‘Opportunity in this country’: Immigrant MP candidates push for a new Canadian dream

Liberal candidate for Dufferin-Caledon Malalai Halimi poses with her kids, from left to right, Sofia, Yusuf and Hadia, in an undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout

When Malalai Halimi was a young girl living in Afghanistan, she went to school one day only to be sent right back home.

The Taliban had barred women from studying, and she and her family were living in fear.

“When I arrived home and I saw my mom coming, she was crying a lot,” she recalled. “She told me that she’s not working anymore, too, because the Taliban took over Afghanistan.”

Halimi said she never could have imagined having the opportunity to immigrate to Canada, much less become a candidate in a federal election all these years later.

Halimi is just one of the immigrants across the country who are running for a seat in Monday’s vote. She is the Liberal candidate for Dufferin-Caledon in Ontario, and said her lived experience would inform her work as a member of Parliament amid Canada’s shifting policies and sentiments on immigration.

“It means so much, and I really want to help people,” Halimi said in an interview. “I want to help and support women and mothers, children, everybody.”

Although all major federal parties have touched on plans to address immigration, the issue has taken a back seat in this election with the U.S. trade war and annexation threats from President Donald Trump at the forefront.

However, a November 2024 survey of 2,500 Canadians commissioned by the federal government found that 54 per cent believed too many immigrants are coming to the country. That figure dropped when respondents were told that Ottawa planned to admit fewer newcomers in 2025, in a sharp shift on immigration levels.

Among those who still felt that Canada is accepting “too many” immigrants, the housing crisis and economic worries were listed among the main reasons.

Cost-of-living concerns are partly what motivated Jose de Lima to throw his hat in the ring to represent Cambridge, a southern Ontario riding.

The NDP candidate said his immigration story reflects the challenges that Canadians face every day.

De Lima said he came to Canada from Brazil with his mother in 2007, when he was eight years old. The two eventually left an abusive household and spent time in an emergency shelter, he recalled, all while trying to adjust.

“I understand what it’s like to have to go to a food bank to get your basic necessities, and families right now having to make tough decisions. It’s challenges that every single person in this country is facing,” de Lima said.

“Many of the things that gave me life and hope and an opportunity to thrive and go from an emergency shelter at the age of nine to running for Parliament at the age of 26 — it’s things that all governments and all levels of government need to be focusing on.”

The Canadian Press also reached out to the Conservative Party of Canada and several of its candidates for this story but did not receive responses.

For Arielle Kayabaga, Liberal candidate and incumbent for London West in Ontario, ensuring newcomers feel welcomed in Canada is a top priority.

“I think that people choose Canada because they know that we are a welcoming country, a competitive and good country to contribute to economically and grow your family,” said Kayabaga, who was given a position in Prime Minister Mark Carney’s cabinet before the election was called.

Kayabaga and her family came to Canada in 2002 as refugees fleeing the Burundian civil war. Kayabaga said it was challenging at first to “start from scratch,” but the francophone community made them feel at home.

Having resources such as settlement services and social housing is what makes a true difference, she said, and it’s one way the next government can support newcomers.

“Canada once fought for me, so I’m always very ready and prepared to fight for Canada,” said Kayabaga.

The Liberal platform promises to cap the number of temporary workers and international students to less than five per cent of Canada’s population by the end of 2027. It also vows to stabilize permanent resident admissions at less than one per cent of the population annually beyond 2027.

The Conservatives, meanwhile, are promising to tie immigration levels to available housing, health-care resources and the job market.

While the NDP platform doesn’t mention immigration, Leader Jagmeet Singh said it is essential to growing the economy but must be kept in line with what the labour market needs.

Halimi said that although she has personally experienced anti-immigration attitudes — even while door knocking during her campaign — she won’t stop standing up for Canada’s multiculturalism.

This election could be a turning point for newcomers, she said, regardless of its outcome.

“If I am, as an immigrant, right now running for a public office, there’s opportunity in this country.”

— With files from David Baxter in Ottawa.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2025.

Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press