Provincial Involvement in Canadian Immigration Policy Making: The Case of Ontario

Asymmetry and executive federalism are two unique features that dominate the Canadian political landscape. As a result, federal and provincial governments are in direct negotiations over many current public policy issues, immigration policy notwithstanding. In order to understand the current immigration debate and to evaluate the benefits of greater provincial involvement, it is first necessary to comprehend what motivates provinces to be active in immigration policy-making. Ontario presents an interesting example of a province that used to be quite content with leaving the federal government dominant in the immigration arena but that has recently changed its attitude completely: Ontario is now much more assertive in presenting its demands. Through a comprehensive literature review and a series of interviews of key immigration policy figures, this study analyzes the main motives of Ontario with respect to immigration policy. It finds that they were primarily of economic, demographic, and political nature and that they were mainly connected to the relative decline of Ontario's position within Canada