Rethinking Parent Reunification Policy in New Zealand and Lessons from Canada: welcoming the skilled, restricting their family?

Abstract

Family reunification remains a socially vital yet politically contested element of immigration policy. This article presents a comparative analysis of Canada and New Zealand’s approaches to parent reunification, highlighting Canada’s sustained institutional commitment amid neoliberal reforms and contrasting it with New Zealand’s episodic suspensions and reactive policy shifts. Applying a lesson-drawing framework, the article examines how Canada’s incremental adjustments – such as integrating economic logic without dismantling core family programmes – can inform more coherent and principled policy design in New Zealand. It argues that economic sustainability and family unity need not be mutually exclusive, and that older migrants contribute significant social capital through childcare, cultural continuity and migrant retention. The analysis concludes with practical recommendations for strengthening New Zealand’s parent reunification framework, including targeted eligibility criteria.