Ottawa, March 10, 2026—Canada is taking back control to return immigration to sustainable levels, while ensuring it continues to support the economy. Settlement services help newcomers find jobs, contribute to their communities and fill critical gaps in Canada’s labour market. As outlined in Budget 2025, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada is introducing limits to settlement service eligibility for economic immigrants. Limiting how long economic immigrants can access these services encourages earlier use and keeps the services available for newcomers who need them most.

Currently, economic immigrants can access federally funded settlement services at any time after obtaining permanent residence and before obtaining Canadian citizenship. In support of this Budget 2025 commitment, the length of time they are able to access these services, as permanent residents, will change gradually to:

• up to 6 years after obtaining permanent residence, as of April 1, 2026
• up to 5 years after obtaining permanent residence, as of April 1, 2027

Ottawa, March 9, 2026—The Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, has appointed 5 directors to the Board of Directors of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants for a 2-year term beginning March 7, 2026.

Following a call for applications launched in June 2025, the Minister has appointed 2 new members:

• Ms. France Houle, Ad. E., Full Professor, Faculty of Law, Université de Montréal
• Mr. Marc Spector, Deputy Registrar, Home Construction Regulatory Authority, and past president, Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation

The Minister has also reappointed the following members:

• Mr. Timothy D’Souza, Senior Vice President, Finance and Business Operations, Diabetes Canada
• Rev. Jennifer Henry, Executive Minister, Organizational Development and Strategy, The United Church of Canada
• Mr. Ben Rempel, former Assistant Deputy Minister of Immigration, Manitoba

The board includes 9 directors in total. The Minister appoints 5 directors, while 4 licensed immigration and citizenship consultants are elected by their peers. The Government of Canada announced initial appointments to the board in 2022, with terms renewed in 2024 for 2 years.