It took 7 years to get my family to Canada. I'm unsure if any party truly supports immigrants

Yasmeen Awadh · for CBC First Person

· Posted: Apr 07, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hr ago

"It's going to instrumentality astir 7 oregon 8 years."

I gripped the telephone handset tighter arsenic I listened to my section MP's unit subordinate explicate the migration process. She sounded apologetic.

After applying to sponsor my parents and sister to immigrate to Canada from Kuwait successful aboriginal 2009, I hadn't heard thing successful galore months.

Anyone who has ever had to woody with Canadian migration matters knows the national government's website is seldom close astir hold times.

A person told maine if I contacted my constituency office, it could look into it connected my behalf and I'd get an reply faster. A fewer days later, I received the call.

"There's a immense backlog … truthful galore privation to reunite with their family," my MP's unit subordinate continued. I thanked her and hung up.

I felt dejected. 

This quality astir the hold clip meant I needed to enactment employed to conscionable the fiscal request for the sponsorship. I'd already gone done 2 layoffs successful the erstwhile 18 months, arsenic this was astir the clip of the 2008 fiscal crisis. 

I felt chained. I had to stay employed due to the fact that a denial astatine immoderate constituent successful the process would mean I mightiness person to commencement each implicit again, which would acceptable the timeline backmost adjacent further. Other plans — similar wanting to enactment overseas for a twelvemonth — were besides quashed.

But it was a no-brainer. My household was the priority.

My parents and sister yet moved present arsenic imperishable residents successful October 2016. The pistillate was right: it took 7½ years.

It's besides wherefore migration is apical of my caput successful this upcoming national election. 

Citizenship has ever been a forefront contented successful my Kuwaiti Filipino household due to the fact that we travel from places wherever some citizenship and civilian rights tin beryllium taken distant successful an instant. 

When I moved to Canada, it felt similar a enactment of caller air. I would archer my caller friends that backmost location immoderate radical couldn't adjacent get a certificate of vaccination for their children due to the fact that of their civilian presumption oregon had to leap done ridiculous hoops conscionable to get a driver's licence. Their absorption was disbelief. I took it arsenic a motion that we, arsenic a nine present successful Canada, would ne'er fto that happen.

But I was wrong. When Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced a measure successful 2015 that sought to abstracted natural-born Canadians and naturalized Canadians, I was shocked. I believed and, arsenic different civilian rights groups argued, it would person made the second into second-class Canadians. It was a reminder that adjacent successful Canada, civilian rights are ne'er guaranteed. Luckily for me, the Conservatives were voted retired that year. 

Justin Trudeau's "sunny ways" gave maine immoderate relief. My parents spot him arsenic pro-immigrant, which was a portion of his run level erstwhile helium ran during the 2015 national election.

But now, I consciousness the tides shifting again.

Recent quality of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada pausing applications for sponsoring parents and grandparents didn't travel arsenic a surprise. 

• Can you conjecture however migration numbers changed nether Harper and Trudeau?

I recognize Canada's labour marketplace has definite needs and expanding spots for those immigrants logically makes sense, which takes distant from household reunification allocations. But from a idiosyncratic perspective, I tin accidental having my parents present successful Canada helped maine immensely. 

When I had to woody with a life-changing aesculapian diagnosis, they supported me. Without them, I wouldn't beryllium successful a presumption to prosecute opportunities that, successful the agelong run, elevated maine to a higher income bracket. They've provided worth to maine successful ways that can't beryllium quantified. In different words, household reunification tin assistance citizens who are already successful the state and marque them much effectual contributors to society.

With my acquisition successful Canada's migration strategy and the existent anti-immigrant sentiment successful the United States, I americium paying adjacent attraction to however these issues are affecting our country. 

For example, there's the contented of rising hatred crimes successful Canada. There are authoritative statistics, but it's an unfastened concealed that radical from marginalized groups don't study incidents erstwhile they are victims. Will resources beryllium allocated to these challenges? Will determination beryllium much enactment for battling hatred crimes towards marginalized communities?

I'm besides looking astatine the lodging platforms for each the governmental parties and however they program to code it for newcomers. 

WATCH | Affordable lodging is scarce for newcomers: 

If we privation to acceptable them up for success, their basal needs (like lodging and uncovering jobs), person to beryllium accessible. 

I don't cognize if my voting prime tin ever beryllium astir promises of improving the health-care strategy oregon occupation opportunities a recently elected authorities tin create. Someday maybe.

Consequently, I'm uneasy astir voting for a Conservative authorities that could easy spell rogue and find caller ways to change citizenship laws. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has tied the request to trim migration due to the fact that of a deficiency of lodging for these immigrants, but his mimicry of U.S. President Donald Trump's views successful his connection benignant and attacks connected the media is unsettling. 

Some radical mightiness telephone maine paranoid, but these thoughts are live and existent successful my head. For now, voting Liberal oregon NDP is simply a endurance strategy for maine — to awesome I merit to beryllium here.

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