Sean Fraser | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Fraser in 2023 | |
| Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities | |
| In office July 26, 2023[1] – December 20, 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Ahmed Hussen (Housing),Dominic LeBlanc (Infrastructure and Communities) |
| Succeeded by | Nathaniel Erskine-Smith |
| Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship | |
| In office October 26, 2021 – July 26, 2023 | |
| Prime Minister | Justin Trudeau |
| Preceded by | Marco Mendicino |
| Succeeded by | Marc Miller |
| Parliamentary Secretary to theMinister of Finance | |
| In office December 12, 2019 – October 26, 2021 | |
| Minister | Bill Morneau Chrystia Freeland |
| Preceded by | Joël Lightbound |
| Succeeded by | Terry Beech |
| Parliamentary Secretary to theMinister of Middle Class Prosperity | |
| In office December 12, 2019 – October 26, 2021 | |
| Minister | Mona Fortier |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Parliamentary Secretary to theMinister of Environment and Climate Change | |
| In office August 31, 2018 – September 11, 2019 | |
| Minister | Catherine McKenna |
| Preceded by | Jonathan Wilkinson |
| Succeeded by | Peter Schiefke |
| Member of Parliament forCentral Nova | |
| Assumed office October 19, 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Peter MacKay |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Sean Simon Andrew Fraser (1984-06-01)June 1, 1984 (age 40) Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Political party | Liberal |
| Spouse | Sarah Burton |
| Residence(s) | New Glasgow,Nova Scotia |
| Alma mater | St. Francis Xavier University (BSc) Dalhousie University (JD) Leiden University (LLM) |
| Profession | Lawyer |
Sean Simon Andrew Fraser[2] (born June 1, 1984) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who has served as themember of Parliament (MP) forCentral Nova since 2015. A member of theLiberal Party, Fraser was a federal cabinet minister from 2021 to 2024, serving as theminister of immigration, refugees and citizenship from 2021 to 2023 and theminister of housing, infrastructure and communities from 2023 to 2024.
Raised inMerigomish inPictou County, Nova Scotia, Fraser earned aBachelor of Science atSt. Francis Xavier University in 2006.[3] He went on to earn a law degree fromDalhousie University and a master's degree in public international law fromLeiden University in theNetherlands, graduating in 2009 and 2011 respectively.[4]
He spent three years working inCalgary as an associate at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, and also did work related to thePromotion of Access to Information Act for anNGO inSouth Africa.[5]
ALiberal, Fraser was elected for the federalriding ofCentral Nova in the2015 federal election which saw the Liberals underJustin Trudeau win a majority government.[6][7]
From 2018 to 2019, Fraser served asparliamentary secretary to theMinister of Environment and Climate Change.
From December 2019 to 2021 in the43rd Parliament of Canada, Fraser served as parliamentary secretary to theMinister of Middle Class Prosperity andMinister of Finance (Canada).
On 26 October 2021, soon after his re-election to the44th Parliament of Canada, Fraser was appointedMinister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. In February 2022, Fraser tabled the 2022-2024 Immigration Levels Plan, which outlined a 1.14% growth in population per year, with increased targets surpassing 450,000 permanent residents by 2024.[8][9] After Fraser's news release, theCentury Initiative, released their statement, commending Fraser.[10][11] In November of the same year, Fraser announced the government's plan to increase Canada's annual immigration target to 500,000 by 2025; Fraser cited labour shortages as the reason for the increase.[12] Concerns over the effects higher immigration targets would have on health care, housing affordability and the labour market, were dismissed by Fraser, who explained some people, like international students, who had become permanent residents, were already living in the country.[13] Further criticism arose whenRadio-Canada revealled sources within Fraser's ministry saidMcKinsey & Company, which had received $100 million in consulting fees from the Liberal government, was influencing immigration policy.[14] Fraser insisted he had not been influenced by McKinsey, and decided on the increase, independently.[15]
In October 2022, theFifth Estate reported on the exploitation of international students by private colleges. Fraser expressed his concern with these private colleges, and stated provincial governments could proceed with shutting them down without approval from the federal government.[16]
Fraser was immigration minister when theRoxham Road migrant crisis peaked.[17] After Quebec complained it was "unfairly shouldering the cost of taking care of asylum-seekers," crossing at the irregular port of entry, Fraser announced a "Pan-Canadian" solution to the crisis: the federal government would transfer thousands of migrants to Ontario towns, such as Niagara Falls, which was already having a housing crisis.[18] Roxham Road closed in March 2023. The same month, the government proposed $1 billion for short-term accommodation and temporary health-care coverage for asylum-seekers and refugees.[19][20][21]
