Canada's Immigration Minister Says Doors Are Open to Chinese to Come to Canada

BEIJING, CHINA--(Marketwire - Sept. 15, 2010) - China is, and will continue to be, one of the most important source countries for immigrants to Canada, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney said today in Beijing, the second-to-last stop on his trip to Asia.

"Canada has benefited enormously from immigration from China," said Minister Kenney. China remains the number one source country for immigrants to Canada.

Minister Kenney notes that more visitors are coming to Canada from China as well. In the first quarter of this year, China ranked first in visas and extensions issued to visitors. Canada saw 14% more visitors from China than in the first quarter of 2009, or 46% more than in the first quarter of 2005.

"That means more Chinese nationals are visiting their family here in Canada than ever before. With the implementation of the Approved Destination Status, which allows Chinese travel agents to advertise and organize tour groups to Canada, that number will only rise," said the Minister.

And the number of Chinese students studying in Canada is also on the rise. Almost 50,000 students from China resided in Canada last year. The number of Chinese students living in Canada has grown by more than 300% in the past decade.

"We are committed to increasing the number of Chinese students attending Canadian colleges and universities," said the Minister, "and in the course of my visit to Beijing, I made an important announcement about how our government will encourage even more students to study in Canada."

But he also warns that while the door is open to Chinese students, visitors and immigrants, the Government of Canada is serious about cracking down on immigration fraud. This includes drawing attention to fraudulent immigration consultants.

"While many consultants do good work, we want people to know that it's not necessary to hire a consultant to come to Canada," said Minister Kenney. "And with the help of the Chinese government, we want to put a stop to the ones who are engaging in fraud."

Minister Kenney will travel to Manila tomorrow. He will then go on to Canberra and Sydney, the final two stops on this trip.