World Education Services (WES) is a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to helping international students, immigrants, and refugees achieve their educational and career goals in the United States and Canada. The weekly roundup includes research, stories, and events of interest to the Canadian immigration and settlement community. This content has been created by WES and is reproduced here with their permission, in partnership.
Top of the Agenda: How the new government can address Canada's biggest challenges (RBC)
As Prime Minister Carney works to chart a pathway forward for Canadians, experts have formulated a list of pressing focus areas that will demand the full attention of the new government. Within the next 100 days, the Liberal government will be expected to table a budget, resume trade talks with the Trump Administration, and seek collaboration with other federal parties. Among key priorities, experts cite:
To Read Further:
Balancing Canada’s Population Growth and Ageing Through Immigration Policy (C.D. Howe Institute)
According to a new CD Howe report, Canada is faced with twin demographic pressures; an aging population and rapid population growth driven by immigration. The incoming government is now tasked with striking a careful balance – a system that is able to offset the effects of low fertility rates and aging workforce demographics but is also at pace with infrastructure and labour market capacity. Higher rates of immigration, as cited in the study, may work to alleviate short term labour shortages, provide important skills, and stimulate economic activity. However, positive effects on long term prosperity rely heavily on whether a high growth scenario is accompanied by greater investments in productivity and innovation. A comprehensive immigration plan relies on coordinated efforts across immigration, infrastructure, capital investment, and workforce participation; aligning immigration policy with economic and social goals.
What happens to Poilievre? What happens to the NDP? Your election questions answered (CBC)
On the heels of the federal election, many Canadians are curious about the future of the Liberal party, as well as the official opposition under minority government framework. After a five-week campaign, nearly 19.5 million registered voters cast their ballot in the 2025 federal election. A minority government is elected once none of the parties won more than 50 percent of the seats in the House of Commons, meaning that the Liberals will now require the support of at least one other party in order to move forward with any legislation. As convention, opposition parties could side with the Liberals on some measures but typically do so in exchange for commitment to advance their own priorities. The NDP lost recognized party status after electing only seven MPs, prompting leader Jagmeet Singh to resign; Don Davies has been appointed interim leader. Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre lost his seat and cannot serve as Opposition Leader in Parliament, though he remains party leader. The Conservatives may appoint an interim parliamentary leader or trigger a leadership review under the Reform Act. Meanwhile, the Bloc Québécois, led by Yves-François Blanchet, has signalled a willingness to collaborate with the Liberals, if Quebec’s autonomy over immigration, language, and secularism laws is respected. Parliament is set to resume May 26.
To Read Further:
More newcomers are learning French in hopes of improving their chances to stay in Canada permanently (CBC)
To bolster their applications for permanent residency, many newcomers are undertaking French language learning. Several recent immigrants are receiving advice from consultants and lawyers to pursue French as an additional language to improve their Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) Scores. Recent changes to Express Entry selection have increased competition for application selection, within even higher CRS scores needed to be considered a top applicant; increasing one's chances of being drawn. Additionally, with enhanced proficiency in French, an applicant could benefit from being classified as a Francophone under Express Entry. In this case, an applicant may be eligible for Francophone category-based selection, which a has a lower cutoff score. Alternatively, some are acquiring French to support long-term career advancement to gain access to better opportunities, especially jobs that require and or incentivize French speaking candidates. Diverse avenues to francisation are being explored, including accessible language acquisition platforms such as Duolingo or even costlier avenues such as French tutors.
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