Interview with Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney on TVO last night.
http://ww3.tvo.org/video/176162/jason-kenney-bottom-line-immigrationhttp://ww3.tvo.org/video/176162/jason-kenney-bottom-line-immigration
Showing posts with label Canada immigration policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada immigration policy. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
NEW REPORT ARGUES FOR LOWER IMMIGRATION DURING RECESSIONS
A new report only highlights what is common sense; immigrants need jobs to succeed and the private sector is where they should find them. Turing recessions, the availability of jobs is scarce and there should be an adjustment to the number of immigrants granted residency. Politically, however, the reduction of immigration is next to impossible. Current government policies are tilting towards allowing immigrants who have pre-arranged jobs to take priority, but they do not address the almost 40% of immigrants who are "refugees" or family class and are the hardest to place in the labour market.
Canada News: Ottawa’s insistence on high immigration levels during downturns questioned in report - thestar.com
Nicholas Keung
A new report on immigration outcomes questions Ottawa’s insistence on maintaining Canada’s high immigration levels despite a recession.
Bringing in a huge number of immigrants during an economic downturn could create an underclass of new Canadians caught up in adversity, said the study by the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
“During recessions, economic outcomes deteriorate more among recent immigrants than among the Canadian-born,” said the report, “Making it in Canada: Immigration Outcomes and Policies,” to be released Wednesday.
“It also helps prevent longer-run economic ‘scarring’ that can occur when new labour market entrants are unable to obtain jobs or are unable to practice their skills over a long period.”
In 2010, Canada accepted 280,636 permanent residents, the highest level in over 50 years.
The paper also raised concerns over Ottawa’s drastic shift to gear immigrant selection more toward short-term, narrowly defined labour market needs, because demand for specific occupations can change quickly with the business cycle.
For instance, during the IT boom in 1990s, Canada launched a special program to target newcomers with backgrounds in computer science and engineering. The group was the hardest hit in the 2000 IT bust.
While Ottawa’s recent policy changes — tightening requirements, prioritizing applications with arranged employments and expanding the temporary foreign workers program — can address skills shortages in the short term, it runs the risk of swinging too far off the balance, the report said.
“We are going in the right direction, but we may be moving a bit too far,” said McMaster University economics professor Arthur Sweetman, who co-wrote the report with Garnett Picot, former director-general of research at Statistics Canada.
“It’s not bad to be a bit short-term, but how short-term do you want it to be?” asked Sweetman.
It is too early to assess the impact of the recent changes, but Sweetman said Canada needs to balance immigrants’ short-term economic outcomes with their long-term success, reflected partially in the second-generation’s performance.
The report said children of immigrants are doing as well as, or better than, those of Canadian-born parents. However, second-generation members of a visible-minority group, on average, have higher unemployment rates and lower earnings than their white third-plus-generation counterparts.
University graduation rates among children of immigrants from:
Africa: 50.1%
Caribbean: 27.8%
Latin America: 23.3%
China: 62.4%
Philippines: 33%
India: 50.1%
West Asia, Middle East: 41.1%
Other Asia: 44.8%
United States: 35.1%
United Kingdom: 33.3%
Germany: 33%
Italy: 31.4%
Portugal: 17.4%
Netherlands: 30%
Other northern and Western Europe: 36.8%
Eastern Europe: 41.1%
Other Europe: 34.5%
Children of Canadian-born parents: 23.8%
Source: Making It in Canada: Immigration Outcomes and Policies
Canada News: Ottawa’s insistence on high immigration levels during downturns questioned in report - thestar.com
Ottawa’s insistence on high immigration levels during downturns questioned in report
April 03, 2012Nicholas Keung
A new report on immigration outcomes questions Ottawa’s insistence on maintaining Canada’s high immigration levels despite a recession.
Bringing in a huge number of immigrants during an economic downturn could create an underclass of new Canadians caught up in adversity, said the study by the Institute for Research on Public Policy.
“During recessions, economic outcomes deteriorate more among recent immigrants than among the Canadian-born,” said the report, “Making it in Canada: Immigration Outcomes and Policies,” to be released Wednesday.
“It also helps prevent longer-run economic ‘scarring’ that can occur when new labour market entrants are unable to obtain jobs or are unable to practice their skills over a long period.”
In 2010, Canada accepted 280,636 permanent residents, the highest level in over 50 years.
The paper also raised concerns over Ottawa’s drastic shift to gear immigrant selection more toward short-term, narrowly defined labour market needs, because demand for specific occupations can change quickly with the business cycle.
For instance, during the IT boom in 1990s, Canada launched a special program to target newcomers with backgrounds in computer science and engineering. The group was the hardest hit in the 2000 IT bust.
While Ottawa’s recent policy changes — tightening requirements, prioritizing applications with arranged employments and expanding the temporary foreign workers program — can address skills shortages in the short term, it runs the risk of swinging too far off the balance, the report said.
“We are going in the right direction, but we may be moving a bit too far,” said McMaster University economics professor Arthur Sweetman, who co-wrote the report with Garnett Picot, former director-general of research at Statistics Canada.
