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Former Prime Minister Stephen Harper cleaned up Canada’s immigration mess and his smart template is what President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address this week aims to emulate.

Trump’s form of right-wing American populism may not be attractive, but immigration reform is the new normal both south of the border and in the European Union. One of his main goals is to take a strategic, economically driven approach to increased immigration and that will be the focus going forward. At the same time, he wants to fortify the wall and deport illegals.

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Canada, never had to build a wall because we share the border with the U.S., but reforms were put in place a few years ago.

Here’s why Trump aspires to a Canadian-like process: Canada will accept one million immigrants in the next three years, with 60 per cent arriving through employment-based channels. By contrast, in the U.S. only 14 per cent of its immigrants come through employer-based programs.