Ontario government is planning to issue work permits directly to asylum seekers under it’s constitutional powers and by-passing the federal approval process.
Ontario government claims that they are taking this bold step to tackle province’s growing labor shortages and reduce the financial strain on provincial resources caused by long processing delays of asylum claims.
This means Ontario government won’t need the approval from federal government in issuing work permits ,they can grant it directly to asylum seekers. Section 95 of the constitution grants power to provinces to make decision on immigration matters (as long as they don’t conflict with federal laws).
Premier Ford has said that Ontario government will use these powers to move forward with a plan to allow asylum seekers to work while waiting for the decision on their refugee claims.
There is no timeline announced by Ontario government on issuing work permits plus no proper mechanism has been announced on how this process will be done without federal government approval. But Province said that they will start working on it immediately to initiate the process.
A first in Canada
If Ontario is successful in implementing this unique strategy of directly issuing work permits to asylum seekers without the approval of federal government will make Ontario first province in the history of Canada to directly issue work permits.
The federal government of Canada has not yet make any remarks on statement of Doug Ford. We have to see how the federal government will respond and will it create any rift between these two government entities.
Key Take ways
- Ontario plans to use constitutional powers to issue work permits to asylum seekers.
- Section 95 of the Canadian constitution powers provinces to make immigration laws as long as they don’t conflict with federal laws.
- No specific timeline or any specific process has been announced yet by Doug Ford. Only statements are made.
- The initiative by Ontario is aimed at reducing labour shortages in province and easing financial pressure on the province of asylum grants.
- This will lead to high competition in the labor market as it will add new workers in the already struggling Canadian economy.