“It’s not bad to be a bit short-term, but how short-term do you want it to be?” asked Sweetman.
It is too early to assess the impact of the recent changes, but Sweetman said Canada needs to balance immigrants’ short-term economic outcomes with their long-term success, reflected partially in the second-generation’s performance.
The report said children of immigrants are doing as well as, or better than, those of Canadian-born parents. However, second-generation members of a visible-minority group, on average, have higher unemployment rates and lower earnings than their white third-plus-generation counterparts.
University graduation rates among children of immigrants from:
Africa: 50.1%
Caribbean: 27.8%
Latin America: 23.3%
China: 62.4%
Philippines: 33%
India: 50.1%
West Asia, Middle East: 41.1%
Other Asia: 44.8%
United States: 35.1%
United Kingdom: 33.3%
Germany: 33%
Italy: 31.4%
Portugal: 17.4%
Netherlands: 30%
Other northern and Western Europe: 36.8%
Eastern Europe: 41.1%
Other Europe: 34.5%
Children of Canadian-born parents: 23.8%
Source: Making It in Canada: Immigration Outcomes and Policies
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
MAJOR IMMIGRATION REFORMS TO BE ANNOUNCED
It seems that a major policy shift will be announced shortly. But how pro fund can it be? For decades, all the governments do is "tweak" the system, but the hard choices are never made. Stay tuned.
Immigration reform will prevent unemployment 'cycle,' Kenney vows
By Tristin Hopper, Postmedia NewsMarch 19, 2012
TORONTO — By targeting younger and more language-proficient immigrants, a "transformational" package of immigration reforms promises to end the "vicious circle of unemployment" for newcomers, says Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
"For too long the story of immigration to Canada has been summed up by the frustration of the highly trained professional who arrived with the expectation of being able to work at his or her skill level," he said, addressing the Canadian Club of Toronto on Monday.
"We're going to stop this practice of inviting highly trained people to come to Canada if they don't have jobs or they're not likely to succeed in the labour market."
In advance of the March 29 federal budget, Kenney was in Toronto to announce immigration reforms aimed at boosting economic growth. "We'll be reforming our immigration programs to do more in ensuring that our historic openness to newcomers works to fuel prosperity in Canada," said Kenney.
Among the changes proposed: adjusting the points system for Federal Skilled Workers; focusing on skilled tradespeople; and boosting the minimum amount required for investor immigrants, which stands at $800,000. Canada needs to get the "biggest bang for its buck" in attracting investor-immigrants, said Kenney.
Once the changes take effect, all applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) will undergo pre-assessment of their credentials to ensure they are a good fit for the Canadian market.
Language proficiency will take precedence. "The No. 1 factor for success in immigrants is language proficiency. No point in bringing folks here if they don't have language proficiency," said Kenney.
The points system is being changed to allow a skilled labourer, such as a welder, to enter the country with less English or French than a regulated professional, such as a doctor or veterinarian.
Immigration officials are also set to streamline the clunky process for granting permanent residency to international students. "We used to tell foreign students at the end of their diploma, 'Thanks very much . . . please leave the country, get in the back of a seven-year-long queue and we'll be in touch with you,' " said Kenney.
Meanwhile, he said, that same graduate could obtain residency in Australia or New Zealand in as little as six months. "We created a rigid system, which meant that we were losing the competition for the world's best and brightest," said Kenney.
The reforms reflect a pledge made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the World Economic Forum in which he said that economic concerns would be the primary driver of Canada's immigration policy. "We will ensure that, while we respect our humanitarian obligations and family-reunification objectives, we make our economic and labour force needs the central goal of our immigration efforts in the future," he said.
Among recent immigrants, the unemployment rate stands at 12 per cent. Meanwhile, severe labour shortages persist — particularly in the resource and construction booms of the West. The country's labour situation is becoming "desperate," the Canadian Chamber of Commerce warned last month, estimating that the country faces labour shortfalls of up to 500,000 workers over the next 10 years.
Three weeks ago, the Alberta Coalition for Action on Labour Shortages, a group of major Alberta employers, met for its first meeting. "If there is going to be any limit to the growth in Alberta, it is the lack of people to fill jobs," Tim Shipton, president of the Alberta Enterprise Group, said in an interview at the time.
The shortage has increasingly left employers relying on provincial nominee programs to close the gap. Under these specialized arrangements with the federal government, the provinces, in conjunction with employers, select workers to be fast-tracked into the country. Since provincial nominees arrive with jobs lined up, they do "considerably better" than immigrants through the FSWP, said Kenney.
The FSWP used to be the primary avenue for economic immigrants to Canada, but now accounts for only 46 per cent. Provincial nominee programs, meanwhile, are expected to account for nearly one-fifth of all immigration to Canada in 2012. This month, British Columbia Premier Christy Clark called for immigration responsibilities to be completely "devolved" to the provinces.
On Monday, Kenney stood firm that immigration would remain a federal responsibility. "I will not cede the territory to the provinces alone, there needs to be an appropriate balance," he said.
