| Honorific-Prefix: | The Honourable |
| Sean Fraser | |
| Office: | Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities |
| Primeminister: | Justin Trudeau |
| Term Start: | July 26, 2023[1] |
| Predecessor: | Ahmed Hussen (Housing), Dominic LeBlanc (Infrastructure and Communities) |
| Office1: | Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship |
| Primeminister1: | Justin Trudeau |
| Term Start1: | October 26, 2021 |
| Term End1: | July 26, 2023 |
| Predecessor1: | Marco Mendicino |
| Successor1: | Marc Miller |
| Office2: | Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Finance |
| Term Start2: | December 12, 2019 |
| Term End2: | October 26, 2021 |
| Minister2: | Bill Morneau Chrystia Freeland |
| Predecessor2: | Joël Lightbound |
| Successor2: | Terry Beech |
| Office3: | Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity |
| Minister3: | Mona Fortier |
| Term Start3: | December 12, 2019 |
| Term End3: | October 26, 2021 |
| Predecessor3: | Position established |
| Successor3: | Position abolished |
| Office4: | Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change |
| Minister4: | Catherine McKenna |
| Term Start4: | August 31, 2018 |
| Term End4: | September 11, 2019 |
| Predecessor4: | Jonathan Wilkinson |
| Successor4: | Peter Schiefke |
| Riding5: | Central Nova |
| Parliament5: | Canadian |
| Term Start5: | October 19, 2015 |
| Predecessor5: | Peter MacKay |
| Birth Name: | Sean Simon Andrew Fraser |
| Birth Date: | 1984 6, mf=yes |
| Birth Place: | Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Alma Mater: | St. Francis Xavier University (BSc) Dalhousie University (JD) Leiden University (LLM) |
| Party: | Liberal |
| Residence: | New Glasgow, Nova Scotia |
| Spouse: | Sarah Burton |
Sean Simon Andrew Fraser[2] (born June 1, 1984) is a Canadian politician who has served as minister of housing, infrastructure and communities since July 26, 2023. Prior, he served as the minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship from October 26, 2021 to July 26, 2023. A member of the Liberal Party, Fraser has represented the riding of Central Nova in the House of Commons since 2015.
Raised in Merigomish in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, Fraser earned a Bachelor of Science at St. Francis Xavier University in 2006.[3] He went on to earn a law degree from Dalhousie University and a master’s degree in public international law from Leiden University in the Netherlands, graduating in 2009 and 2011 respectively.[4]
He spent three years working in Calgary as an associate at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, and also did work related to the Promotion of Access to Information Act for an NGO in South Africa.[5]
A Liberal, Fraser was elected for the federal riding of Central Nova in the 2015 federal election which saw the Liberals under Justin Trudeau win a majority government.[6] [7]
From 2018 to 2019, Fraser served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
From December 2019 to 2021 in the 43rd Parliament of Canada, Fraser served as parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Middle Class Prosperity and Minister of Finance (Canada).
On 26 October 2021, soon after his re-election to the 44th Parliament of Canada, Fraser was appointed Minister 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, the Century 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 when Radio-Canada revealled sources within Fraser's ministry said McKinsey & 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, the Fifth 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 the Roxham 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 appointed Minister 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] A Canada 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 in Halifax, Nova Scotia doubled in one year, and Toronto and Hamilton, 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 January 2021 Fraser was selected as "Best Orator"[34] and was a finalist for "Rising Star"[35] during the 12th annual Maclean's Parliamentarians of the Year Awards.