Canadian Immigration Law: A Brief History and Current Issues

Canada is a nation that is built on immigration and is fortunate in that it benefits from the diverse skills and abilities that immigrants contribute to the labour pool. Throughout the last century, there have been many amendments to Canada's immigration policy coinciding with the country's economic expansions and recessions. Unfortunately, policymakers have been unsuccessful in creating an immigration policy that is able to sustain a consistent labour force, and they have only been able to propose very short term solutions to the labour surpluses and deficits that accompany economic cycles. Although economic cycles are inevitable, the development of a global policy that encourages the movement of temporary workers is a long term solution to the labour movements that accompany them. Furthermore, such a policy encourages inter-government cooperation which is becoming more important as the issues of individual nations take a back seat to global problems