Immigration reform will prevent unemployment 'cycle,' Kenney vows
By Tristin Hopper, Postmedia NewsMarch 19, 2012
TORONTO — By targeting younger and more language-proficient immigrants, a "transformational" package of immigration reforms promises to end the "vicious circle of unemployment" for newcomers, says Citizenship and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.
"For too long the story of immigration to Canada has been summed up by the frustration of the highly trained professional who arrived with the expectation of being able to work at his or her skill level," he said, addressing the Canadian Club of Toronto on Monday.
"We're going to stop this practice of inviting highly trained people to come to Canada if they don't have jobs or they're not likely to succeed in the labour market."
In advance of the March 29 federal budget, Kenney was in Toronto to announce immigration reforms aimed at boosting economic growth. "We'll be reforming our immigration programs to do more in ensuring that our historic openness to newcomers works to fuel prosperity in Canada," said Kenney.
Among the changes proposed: adjusting the points system for Federal Skilled Workers; focusing on skilled tradespeople; and boosting the minimum amount required for investor immigrants, which stands at $800,000. Canada needs to get the "biggest bang for its buck" in attracting investor-immigrants, said Kenney.
Once the changes take effect, all applicants to the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP) will undergo pre-assessment of their credentials to ensure they are a good fit for the Canadian market.
Language proficiency will take precedence. "The No. 1 factor for success in immigrants is language proficiency. No point in bringing folks here if they don't have language proficiency," said Kenney.
The points system is being changed to allow a skilled labourer, such as a welder, to enter the country with less English or French than a regulated professional, such as a doctor or veterinarian.
Immigration officials are also set to streamline the clunky process for granting permanent residency to international students. "We used to tell foreign students at the end of their diploma, 'Thanks very much . . . please leave the country, get in the back of a seven-year-long queue and we'll be in touch with you,' " said Kenney.
Meanwhile, he said, that same graduate could obtain residency in Australia or New Zealand in as little as six months. "We created a rigid system, which meant that we were losing the competition for the world's best and brightest," said Kenney.
The reforms reflect a pledge made by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the World Economic Forum in which he said that economic concerns would be the primary driver of Canada's immigration policy. "We will ensure that, while we respect our humanitarian obligations and family-reunification objectives, we make our economic and labour force needs the central goal of our immigration efforts in the future," he said.
Among recent immigrants, the unemployment rate stands at 12 per cent. Meanwhile, severe labour shortages persist — particularly in the resource and construction booms of the West. The country's labour situation is becoming "desperate," the Canadian Chamber of Commerce warned last month, estimating that the country faces labour shortfalls of up to 500,000 workers over the next 10 years.
Three weeks ago, the Alberta Coalition for Action on Labour Shortages, a group of major Alberta employers, met for its first meeting. "If there is going to be any limit to the growth in Alberta, it is the lack of people to fill jobs," Tim Shipton, president of the Alberta Enterprise Group, said in an interview at the time.
The shortage has increasingly left employers relying on provincial nominee programs to close the gap. Under these specialized arrangements with the federal government, the provinces, in conjunction with employers, select workers to be fast-tracked into the country. Since provincial nominees arrive with jobs lined up, they do "considerably better" than immigrants through the FSWP, said Kenney.
The FSWP used to be the primary avenue for economic immigrants to Canada, but now accounts for only 46 per cent. Provincial nominee programs, meanwhile, are expected to account for nearly one-fifth of all immigration to Canada in 2012. This month, British Columbia Premier Christy Clark called for immigration responsibilities to be completely "devolved" to the provinces.
On Monday, Kenney stood firm that immigration would remain a federal responsibility. "I will not cede the territory to the provinces alone, there needs to be an appropriate balance," he said.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
IMMIGRATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
The Financial Post article below makes some good points, however there is one overlooked fact: the economy can only support a finite number of jobs, especially at the higher skill level, and if Canada continues to fail to address the mix of immigrants coming, the resources are wasted and the jobs continue unfilled in specific sectors. Only about tone quarter of all the immigrants admitted annually are suitable for the labour force.that needs to change.
Don’t count on future immigrants for economic growth Economy News Financial Post
Don’t count on future immigrants for economic growth Economy News Financial Post
Saturday, February 11, 2012
IMMIGRATION AND EMPLOYMENT FOR NEWCOMERS
Today's Globe and Mail article below is interesting but does not address one important point: why should employers go to such lengths to accommodate applicants at a time when labour is abundant due to the recession? Do we need even more costly regulation to choke employers and force them to accommodate? If we were to apply free market principles, then employers will hire those who are good for their bottom line.Other than ensuring non-discriminatory practices, the government should get out of the way and let employers hire those who are best for the business. Moreover, employers should have a much greater role in immigration policies, to ensure that only immigrants who are employable and productive for the economy come to our shores. There is no point in allowing people to come in if they cannot find a private sector job.
