Immigration Canada

Ladner's Chinese rant ignores economic boom

Image via WikipediaBY ETHAN BARON, THE PROVINCE

Former Vancouver councillor Peter Ladner argues that wealthy Chinese homebuyers are driving Vancouver's real-estate prices to heights unaffordable for regular British Columbians.
"Mainland Chinese immigrants are moving to Metro Vancouver at the rate of 10,000 a year," Ladner said. "These immigrants are in some sense political and economic refugees, securing citizenship in Canada as a backup plan for their children's futures."
Rich Chinese buyers, Ladner suggests, are making a killing. He quotes a realtor's flyer boasting that his average client's equity rose from $150,000 to $4.5 million between 1993 and 2011.
"The result of this frenzy is that Vancouver's housing has priced its average citizens well out of the market," Ladner added.
Cry me a river, and make it the Yangtze. Unless you don't buy Chinese-made products, you've got no grounds for complaint.
British Columbians purchase billions of dollars in goods from China, fuelling the economic boom enriching the people who are buying up Vancouver real estate.
In 2000, B.C. Stats predicted British Columbians' contribution to China's economic expansion.
"As China industrializes, the early indications are that British Columbia will . . . play an important supporting role in the emergence of an Asian economic giant," the agency reported.
Imports to B.C. from China the year that prediction was made stood at $3 billion, according to Statistics Canada. Last year, B.C. imported $8.8 billion in goods from China. Canada as a whole imported $44.5 billion in Chinese products in 2010.
"The top five commodities imported from China in 2010 were electronic computers, telecommunication equipment, games and toys, furniture and fixtures and outerwear," StatsCan's 2010 international trade review says.
China's share of Canada's imports rose to 11 per cent in 2010 from 3.7 per cent in 2001, according to StatsCan.
Why do we buy so many Chinese products? Because they're cheap. Why are they cheap? Because Chinese workers are paid very poorly, often toil in abysmal conditions and sometimes get kicked out of their homes so wealthy industrialists can level them and build more factories. Who benefits from this trade relationship? Why, we British Columbians who save money buying cheap goods, and those Chinese who make money off the cheap production of cheap goods. We get inexpensive sweaters. They get houses in Shaughnessy.
Shop at the dollar store all you want, it ain't gonna get you into West Point Grey.
Ladner is right. He's identified a problem that few will speak about for fear of being labelled as racist. But if you're going to point a finger, make sure you're standing in front of a mirror.
Oh, and about that mirror . . .
ebaron@theprovince.com

Tories promise loans for immigrants seeking to upgrade skills

Image by Kashmera via FlickrBY ANDREW MAYEDA, POSTMEDIA NEWS

MARKHAM, Ont. — A re-elected Conservative government would offer loans to immigrants so they can get the training they need to have their credentials recognized in Canada, Stephen Harper said Wednesday.

Many recent immigrants have trouble getting jobs in the field in which they were educated because their credentials often aren't recognized by professional regulatory bodies.

It's a persistent problem that, according to some studies, has increased the gap in standards of living between immigrants and Canadian-born workers with similar education levels.

The Conservatives hinted at addressing the issue in the budget unveiled last month. On Wednesday, Harper said the Conservatives will offer loans to help immigrants pay for the skills training or upgrading required for credential recognition.

"These bridge loans will make it easier for new Canadians to find jobs that take full advantage of their experience and expertise," Harper said in a statement.

The loans will cover expenses associated with training, training materials, exams, administration and registration fees, and other costs associated with the foreign credential recognition process.

The measure will cost about $6 million annually and won't be delayed until the budget is balanced, like other announcements the Conservatives have made on the campaign.

The Tories hope the measure will help their chances with the large population of immigrants in Canada's biggest city. The Conservatives are optimistic they can increase their seat total in the Greater Toronto Area, especially in the suburban ridings that encircle the city.

Led by Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, the party has been aggressively courting various ethnic communities in the GTA.

Harper announced the measure in the riding of Oak Ridges-Markham, where Conservative Paul Calandra is the incumbent. Harper will later address a rally in Ajax-Pickering, where Liberal incumbent Mark Holland is facing off against Conservative star candidate Chris Alexander, Canada's former ambassador to Afghanistan.

The Conservatives note that many immigrants have trouble paying the tuition and training costs needed to go through the credential-recognition process.

Many such individuals don't have a credit history that would enable them to take out private loans, and their training courses might not qualify them for federal student loans.

amayeda@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/amayeda

IMF boosts outlook for Canada

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The International Monetary Fund boosted its expectations for Canadian economic growth this year as it warned the world is facing new threats from surging oil prices, Mideast turmoil, higher inflation in China and Europe's debt woes.

Topics :: IMF , World Bank , The Associated Press ,United States , Canada , China

In a new economic forecast Monday, the organization raised its projection for Canadian growth of 2.8 per cent for 2011, up from an earlier forecast for 2.3 per cent.

