In Canada’s political debate, immigration has taken centre stage. Federal NDP leadership candidate Avi Lewis is calling for sweeping reforms to improve the lives of immigrants and newcomers, saying the current system leaves many vulnerable and exploited. Lewis is a Canadian journalist, filmmaker and political activist.
Since September 2025, Lewis has been campaigning for the leadership of the New Democratic Party. Voting began March 9 and a new leader will be chosen on March 29. The other four candidates vying for the position are Rob Ashton; Tanille Johnston; Heather McPherson; and Tony McQuail.
In a Zoom interview with New Canadian Media, Lewis discussed his plans for the NDP and his vision for immigrants and newcomers in Canada.
Q: Do you think Canada’s immigration system is working?
A: Our immigration system is broken.
But what is more concerning is that the governing Liberals are slashing immigration, suspending people’s status, and 3,000 people are losing their immigration status every single day. Families are waiting years to meet with a loved one. Millions of innocent migrant workers face terrible restrictions on their work permits and they are in maximum danger of being exploited. They cannot access health care. They get deported.
Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he would freeze immigration levels. Millions of people who are already working toward permanent residency were suddenly pushed into uncertainty, and this is a terrible crisis in people’s lives.
Q: What would you change?
A: We are calling very clearly for a single-tier immigration system based on permanent residency and status on arrival that gives rights and stability like our grandparents received when they first came to this country. We need an immigration system that reunites families, welcomes refugees fleeing wars around the world, and does not create two classes of workers.
We will reverse Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cuts to immigration levels. Through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, we will hire 3,000 immigrant case workers immediately to address the backlog of one million immigrant applications that are stuck and going nowhere.
We will end provincial rules that restrict and tie foreign workers to specific employers. We would end limits based on sector, hours, occupation, or category, restrictions that make workers vulnerable. We believe we should create a network of reception centres for refugees across the country, with real funding for shelters and housing. We also need to fix credentialing problems. Many people come to Canada because of their skills, but credentialing issues prevent them from using the skills they brought with them.
Q:What is your take on the current international student issue?
A: The demonizing of international students and blaming them for the housing crisis is disgusting. Their families have sacrificed the wealth of generations and given up everything to study in Canada.
Universities are facing funding crises because many rely on that extra revenue, which comes from charging international students and often unfair fees. Now we have a post-secondary funding crisis caused by cuts to international students. This is part of an anti-immigrant backlash, and it is harming international students and their families, as well as our post-secondary education system.
We also should not have unfairly high tuition for international students. One crisis creates another. It is time for the government to start building non-market housing, cooperative housing, and non-profit housing and welcome many more international students.
Q: Do you think the U.S. immigration policies are affecting Canada? Is there anything the government could do to reassure newcomers that they are safe and welcome here?
A: The situation in the U.S.with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is absolutely horrifying as it is a machinery of deportation that separates families, kidnaps children, and puts people in cages.
Canadian companies should have nothing to do with ICE. We should deny exports to stop armoured vehicles made in Ontario from being sold to ICE.
We also have the Safe Third Country Agreement with the U.S., which is not a safe country for refugees, and the idea that people cannot make refugee claims from the U.S. to come to Canada through a third country is ridiculous. The agreement is preventing them from seeking refugee status in Canada. It should be cancelled immediately.
The government is not doing that. In fact, the prime minister brought forward federal legislation, which created a deportation machine that makes us more like the U.S. This law opens the door to more human rights abuses.
We should go the other way. We should follow countries like Spain, which recently granted legal status to half a million migrants. We need to be clear that newcomers should be safe and welcome here.
Immigrants are part of the solution, not the cause of problems. The problem is that we have a system designed for maximum corporate profit, which dominates our economy and makes everything too expensive. We need to stop letting the system divide us and come together to fight for economic equality for everyone.
Diary Marif is a Vancouver-based Kurdish writer and award-winning journalist born in Iraq. He holds a master’s degree in history from Pune University in India (2013). His journalism has appeared in national and international outlets, including Rabble, Canadian Dimension, CBC Arts, Culturico, The Amargi, and The Canadian Encyclopedia. Since 2018, Marif has centred his creative work on memoir and personal narrative, exploring his experiences as a child of war. He has written chapter books for multiple projects and has appeared as a storyteller in public spaces. He received an Honourable Mention for the 2022 Susan Crean Award for Nonfiction, is a 2025 recipient of the Yosef Wosk Vancouver Manuscript Intensive Fellowship, and was awarded PEN Canada’s 2025 Marie-Ange Garrigue Prize.