Immigrants looking for a better welcome in Canadian workplaces - The Globe and Mail
Immigrants looking for a better welcome in Canadian workplaces - The Globe and Mail
Thursday, February 9, 2012
REFOCUSING THE IMMIGRATION SYSTEM
Good editorial in today's Globe and Mail:
Canada’s immigration selection model should focus on long-term labour market needs - The Globe and Mail
Canada’s immigration selection model should focus on long-term labour market needs - The Globe and Mail
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
RESEARCHERS URGE PRIORITY FOR ECONOMIC IMMIGRANTS
Excellent story below. I have been arguing for years that the immigration categories need to be reset to give priority to people whose skills allow them to find jobs quickly. Kudos to the Queen's University researchers and to Rachel Mendleson for writing the story in the Huffington Post. Sadly, politicians are unwilling to retool the system to eliminate economically unproductive categories of migrants, so they can concentrate on those whose skills are required by employers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/08/29/immigration-canada-economic-immigrants_n_941316.html
Immigration To Canada: Focus On Economic Immigrants, Researchers Urge
First Posted: 8/30/11 06:56 AM ET Updated: 8/30/11 06:56 AM ET
As Citizenship and Immigration Canada conducts ongoing public consultations on the mix and number of immigrants the country should take in, a pioneering study has offered a powerful argument for prioritizing “skill-assessed economic immigrants,” whose earnings levels, the study has found, far exceed those of other kinds of immigrants.
Motivated in part by the rapid rise in the overall level of immigration, which has continued despite the economic downturn, as well as changes in the type of immigrants admitted, a pair of Queen’s University economists are weighing on several contentious aspects of Canadian immigration policy just as that policy is being reviewed.
Their working paper on the differences in earnings across different categories of immigrants in Canada, which was released this month through the Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network, found that economic immigrants, whose admission is determined by a points system that measures education and experience, had median earnings that were as much as 56 per cent higher than other classes of immigrants.
A recession, meanwhile, was shown to have “very marked and long-lasting scarring effects” on the earning power of immigrants of all stripes.
Commonsense though the findings may seem, rarely have they been so definitive. In an effort to gauge how well immigrants are integrating into the Canadian labour market, Michael Abbott and Charles Beach tapped CIC for a decade’s worth of annual earning data for all immigrants that arrived as landed immigrants in 1982, 1988 and 1994.
“It’s not a sample. It consists of the totality of all immigrants who have arrived in … those respective years,” Beach told The Huffington Post. “That makes it really quite large and, if you wish, more reliable than any other study that’s out there.”
By comparing the annual earnings of four different classes of immigrants -- economic immigrants, those who accompanied them, family class immigrants, and refugees -- the researchers were able to quantify just how much skills matter.
What they found was that the 10-year median earnings levels of economic migrants significantly exceeded those of the other classes -- between 30 and 37 per cent higher for men, and between 39 and 56 per cent higher for women.
The study found that refugees and family class immigrants -- those who came to join family already here -- had the lowest earnings levels. The real earning levels of refugees declined over the each successive cohort, suggesting that it got more difficult over time for this group to make ends meet.
But regardless of their skill level, immigrants felt the sting of recession. In 1990-1991, there was a decline in the median real earnings of male immigrants in all four admission categories in both the 1982 and 1988 cohorts. Meanwhile, those who arrived in 1994 experienced relatively low initial annual earnings, suggesting that the downturn continued to take a toll on immigrants, even after it was officially over.
A similar trend was observed in the aftermath of the recession in the early 1980s for those who arrived in 1982.
“That was actually a bit surprising to us,” says Beach of the effect of recession on immigrant earnings. “Perhaps it shouldn’t be, because there’s an of old rule of thumb in labour economics that says, ‘Last in, first out.’ If a recession comes along, and people get laid off on the whole, it’s the most recently hired, people with less tenure or seniority in the firm. And immigrants in general are people who have recently arrived.”
It’s a finding he says should prompt policymakers to consider reducing the number of immigrants admitted during tough economic times.
“In this recent recession and period of slow growth, that’s not what’s happened. The tap not only has been kept on, it’s been increased,” he says, adding that there has also been a growing number of newcomers admitted as foreign temporary workers and provincial nominees.
Total immigration to Canada has risen from 84,000 in 1985 to more than 280,000 in 2010, the highest number in more than half a century.
Immigration numbers vary from year to year, but they have been on an upward trend for decades, and last year’s 281,000 arrivals was the highest number since 1957, when Canada took in 282,000 immigrants.
Family class immigrants currently make up 26 per cent of those admitted; immigrants chosen for their economic potential, meanwhile, make up about 30 per cent.
Beach says the outcomes of skill-assessed economic immigrants is a testament to their relative success -- and the fact that the proportion of those admitted under that category should not be reduced.
“If we want to get immigrants to do well in Canada, that category is the one [that] does consistently better than the others,” he says.
But changing the mix of immigrants Canada takes in could have a political cost. Earlier this year, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney came under fire after reports showed that CIC was planning to reduce the number of family reunification visas by five per cent in 2012.
On Monday, Kenney’s ministry launched an online online questionnaire -- the department’s latest attempt to get public input on the appropriate mix of immigrants.