The Canadian economy grew 3.1 per cent in 2010.

"Economic developments in Canada last year mirrored those in the United States, with the pace of economic activity moderating in midyear," the report said.

"The deceleration reflected not only the drag on Canadian exports from weak U.S. activity and strong import growth from investment spending amid an appreciating currency, but also a cooling of some domestic activity."

The IMF also lowered its expectations for Canada for 2012 to 2.6 per cent compared with 2.7 per cent in an earlier forecast. The report suggested the risks in Canada for 2011 are tilted to the downside.

"The main domestic risk being deterioration of housing markets and household balance sheets," the IMF said.

"Key external risks are lower-than-expected activity in the United States and renewed sovereign strains in Europe."

The IMF said the global economy should grow 4.4 per cent this year. That compares with global growth of five per cent last year. The IMF projects industrial countries will grow 2.4 per cent while developing countries, a group that includes China, will grow more than twice as fast at 6.5 per cent.

"The world economic recovery is gaining strength, but it is unbalanced," Olivier Blanchard, the IMF's chief economist, told reporters.

He said it would be critical for countries running large government deficits such as the United States to make progress in getting those deficits under control. At the same time, countries with large trade surpluses, such as China, will need to do more to boost domestic demand and not rely so heavily on exports to generate economic growth.

The IMF's new growth forecast was prepared for spring meetings of the 185-nation IMF and its sister lending agency, the World Bank.

Before those discussions Saturday, finance ministers and central bank presidents of the Group of 20 major industrial and developing nations will hold closed-door talks on Friday.

The finance officials will try to assess how big a threat the rise in energy and food prices will be and also what they can do collectively in response to the political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa.

The United States is expected to keep pressing China to move more quickly to allow its currency to rise in value against the dollar as a way of making U.S. goods more competitive in China.

China, the largest foreign holder of U.S. government debt, will be seeking assurances that Washington is moving to put in place a credible plan to deal with soaring federal budget deficits.

At their last meeting in Paris in February, the G20 officials struck a watered-down deal on a group of technical indicators to track global imbalances. But the G20 left the tricky question of what to do if the balances become dangerous for later discussions.

The IMF, in its new ``World Economic Outlook,'' left unchanged its January projection that the global economy will grow 4.4 per cent this year and 4.5 per cent in 2012.

In 2009, the global economy shrank by 0.5 per cent, its worst downturn since the Second World War, with growth rebounding in 2010 to 5 per cent.

The 2.4 per cent growth forecast for the advanced economies was down 0.1 percentage point from January. The IMF expects these countries to grow 2.6 per cent in 2012.

"New downside risks are building on account of commodity prices, notably oil, and relatedly, geopolitical uncertainty as well as overheating and booming asset markets in emerging market economies," the IMF said.

Growth in the United States was forecast to be 2.8 per cent, down 0.2 percentage point from January, reflecting primarily the drag from higher oil prices. The IMF's forecast is in line with private economists.

Japan, which was hit by a devastating earthquake and tsunami on March 11, was forecast to grow 1.4 per cent this year, down 0.2 percentage point from the January forecast. The expectation is that the world's third largest economy will be slowed at first by the natural disasters but then receive a boost from the reconstruction efforts.

China, now the world's second largest economy, was projected to grow 9.6 per cent this year, a forecast that was unchanged from January. Beijing is raising interest rates to deal with rising inflation risks.

All emerging market economies, a group that includes China, India and Brazil, are expected to grow 6.5 per cent this year and next year.

Developing countries are doing better because they emerged from the recession in much better shape than many industrial countries.

"Economies that are running behind the global recovery typically suffered large financial shocks during the crisis, often related to housing booms and high external indebtedness," the IMF said.

Economic growth in the 17 countries that use the euro including Germany, France and Italy was projected to be 1.6 per cent this year and 1.8 per cent next year, an anemic recovery that reflects continued worries that debt problems in Greece, Ireland and Portugal will spread to other countries.

– With files from The Associated Press

Canada should welcome 100,000 more immigrants per year: Report

By DOUGLAS TODD 31 MAR 2011 COMMENTS(2) THE SEARCH

Filed under: Vancouver, immigrants, Metropolis B.C.

Talk about a discussion starter. Canadian professor Tony Fang is making the contentious recommendation Canada would economically benefit from hiking its annual quote of immigrants to about 350,000 from the current 250,000.

Increasing immigration to Canada by 100,000 per year would boost Canada’s gross domestic product and spur investment in housing, and would not add to unemployment, according to results of Fang's study, which were released at the national Metropolis conference last week in Vancouver.

The York University professor led the study for The Metropolis Project. He claims his projections for the period 2012-2021 show that adding one million immigrants – an extra 100,000 annually over the current level of about 250,000 − would increase productivity and help the government’s balance sheets.

