In 2015, Trudeau won his first presidential election and a Parliamentary majority, welcomed refugees, and ran a government open to immigrants as long as they obey immigration rules. Many Nigerians celebrated the win for what many jokingly refer to as their “2nd President.”
This policy opened doors to many immigrants, mostly Africans, crossing the border of the U.S. to Canada following the clampdown on illegal immigrants in Donald Trump-led government. But Andrew Scheer, candidate of the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), vowed to review the country's immigration policies “to preserve the integrity of the system.”
A move that could have dashed the hope of many Nigerians and African applicants already awaiting immigration clearance to enter Canada.
Nigeria has more citizens seeking asylum in Canada than any other country
According to the 2018 World Migration report, Canada hosted the largest refugee population, resettling nearly 47,000 refugees in 2016 – the largest number of refugees resettled in the country since 1980.
As at June 2019, Nigeria had the highest pending refugee protection claims in Canada with 10,839 cases, according to a figure on the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) website. India was second with 7,641 claims.
The West African country also has the highest number of rejected claims.
Why Canada's presidential election is important to Nigerians
Across social media on Tuesday, October 21st, 2019, Nigerians expressed joy over Justin Trudeau’s electoral victory.
Many Nigerians celebrated the win because of Trudeau’s favorable policies towards immigration and Canada’s desire to boost its economy via a skilled workforce that draws from outside its borders
Trudeau’s Liberal party has pledged to increase the number of immigrants coming into Canada to between 350,000 to 400,000 a year by 2021
In the last three years, Nigerians have continued to migrate to Canada to seek greener pastures. Since 2016, Nigeria ranks among the top countries by admissions under the Canadian Express Entry.