“The online consultation provides an important opportunity to gather input from stakeholders and the public on key questions facing CIC,” says Minister Jason Kenney. “This is also a chance to highlight some of the considerations and difficult choices involved in managing a global immigration system.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2011/08/29/immigration-canada-economic-immigrants_n_941316.html
Immigration To Canada: Focus On Economic Immigrants, Researchers Urge
First Posted: 8/30/11 06:56 AM ET Updated: 8/30/11 06:56 AM ET
As Citizenship and Immigration Canada conducts ongoing public consultations on the mix and number of immigrants the country should take in, a pioneering study has offered a powerful argument for prioritizing “skill-assessed economic immigrants,” whose earnings levels, the study has found, far exceed those of other kinds of immigrants.
Motivated in part by the rapid rise in the overall level of immigration, which has continued despite the economic downturn, as well as changes in the type of immigrants admitted, a pair of Queen’s University economists are weighing on several contentious aspects of Canadian immigration policy just as that policy is being reviewed.
Their working paper on the differences in earnings across different categories of immigrants in Canada, which was released this month through the Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network, found that economic immigrants, whose admission is determined by a points system that measures education and experience, had median earnings that were as much as 56 per cent higher than other classes of immigrants.
A recession, meanwhile, was shown to have “very marked and long-lasting scarring effects” on the earning power of immigrants of all stripes.
Commonsense though the findings may seem, rarely have they been so definitive. In an effort to gauge how well immigrants are integrating into the Canadian labour market, Michael Abbott and Charles Beach tapped CIC for a decade’s worth of annual earning data for all immigrants that arrived as landed immigrants in 1982, 1988 and 1994.
“It’s not a sample. It consists of the totality of all immigrants who have arrived in … those respective years,” Beach told The Huffington Post. “That makes it really quite large and, if you wish, more reliable than any other study that’s out there.”
By comparing the annual earnings of four different classes of immigrants -- economic immigrants, those who accompanied them, family class immigrants, and refugees -- the researchers were able to quantify just how much skills matter.
What they found was that the 10-year median earnings levels of economic migrants significantly exceeded those of the other classes -- between 30 and 37 per cent higher for men, and between 39 and 56 per cent higher for women.
The study found that refugees and family class immigrants -- those who came to join family already here -- had the lowest earnings levels. The real earning levels of refugees declined over the each successive cohort, suggesting that it got more difficult over time for this group to make ends meet.
But regardless of their skill level, immigrants felt the sting of recession. In 1990-1991, there was a decline in the median real earnings of male immigrants in all four admission categories in both the 1982 and 1988 cohorts. Meanwhile, those who arrived in 1994 experienced relatively low initial annual earnings, suggesting that the downturn continued to take a toll on immigrants, even after it was officially over.
A similar trend was observed in the aftermath of the recession in the early 1980s for those who arrived in 1982.
“That was actually a bit surprising to us,” says Beach of the effect of recession on immigrant earnings. “Perhaps it shouldn’t be, because there’s an of old rule of thumb in labour economics that says, ‘Last in, first out.’ If a recession comes along, and people get laid off on the whole, it’s the most recently hired, people with less tenure or seniority in the firm. And immigrants in general are people who have recently arrived.”
It’s a finding he says should prompt policymakers to consider reducing the number of immigrants admitted during tough economic times.
“In this recent recession and period of slow growth, that’s not what’s happened. The tap not only has been kept on, it’s been increased,” he says, adding that there has also been a growing number of newcomers admitted as foreign temporary workers and provincial nominees.
Total immigration to Canada has risen from 84,000 in 1985 to more than 280,000 in 2010, the highest number in more than half a century.
Immigration numbers vary from year to year, but they have been on an upward trend for decades, and last year’s 281,000 arrivals was the highest number since 1957, when Canada took in 282,000 immigrants.
Family class immigrants currently make up 26 per cent of those admitted; immigrants chosen for their economic potential, meanwhile, make up about 30 per cent.
Beach says the outcomes of skill-assessed economic immigrants is a testament to their relative success -- and the fact that the proportion of those admitted under that category should not be reduced.
“If we want to get immigrants to do well in Canada, that category is the one [that] does consistently better than the others,” he says.
But changing the mix of immigrants Canada takes in could have a political cost. Earlier this year, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney came under fire after reports showed that CIC was planning to reduce the number of family reunification visas by five per cent in 2012.
On Monday, Kenney’s ministry launched an online online questionnaire -- the department’s latest attempt to get public input on the appropriate mix of immigrants.
“The online consultation provides an important opportunity to gather input from stakeholders and the public on key questions facing CIC,” says Minister Jason Kenney. “This is also a chance to highlight some of the considerations and difficult choices involved in managing a global immigration system.”
Friday, August 5, 2011
LANGUAGE SKILLS CRITICAL FOR LABOUR FORCE INTEGRATION
This is a very accurate picture of our immigration policy need for reform.