On July 26, 2023, Fraser was appointedMinister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities. After the population increased by over 430,000 in three months, the government was criticized for "having lost control". With international students, temporary foreign workers, and migrants, competing for social programs, jobs, housing and health care, Fraser stated the government would look at reforms to the international student program but "closing the doors to newcomers" was not the solution and developers needed "access to the labour force to build the houses they needed."[22] ACanada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) report showed the number of construction workers had hit an all-time high in 2023, but the industry's potential output was not met and structural changes were needed.[23]
In 2022, when Fraser was the immigration minister, Canada's population growth was the highest of any G7 country. The population grew by 4.7 people for every housing unit completed the previous year.[24] In 2023, after homelessness inHalifax, Nova Scotia doubled in one year, andToronto andHamilton, Ontario declared homelessness an emergency, Fraser announced $100 million towards emergency winter funding to support communities in their response to homelessness.[25][26][27][28] In February 2024, Fraser stated homelessness was not a policy failure but a "generational moral failure," Canadians share.[29]
In March 2024, the federal government negotiated deals with municipalities to add 750,000 homes to Canada's housing supply in the next decade, to be paid through the Housing Accelerator Fund, at a cost of $4 billion.[30] In April 2024, the Liberals unveiled their plan to build 3.9 million homes by 2031 to solve the housing crisis.[31] The CMHC estimates nearly six million new homes are needed by 2030.[32] On 25 August 2024, Fraser announced the government's intention to offer 99-year leases of government lands for the purpose of affordable housing.[33]
In December 2024, Fraser announced he would leave federal cabinet during the next cabinet shuffle. Fraser also announced he would not seekre-election. On January 21, 2025, he endorsed former Bank of Canada governorMark Carney in the upcoming2025 Liberal leadership election.[34] Carney subsequently asked Fraser to reconsider his decision to retire from the House of Commons, and on March 25 he announced that he would seek a fourth term.[35]
In January 2021 Fraser was selected as "Best Orator"[36] and was a finalist for "Rising Star"[37] during the 12th annualMaclean's Parliamentarians of the Year Awards.
| 2021 Canadian federal election:Central Nova | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Sean Fraser | 18,682 | 45.89 | -0.4 | $88,208.43 | |||
| Conservative | Steven Cotter | 13,060 | 32.08 | +2.6 | $38,393.01 | |||
| New Democratic | Betsy MacDonald | 6,225 | 15.29 | +2.3 | $11,093.54 | |||
| People's | Al Muir | 1,445 | 3.55 | +1.5 | $0.00 | |||
| Green | Katerina Nikas | 494 | 1.21 | -6.6 | $0.00 | |||
| Independent | Harvey Henderson | 365 | 0.90 | N/A | $0.00 | |||
| Communist | Chris Frazer | 138 | 0.34 | -0.1 | $0.00 | |||
| Rhinoceros | Ryan Smyth | 65 | 0.16 | N/A | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 40,474 | 99.4 | +0.3 | $107,714.33 | ||||
| Total rejected ballots | 236 | 0.58 | -0.3 | |||||
| Turnout | 40,710 | 66.7 | -7.8 | |||||
| Registered voters | 61,073 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | -1.5 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[38][39][40] | ||||||||
| 2019 Canadian federal election:Central Nova | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Sean Fraser | 20,718 | 46.59 | −11.94 | $99,263.87 | |||
| Conservative | George Canyon | 13,201 | 29.69 | +3.89 | $89,511.25 | |||
| New Democratic | Betsy MacDonald | 5,806 | 13.06 | +2.82 | none listed | |||
| Green | Barry Randle | 3,478 | 7.82 | +3.68 | $6,467.76 | |||
| People's | Al Muir | 938 | 2.11 | New | $2,862.69 | |||
| Communist | Chris Frazer | 180 | 0.40 | New | $749.95 | |||
| Independent | Michael Slowik | 149 | 0.33 | New | $0.00 | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,470 | 100.0 | $102,724.82 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 412 | 0.92 | +0.40 | |||||
| Turnout | 44,882 | 74.49 | −0.19 | |||||
| Eligible voters | 60,251 | |||||||
| Liberalhold | Swing | −7.92 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[41] | ||||||||
| 2015 Canadian federal election:Central Nova | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
| Liberal | Sean Fraser | 25,909 | 58.53 | +44.58 | $113,362.49 | |||
| Conservative | Fred DeLorey | 11,418 | 25.80 | –29.49 | $109,137.26 | |||
| New Democratic | Ross Landry | 4,532 | 10.24 | –16.57 | $63,038.54 | |||
| Green | David Hachey | 1,834 | 4.14 | +0.34 | $11,206.15 | |||
| Independent | Alexander J. MacKenzie | 570 | 1.29 | – | – | |||
| Total valid votes/expense limit | 44,263 | 100.00 | $204,540.28 | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 233 | 0.52 | ||||||
| Turnout | 44,496 | 74.68 | ||||||
| Eligible voters | 59,585 | |||||||
| Liberalgain fromConservative | Swing | +37.04 | ||||||
| Source:Elections Canada[42][43] | ||||||||