IRCC Minister Transition Binder 2025-05

International Relations

Context

International relations in the migration and protection space help advance Canadian interests on the global stage, and also support domestic priorities and objectives.

International engagements position Canada as a leader in migration and protection, which includes upholding safe, orderly and regular migration and international protection obligations.

Migration diplomacy and engagement advance Canadian priorities in support of Canada’s prosperity and humanitarian commitments, facilitate migration responses to global crises, build capacity and good practices internationally, and contribute to good multilateral governance.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) foreign service officials at Canada’s embassies, consulates and offices abroad, as well as headquarters officials, engage with bilateral partners, international organizations, and other non-governmental organizations to advance these interests, as well as to provide service delivery to clients across the IRCC international platform.

IRCC works across the federal government with key departments and agencies, including Global Affairs Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, Public Safety, and Employment and Social Development Canada, to advance Canada’s migration and foreign policy priorities, identify and manage risks, and advocate for managed migration.

International Engagement

Bilateral and Regional Engagement

• IRCC conducts regular engagements with international partners to advance bilateral and regional migration relations.
• Some key engagements by IRCC include:
  • The United States, on issues relating to border management, information sharing, and asylum in the North American perimeter.
  • The European Union, including with Germany, which has consistently used Canada as a public example of good migration management.
  • Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom to collaborate on shared national security and migration issues.
  • Mexico, on capacity-building of asylum systems and dialogues on mobility.
  • Indo-Pacific partners, to advance Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, by bolstering immigration application processing and enhancing the International Student Program.
  • Specific bilateral partners to help advance IRCC priorities, such as facilitating crisis response efforts, temporary foreign worker programming, and Francophone/skills programming.
  • Regional groups and global compacts, such as the Global Compact for Migration and the Global Refugee Forum, to bring together like-minded countries to advance positive narratives, support, and resources to encourage managed and safe migration.

Multilateral Engagement

• Engagement and participation in various international multilateral fora advance key IRCC priorities, including refugee resettlement, identifying collective solutions to global challenges, and the importance of regular migration pathways and a positive narrative on migration for safe and orderly migration.
• Key international migration forums and organizations include:
  • Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): IRCC’s primary referral partner for Government Assisted Refugees. Canada is a member of UNHCR governance committees and engages in regular, high-level discussions to strengthen international refugee protection policies, programs, technical and legal frameworks.
  • The International Organization for Migration (IOM): The IOM is an essential partner in Canada’s refugee resettlement efforts, providing transportation, pre-departure medical services, and orientation to refugees. It also plays a key role in international migration responses, including humanitarian support to those displaced and on the move.
  • Migration Five (M5): Composed of senior officials from the immigration agencies of Canada’s closest partners (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) and serves as a platform to collaborate in addressing common migration challenges. The M5 receives direction from the Five Country Ministerial (FCM), an annual meeting of public safety and home affairs ministers.

International Capacity Building

• IRCC’s international capacity building programs support initiatives that advance global migration and protection policies and programs, in support of Canada’s migration and humanitarian objectives. Support can be financial or technical expertise.
• International Migration Capacity Building Program (grant program): Current funding envelopes under this program include core funding for global migration or protection-related projects and for Canada’s memberships in multilateral organizations, and funding envelopes to: address irregular migration and forced displacement in the Americas; support efforts in countries neighbouring Afghanistan; and support adaptation to address climate mobility.
• Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework (MIRPS) Support Platform: This mechanism supports responsibility-sharing on forced displacement in the seven MIRPS countries (Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama and Mexico) to offer protection, seek solutions and mobilize support from other conventional and unconventional players in these efforts.

International Experience Canada

• International Experience Canada (IEC) negotiates and manages Canada’s bilateral youth mobility arrangements with over 35 country and territory partners, and facilitates the inbound program issuing work permits to eligible foreign youth.
• Key objectives of IEC include facilitating cultural exchanges and reciprocal labour market access, developing global competencies of Canadian youth, leveraging arrangements as a tool to strengthen relationships with allies, and building person-to-person ties.
• IEC also has arrangements with Recognized Organizations that provide additional support services for inbound and outbound youth (e.g. pre- and post-arrival orientation, job and accommodation support, language and intercultural training, emergency support).

Key Takeaways

• Engagement with international partners is key to the effective delivery of IRCC’s mandate and service delivery, as well as to addressing global migration challenges and the historically high numbers of refugees and forcibly displaced people across the globe.
• Positive relationship building is helpful to manage and mitigate migration-related irritants such as visa facilitation requests, visa processing delays, high visa refusal rates, calls for increased responsibility-sharing and perceived bias in decision-making.
• Worldwide, increasing global migration flows without a corresponding increase in regular pathways for immigration has led to an increase in irregular migration, which poses challenges for countries in terms of managing arrivals and returns, and maintaining social cohesion.
• Canada maintains a balanced narrative on migration that recognizes the positive contributions of migration, the use of regular pathways for those on the move, and the importance of upholding international commitments to protection.
• International engagement to deter irregular migration and support returns is an important component of efforts to support the integrity of Canada’s migration and asylum system. This helps preserve public confidence in Canada’s capacity to effectively manage migration, while upholding its commitments to refugees under international law.