Age, language are key to better outcomes for immigrants - The Globe and Mail
Age, language are key to better outcomes for immigrants - The Globe and Mail
Sunday, July 24, 2011
IMMIGRATION MORATORIUM COMING?
This is an interesting development and potentially a very major one:
Immigration backlog a major challenge
Minister hints applications may be capped
By CATHERINE SOLYOM, The GazetteJuly 23, 2011
MONTREAL - Canada could soon stop accepting applications for immigration in an attempt to clear the backlog of more than a million people currently awaiting processing around the world, Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday.
In Montreal to hold consultations on how many immigrants should be accepted into Canada per year - and just as importantly what kind of immigrants - Kenney told an audience at the Armenian Community Centre that clearing the huge backlog is one of the main challenges faced by his department as it plans for the years ahead.
"There's an unlimited number of people who want to come to Canada," Kenney said, adding that about 254,000 would be accepted this year, down from 281,000 in 2010.
"We used to have hundreds of thousands of applications more than we could process, and it's stupid and unfair to make people wait seven, eight, nine years for their application to be even looked at. That's the rationale for limiting the number of new applications."
Two years ago, Parliament modified immigration laws to give the minister the authority to place a cap on applications, and this year Kenney has so far chosen to limit the
number accepted in the Federal Skilled Worker program, for example, to 10,000. He emphasized, however, that Canada would still be accepting 65,000 skilled workers into the country, most of them chosen out of the backlog of applications.
It remains to be seen which other categories may be capped, and at what level.
Stakeholder consultations across the country on the right "mix" or "balance" of immigrants for Canada began two weeks ago, with employers' associations, immigration lawyers, refugee advocates and other interested parties. Friday's session
in Montreal was postponed until October, however. Public consultations will be held online starting in August.
Apart from dealing with the backlog, Kenney said he is looking for solutions on how to deal with an impending labour shortage as the population ages, without overburdening Canada's housing, health care and education systems with too many newcomers.
Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees worries the minister will place too much emphasis on economic immigrants at the expense of refugees.
More than 35,000 refugees - government-assisted and privately sponsored - are already on the waiting list to come to Canada, and the numbers, especially in Africa, are growing day by day.
Kenney said he has recently added resources to deal with the huge backlog at the Nairobi mission, which serves 18 countries in East Africa, most of them in conflict, and now also struck by famine.
But he also put a cap on the number of privately sponsored refugee applications out of the Nairobi office, Dench said.
Immigration backlog a major challenge
Minister hints applications may be capped
By CATHERINE SOLYOM, The GazetteJuly 23, 2011
MONTREAL - Canada could soon stop accepting applications for immigration in an attempt to clear the backlog of more than a million people currently awaiting processing around the world, Federal Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said Friday.
In Montreal to hold consultations on how many immigrants should be accepted into Canada per year - and just as importantly what kind of immigrants - Kenney told an audience at the Armenian Community Centre that clearing the huge backlog is one of the main challenges faced by his department as it plans for the years ahead.
"There's an unlimited number of people who want to come to Canada," Kenney said, adding that about 254,000 would be accepted this year, down from 281,000 in 2010.
"We used to have hundreds of thousands of applications more than we could process, and it's stupid and unfair to make people wait seven, eight, nine years for their application to be even looked at. That's the rationale for limiting the number of new applications."
Two years ago, Parliament modified immigration laws to give the minister the authority to place a cap on applications, and this year Kenney has so far chosen to limit the
number accepted in the Federal Skilled Worker program, for example, to 10,000. He emphasized, however, that Canada would still be accepting 65,000 skilled workers into the country, most of them chosen out of the backlog of applications.
It remains to be seen which other categories may be capped, and at what level.
Stakeholder consultations across the country on the right "mix" or "balance" of immigrants for Canada began two weeks ago, with employers' associations, immigration lawyers, refugee advocates and other interested parties. Friday's session
in Montreal was postponed until October, however. Public consultations will be held online starting in August.
Apart from dealing with the backlog, Kenney said he is looking for solutions on how to deal with an impending labour shortage as the population ages, without overburdening Canada's housing, health care and education systems with too many newcomers.
Janet Dench of the Canadian Council for Refugees worries the minister will place too much emphasis on economic immigrants at the expense of refugees.
More than 35,000 refugees - government-assisted and privately sponsored - are already on the waiting list to come to Canada, and the numbers, especially in Africa, are growing day by day.
Kenney said he has recently added resources to deal with the huge backlog at the Nairobi mission, which serves 18 countries in East Africa, most of them in conflict, and now also struck by famine.
But he also put a cap on the number of privately sponsored refugee applications out of the Nairobi office, Dench said.
Monday, April 4, 2011
IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL LOST SENSITIVE FILES
See this Toronto Star story.....
Secret cabinet records lost in Ottawa parking lot for a month
April 03, 2011
Dean Beeby
OTTAWA—Secret cabinet records and sensitive legal briefs were lost for more than a month in a downtown parking arcade, newly disclosed documents show.
The confidential material from Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's briefing book was stolen from the locked car of a senior government official after a “breach of standard procedure.”
