Voyageur 44
News for residents of the “11th province”: Canadians abroad.
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Ottawa Overhauls Express Entry: Military, Research and Transport Cats
Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab stood up at the Canadian Club in Toronto on Tuesday and rolled out the biggest shake-up to Express Entry in years. Three new priority categories will funnel permanent residence invitations toward military personnel, researchers and senior managers with Canadian work experience, and transport workers like pilots and aircraft mechanics.
The military category is the headline-grabber. For the first time, commissioned officers, specialists and operations members of the Canadian Armed Forces will get priority treatment through category-based selection. It's a recruitment play dressed as immigration policy, aimed at filling gaps in a military that's been struggling to hit its own staffing targets.
The minimum work experience needed to qualify for any occupational category has also doubled, from six months to one year within the past three years. And the agriculture and agri-food category has been retired entirely. Diab said the changes are about attracting talent that can "contribute from day one" - the kind of line governments use when they're trying to sound both selective and welcoming at the same time.
Read more: CIC News / Reuters
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Third Conservative MP Crosses Floor to Liberals, Putting Carney on the Edge of a Majority
Edmonton MP Matt Jeneroux told Pierre Poilievre he was leaving the Conservatives on Wednesday morning. One minute later, Mark Carney posted the news on X. Not exactly a gentle breakup.
Jeneroux is the third Conservative to cross the floor since November, following Nova Scotia's Chris d'Entremont and Toronto-area MP Michael Ma. The Liberals now hold 169 seats. Three upcoming byelections in previously Liberal ridings could push them to 172 - the bare minimum for a majority, though one will still rely on the Speaker to break any ties.
Jeneroux said he'd planned to leave politics entirely but changed his mind after Carney's Davos speech in January, calling the national unity crisis too serious to watch from the sidelines. Carney has given him an unpaid role as special adviser on economic and security partnerships. Poilievre called it a "dirty backroom deal" and said Jeneroux had betrayed his Edmonton Riverbend voters. Fellow Conservative Frank Caputo said simply that he'd been "lied to."
Read more: CBC News