Canadian Immigration Law in the Face of a Volatile Politics

Abstract

The genesis of this special issue was a conference of Canadian immigration law scholars at the Université du Québec à Montréal in March 2018. Conference participants sought to look back on the many changes made to Canadian immigration law during the near-decade the Stephen Harper-led Conservative government spent in power (2006–2015). Although the Conservatives did not introduce a single, revamped immigration law— the major legislation remains the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, brought in under the Jean Chrétien-led Liberals (1992–2006) in 2002—they altered parts of the law nearly beyond recognition. In this introduction, we reflect briefly on these changes; on what has come after, under Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government (2015–), which has employed a more welcoming rhetoric yet left most of its predecessor’s amendments in place; and on what may lie ahead as we approach a federal election in which immigration again promises to be an important issue.