Welcome to Canada? A critical review and assessment of Canada’s fast-changing immigration policies : a literature review

Since July 1st, 2012, Canada’s immigration system has been undergoing a significant and rapid transformation. This transformation has created a cloud of uncertainty for many prospective immigrants and unpredictability for policy analysts, non-state actors, scholars, and other stakeholders. While family reunification, economic immigration, and asylum for refugees have, in the past, enabled Canada to step up as a global leader, today concerns are growing that recent policy shifts are making Canada less desirable, are unfair to migrants and their families, and are resulting in destruction of its international reputation and long-held leadership in immigrant integration and settlement. The purpose of this paper is to build upon Alboim and Cohl’s Maytree report and review of both proposed and effective immigration policies from between July 2012 and July 2014. It describes some of the major policy amendments and evaluate their potential impact on all involved parties.