The incident, never made public, occurred soon after 2008 election, when Kenney was appointed to the post.
An immigration official left the secret material unattended in his car on Nov. 28 after parking at a street meter and heading to a meeting.
Someone smashed the rear window and pulled a black nylon bag containing the sensitive briefing binder from the back seat.
The bag contained other department material, including an internal personnel assessment of the official. Also missing were two security passcards.
“There is no doubt that if that book falls into wrong hands, there is possibility of harm to the department,” says one internal email, written soon after the official reported the incident to police.
Documents outlining the breach of cabinet confidentiality were obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
Immigration officials drew up a damage assessment and prepared draft media lines in case word of the lost documents ever became public.
A lot attendant later discovered the bag with the lost documents behind a concrete pillar at a nearby parking arcade.
The attendant inspected the bag Jan. 5 and found the business card of the owner. He turned the find over to a department security official later that day.
The bag, caked with winter salt, had been found in a dark area where there was evidence of drug and alcohol use, including a can of beer.
“The thief assumed that the black nylon bag possibly contained a laptop computer which could have been liquidated,” says a security assessment, speculating on motives.
“After retreating to the area mentioned above to examine the spoils of his deed, his efforts revealed only documents which to the perpetrator were worthless and the complete contents were abandoned on the spot.”
Nothing was missing from the bag, and Peter Raymond, manager of security administration, therefore concluded the “risk of compromise” was “low.”
The senior official responsible for the loss “has been counselled on the appropriate treatment for sensitive docs and warned to take more care,” an internal email says.
Richard Fadden, now head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, was deputy minister at Citizenship and Immigration at the time, and was briefed on the theft, as was the Privy Council Office, the home of the federal cabinet.
“This was a breach of standard procedure and was an error,” says a draft media release.
The briefing-book volume was one of 35 tightly controlled copies, one of which Kenney received Oct. 30 on his appointment as minister.
A spokeswoman declined to comment on the department's security protocols, or on any actions taken against the employee, citing privacy rules.
Kelli Fraser says Citizenship and Immigration conducts regular security awareness training and holds a “security awareness week” once a year, which includes courses.
“Furthermore, in the 2011-2012 fiscal year, an online course on security awareness will be mandatory for all CIC employees,” she said.
Fraser declined to provide further information about the contents of the briefing binder.
The parking-lot incident is among several in recent years in which confidential federal documents have disappeared:
• Last November, a thief in Montreal broke into the unattended locked car of Mark Carney, the Bank of Canada governor, and took briefing notes and staff reports. A spokesman said the material contained no market-moving information.
• In 2009, sensitive documents about Canada's nuclear industry were left behind in an Ottawa television studio. The briefing material was for then-natural resources minister Lisa Raitt, who accepted the resignation of an aide over the incident.
• Maxime Bernier resigned as foreign affairs minister in 2008 after leaving sensitive NATO documents at the home of his former girlfriend. They had sat there for more than a month.
• And earlier in 2008, a sheaf of blueprints for a military counterterrorism unit were found stuffed in a trash bin in downtown Ottawa.
Secret cabinet records lost in Ottawa parking lot for a month
April 03, 2011
Dean Beeby
OTTAWA—Secret cabinet records and sensitive legal briefs were lost for more than a month in a downtown parking arcade, newly disclosed documents show.
The confidential material from Immigration Minister Jason Kenney's briefing book was stolen from the locked car of a senior government official after a “breach of standard procedure.”
The incident, never made public, occurred soon after 2008 election, when Kenney was appointed to the post.
An immigration official left the secret material unattended in his car on Nov. 28 after parking at a street meter and heading to a meeting.
Someone smashed the rear window and pulled a black nylon bag containing the sensitive briefing binder from the back seat.
The bag contained other department material, including an internal personnel assessment of the official. Also missing were two security passcards.
“There is no doubt that if that book falls into wrong hands, there is possibility of harm to the department,” says one internal email, written soon after the official reported the incident to police.
Documents outlining the breach of cabinet confidentiality were obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.
Immigration officials drew up a damage assessment and prepared draft media lines in case word of the lost documents ever became public.
A lot attendant later discovered the bag with the lost documents behind a concrete pillar at a nearby parking arcade.
The attendant inspected the bag Jan. 5 and found the business card of the owner. He turned the find over to a department security official later that day.
The bag, caked with winter salt, had been found in a dark area where there was evidence of drug and alcohol use, including a can of beer.
“The thief assumed that the black nylon bag possibly contained a laptop computer which could have been liquidated,” says a security assessment, speculating on motives.
“After retreating to the area mentioned above to examine the spoils of his deed, his efforts revealed only documents which to the perpetrator were worthless and the complete contents were abandoned on the spot.”
Nothing was missing from the bag, and Peter Raymond, manager of security administration, therefore concluded the “risk of compromise” was “low.”
The senior official responsible for the loss “has been counselled on the appropriate treatment for sensitive docs and warned to take more care,” an internal email says.
