Recently there has been an ongoing trend of Conservative MP's spearheaded by Calgary-Nose Hill MP Michelle Rempel Garner pointing out the "incompetence" of Canada's Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab. While she has become a talking point many do not know her history as a Minister of Immigration and what she has done in government positions. .Provincial Tenure in Nova ScotiaDiab was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 2013 for the riding of Halifax Armdale. Premier Stephen McNeil appointed her Minister of Justice, Attorney General, and Minister of Immigration shortly after her election. She was the first woman to serve as Attorney General in the province.She retained the immigration portfolio through multiple cabinet shuffles. By 2020, she was Minister of Immigration and Population Growth, Labour and Advanced Education, and Acadian Affairs and Francophonie. She did not reoffer in the 2021 provincial election.As Nova Scotia’s Minister of Immigration from 2013 to 2021, Lena Metlege Diab oversaw significant growth in newcomer arrivals and program usage.Permanent Residents: Landings rose from 2,661 in 2014 to a record 7,580 in 2019, surpassing 5,970 in 2018. Immigration application approvals increased more than threefold between 2013 and 2019.Provincial Nominee Program (PNP): Allocations doubled from 600 in 2013 to 1,350 in 2017. By 2019–2020, about two-thirds of Nova Scotia’s immigrants arrived through the PNP, though this share declined to 55% in 2021.Retention: The province’s six-year retention rate stood at 71%, the highest in Atlantic Canada. Five-year retention among PNP immigrants varied between 57% and 64% for the 2013–2017 cohorts.Employer-Driven Immigration: Under the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, Nova Scotia designated 406 employers and endorsed 448 candidates by early 2018.Overall, the province recorded record arrivals and expanded employer-linked immigration programs, while retention rates remained a central challenge.The province also participated in the federal Atlantic Immigration Pilot launched in 2017. By April 2018, Nova Scotia had designated 406 employers and endorsed 448 candidates through the program..Federal PoliticsLena Metlege Diab was elected as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Halifax West in 2021 and appointed Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship in May 2025. Since taking office, she has overseen the government’s 2025–2027 immigration levels plan, which sets targets of 395,000 new permanent residents in 2025, 380,000 in 2026, and 365,000 in 2027. The plan emphasizes applicants already living in Canada and focuses on economic immigration streams.Her portfolio also includes the management of temporary residents, whose numbers have reached unprecedented levels. By mid-2025, nearly 1.5 million people in Canada held work permits, with over 100,000 permits issued under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program alone, already surpassing the annual federal target. In addition, hundreds of thousands of international students and individuals with combined work and study permits contribute to the growing temporary resident population.The rapid expansion of temporary migration has drawn criticism from provincial leaders, labour groups, and housing advocates. Concerns have been raised about the strain on housing, health care, and infrastructure, as well as the vulnerability of temporary foreign workers to precarious labour conditions. While the federal government has increased funding for settlement services and adjusted study permit levels downward, debates continue over how immigration and temporary migration should be balanced against Canada’s economic needs and capacity to integrate newcomers.Diab’s record shows a steady presence in immigration policy, first provincially and now federally. As Nova Scotia minister, she oversaw record numbers of arrivals and nominee program use. At the federal level, she has taken charge of implementing national immigration levels amid debates about housing capacity, labour shortages, and settlement funding..Due to a high level of spam content being posted in our comment section below, all comments undergo manual approval by a staff member during regular business hours (Monday - Friday). Your patience is appreciated.
