be approved. It is unclear whether all citizenship-by-descent applications received by IRCC are being reviewed again or only the ones where applicants were asked to return their citizenship certificates.

She also stated that citizenship is a privilege, not a right. However, she did not shed any light on why IRCC decided to change its document requirements retroactively or why the department subsequently backtracked on those changes.