Absolutely. If the pandemic has shown us one thing, it is who our essential workers are. They are the ones our immigration program should be targeting as well.
Yes, we need, as I said, those who are highly skilled, and yes, we need folks with post-graduate degrees, but on the ground, for our day-to-day living, we need the people who keep our communities going. These are folks who are building our homes. These are folks who are packing our meats. They're picking our vegetables and they're planting them. These are the folks who are driving the trucks that get those to the grocery store. There are folks who are working as cashiers. Those are the folks who drive our daily lives. The fact that they do not have access to permanent residence through a transparent immigration process is just wrong.
If nothing else, I think this is the time for the federal government to respond, to take a look at our points system to see how we can enhance—for lack of a better word—the express entry program. I think this can be done through an economic class program.
I also think you're correct that families are a net benefit to immigrants and refugees who are here. Expanding the family reunification class makes absolute sense. Expanding it to siblings but also to children over age 22 is what I would suggest.