CUSMA is in question! (simplified immigration): USA-CANADA-MEXICO
The "Buy Canadian" policy is bursting at the seams. Because in geopolitics, it's not the right who is right, but the right is the one who is more powerful.
CUSMA is a free trade agreement between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Formally, it concerns goods, services, and investment. Informally, it concerns who should allow whom what and how much. This agreement was once called NAFTA, then it was rewritten and renamed, but the essence remains the same: to create an area where three economies can trade more profitably with each other than wage war on tariffs. In theory, it's an alliance of equals. In theory it is something else!
If you have a work contract, then a citizen of the US and Mexico doesn't need an LMIA, and a visa can easily be obtained at the border (to be fair, a work visa to the US works similarly for Canadians with a job). The contract is valid for up to three years. The visa can be obtained by professionals, investors, and employees of companies with a transfer to Canada. The requirement is US or Mexican citizenship.
CUSMA is usually renewed every 16 years and was primarily created as a free trade area between the three countries. But with the arrival of the current US president, trade wars with Canada began, and CUSMA began to fray at the seams. There were initial threats that it might not be renewed, or that it might be renewed under more favorable terms for the stronger neighbor. We're seeing an interesting deal: in exchange for maintaining CUSMA, the US is demanding from Canada:
- greater access to the Canadian dairy market,
- removal of online news restrictions (maybe we'll finally be able to share links on social media),
- lifting the ban on the sale of American alcohol,
- allowing the option to buy American electricity instead of Canadian (within the framework of freedom of choice, of course).
If CUSMA isn't extended, then... The "buy Canadian" motto won't be a conscious choice, but SIMPLY part of sanctions disguised as Canadian patriotism. And a very expensive patriotism, for which we will all triple pay.
Geopolitics is NEGOTIATIONS, weight, leverage, and the ability to push. That's why the CUSMA story today looks less like a boring trade agreement and more like a tense haggling between the strong and the... dependent. Just Google "Canada's new minister for CUSMA" – you can check it out at your leisure. (I think she's already scared of the appointment, and negotiations haven't even been scheduled yet.)
With the arrival of the current US administration, CUSMA is increasingly becoming a tool of pressure. And the more time passes, the more hints are being heard: the agreement could be renegotiated, the terms could be tightened, the extension could be made "not automatic, but earned."
But personally, as someone who professionally tracks immigration trends, I'm most concerned about another aspect of this story. If CUSMA is repealed at some point, Canada will cease to be an attractive destination for simplified immigration from Mexico and the United States, meaning we could see a surge in immigration from other countries. Whether this is better or not is up to you.
Oleksandra Melnykova, Canadian Immigration and Refugee Consultant.
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