the CanadaVisa Team - 10 January, 2017
Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, has appointed Somali-born Member of Parliament Ahmed Hussen to the position of Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. Hussen replaces John McCallum, who is set to become Canada's ambassador to China. The move is one of many in a cabinet reshuffle that will see a number of ministers move department or leave cabinet altogether.
Forty year-old Hussen, a qualified lawyer, was born in Somalia. After arriving in Canada as a 16 year-old refugee, he completed high school in Hamilton, Ontario, before attending York University, where he earned a BA in History in 2002. Hussen later pursued a law degree at the University of Ottawa, successfully completing his bar exam in 2012.
Hussen's public career has dovetailed with his academic background. Beginning in 2001, he volunteered in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, also known as Queen's Park. He was hired the following year as an assistant to Dalton McGuinty, the leader of the province's official opposition. Hussen worked in this capacity until November, 2003, when he was promoted to Special Assistant following the Ontario Liberal Party's election victory. He held this new post for two years. Later, Hussen worked with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police's Youth Engaged in National Security Issues committee, founded the Regent Park Community Council, served as National President of the Canadian Somali Congress, and was a sitting member on the federal government's Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security.
In October, 2015, Hussen won the seat for the York South—Weston riding in the Greater Toronto Area as a candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada.
He has never before served as a federal cabinet minister, and the role as head of the department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is seen as a prominent role within cabinet.
Though John McCallum's tenure lasted little over a year, his legacy within IRCC is likely to be viewed positively. In that time, McCallum oversaw the arrival of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees. Indeed, McCallum personally went to refugee camps in the Middle East to oversee the initial stages of that operation. In addition, throughout 2016 a number of notable developments came with the immigration file. The government's flagship system to manage economic immigration, Express Entry, was changed in order to welcome more skilled workers based on human capital, skills and experience. Soon after, and in what may be seen as McCallum's final signature act as Immigration Minister, the government pledged to reduce application processing times for foreign spouses and common-law partners of Canadian citizens and permanent residents immigration to Canada through the Family Class category.
The government is targeting up to 320,000 new permanent residents to land in Canada in 2017, a record target in modern Canadian history.
You can read more about Ahmed Hussen on the government of Canada's website.