Richard Fadden, now head of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, was deputy minister at Citizenship and Immigration at the time, and was briefed on the theft, as was the Privy Council Office, the home of the federal cabinet.
“This was a breach of standard procedure and was an error,” says a draft media release.
The briefing-book volume was one of 35 tightly controlled copies, one of which Kenney received Oct. 30 on his appointment as minister.
A spokeswoman declined to comment on the department's security protocols, or on any actions taken against the employee, citing privacy rules.
Kelli Fraser says Citizenship and Immigration conducts regular security awareness training and holds a “security awareness week” once a year, which includes courses.
“Furthermore, in the 2011-2012 fiscal year, an online course on security awareness will be mandatory for all CIC employees,” she said.
Fraser declined to provide further information about the contents of the briefing binder.
The parking-lot incident is among several in recent years in which confidential federal documents have disappeared:
• Last November, a thief in Montreal broke into the unattended locked car of Mark Carney, the Bank of Canada governor, and took briefing notes and staff reports. A spokesman said the material contained no market-moving information.
• In 2009, sensitive documents about Canada's nuclear industry were left behind in an Ottawa television studio. The briefing material was for then-natural resources minister Lisa Raitt, who accepted the resignation of an aide over the incident.
• Maxime Bernier resigned as foreign affairs minister in 2008 after leaving sensitive NATO documents at the home of his former girlfriend. They had sat there for more than a month.
• And earlier in 2008, a sheaf of blueprints for a military counterterrorism unit were found stuffed in a trash bin in downtown Ottawa.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Friday, December 17, 2010
IMMIGRATION AND PUBLIC OPINION
This brief article in The Economist is a fairly good summary of the current situation in Canada.
Immigration in Canada: A smaller welcome mat The Economist
Immigration in Canada: A smaller welcome mat The Economist
Friday, March 12, 2010
CONCERN OVER CHILD MARRIAGES
Muslim child brides on rise Toronto & GTA News Toronto Sun
Muslim child brides on rise
By TOM GODFREY,
Toronto Sun
Last Updated: March 11, 2010 10:46pm
Federal immigration officials say there’s little they can do to stop “child brides” from being sponsored into Canada by much older husbands who wed them in arranged marriages abroad.
Top immigration officials in Canada and Pakistan say all they can do is reject the sponsorships of husbands trying to bring their child-brides to Canada. The men have to reapply when the bride turns 16. The marriages are permitted under Sharia Law.
Muslim men, who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents return to their homeland to wed a “child bride” in an arranged marriage in which a dowry is given to the girl’s parents. Officials said some of the brides can be 14 years old or younger and are “forced” to marry. The practice occurs in a host of countries including: Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Lebanon.
Not valid in Canada
Canadian visa officer Steve Bulmer said in classified documents he refused to allow one Pakistani man to sponsor his 15-year-old bride in August 2009.
“I can find no section (of law) that states the marriage is ‘invalid’ or ‘void,” Bulmer wrote in e-mails obtained by lawyer Richard Kurland under Access of Information. “I am afraid the age does not invalidate the marriage even if it is illegal to marry.”
Abdul Hameed, of the Canadian embassy in Islamabad, said child marriages are not valid in Canada.
“A child marriage is punishable but it does not render the marriage invalid,” Hameed said. “We are refusing such application on grounds the marriage will not be valid as per Canadian laws.”
William Hawke, of immigration’s Permanent Resident Unit, said the young brides won’t be allowed in Canada.
“Sponsorship applications submitted for a spouse under 16 will be refused,” he said.
Muslim child brides on rise
By TOM GODFREY,
Toronto Sun
Last Updated: March 11, 2010 10:46pm
Federal immigration officials say there’s little they can do to stop “child brides” from being sponsored into Canada by much older husbands who wed them in arranged marriages abroad.
Top immigration officials in Canada and Pakistan say all they can do is reject the sponsorships of husbands trying to bring their child-brides to Canada. The men have to reapply when the bride turns 16. The marriages are permitted under Sharia Law.
Muslim men, who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents return to their homeland to wed a “child bride” in an arranged marriage in which a dowry is given to the girl’s parents. Officials said some of the brides can be 14 years old or younger and are “forced” to marry. The practice occurs in a host of countries including: Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Lebanon.
Not valid in Canada
Canadian visa officer Steve Bulmer said in classified documents he refused to allow one Pakistani man to sponsor his 15-year-old bride in August 2009.
“I can find no section (of law) that states the marriage is ‘invalid’ or ‘void,” Bulmer wrote in e-mails obtained by lawyer Richard Kurland under Access of Information. “I am afraid the age does not invalidate the marriage even if it is illegal to marry.”
Abdul Hameed, of the Canadian embassy in Islamabad, said child marriages are not valid in Canada.
“A child marriage is punishable but it does not render the marriage invalid,” Hameed said. “We are refusing such application on grounds the marriage will not be valid as per Canadian laws.”
William Hawke, of immigration’s Permanent Resident Unit, said the young brides won’t be allowed in Canada.
“Sponsorship applications submitted for a spouse under 16 will be refused,” he said.
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