Fang's recommendation conflicts with the impressions of many Metro Vancouver and Toronto residents who worry that housing prices are rising far too high because of a river of immigrants into urban centres, and that strong immigration levels keeps Canadian wages low.

Canada has the highest immigration rate per capita of any major country.

However, a news release about Fang's report justifies his findings on the basis of the way he and his fellow researchers considered the interdependence of factors such as interest rates, wages, inflation, monetary economic policy and standard of living.

"To study the impacts of large-scale immigration on the Canadian economy, the researchers took into account many factors including: immigrants’ participation in the labour force; associated spending on government services and infrastructure; funds brought by immigrants; and labour market differences between migrants (in order to capture the effect of large-scale immigration on Canadian-born workers)," says the release.

Fang, a professor of human resources management professor in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies at York, performed a series of macroeconomic simulations with ProfessorMorley Gunderson, of the Centre of Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto, and Professor Peter Dungan, director of the Policy & Economic Analysis Program at the University of Toronto.

Fang's report -- which focusses on the economics of immigration and not other factors, such as cultural and environmental -- says that adding 100,000 more immigrants per year would:
• Increase real GDP by 2.3 per cent over the 10-year period by 2021
• Increase Canada’s population cumulatively by 2.6 per cent, creating demand for goods and services (especially housing)
• Add $14 billion to government coffers because taxes paid by immigrants exceed government expenditures

Conducted with funding from the Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada and The Metropolis Project, the study proposes to "provide policymakers at all levels of government with information about the costs and benefits of large-scale immigration, to better inform their decisions."

India an answer to Sask. labour shortage: Hopkins

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Saskatchewan should throw its doors wide open to immigrants from India to help solve labour shortage problems, the head of the Regina & District Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday.
John Hopkins, the chamber's CEO, said the pending retirement of many workers in the baby boom generation is "the freight train coming down the track," that will add to the labour shortages already being experienced in the province as a result of an economic boom.
Speaking to the chamber's annual general meeting, at the Best Western Seven Oaks Inn, Hopkins said encouraging more immigrants from India could be a big part of the solution to Saskatchewan's labour shortage.
"What we really need is a pro-active Indian strategy," Hopkins said. "India has 1.2 billion people, many who are highly skilled and salivating about coming to a country like Canada."
Potential immigrants from India are "educated in English, which is a huge advantage for us," Hopkins said.
Hopkins, who was part of a Saskatchewan trade mission that visited India recently, said the trip was a success: "We have established great contacts."
In addition to being a potential source for immigrants, India is also an important market for many Saskatchewan products, Hopkins said.
Federal government help -in facilitating immigration from India and in recognizing the need for more immigrants to Saskatchewan -is needed, Hopkins said.
Speaking to reporters following his speech, Hopkins conceded that there is sometimes a problem with immigrants' professional or technical training being accepted in Canada.
Steps, including educational upgrades, need to be taken to address that problem, Hopkins said, adding it might be possible to provide educational upgrades in India, which would give immigrants the chance to have their credentials immediately recognized when they arrive in Canada.
A variety of other measures should be undertaken to deal with labour shortages, including getting more First Nations people engaged in the workforce, and encouraging young people to stay in Saskatchewan, Hopkins said.
Recruiting new workers from other parts of Canada is also part of the solution, Hopkins said, though other parts of the country will also be dealing with labour shortages as the baby boomers retire, so the competition will be stiff.
Convincing some baby boomers to delay retirement or continue working part-time could be part of the solution, Hopkins said.

City top employer for immigrants

Downtown Mississauga as seen from Ontario's Hi...

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The City of Mississauga has been named one of Canada's top 100 "Best Employers for New Canadians" in a fifth annual national survey.
Mississauga was one of just two municipaliies across the nation to make the list. The other was the Region of Halton.
The list, which identifies the best employers for recent immigrants, is a joint initiative of two charitable foundations: The Maytree Foundation and The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation.
"These employers offer interesting programs to assist new Canadians in making the transition to a new workplace — and a new life in Canada," said the sponsors. The list was published in this week a special supplement of The Globe & Mail.
The City of Mississauga was cited for "addressing the practical challenges that new Canadians face when seeking employment."
Through the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council (TRIEC) Mentoring Partnership, City of Mississauga employees connect with skilled immigrants to provide them with career support and guidance.
The City also hires interns through Career Bridge, an internship program for internationally qualified professionals. More than half of those interns have gone on to secure permanent jobs with the City.
Mississauga also helps internationally-trained engineers develop their English skills through a program sponsored by ACCES Employment.
"We are so pleased that our partnerships ... have been recognized in this way," said City Manager Janice Baker. "Mississauga has benefited from the arrival of thousands of immigrants, and today, almost 50 per cent of our citizens were born in another country. We are working to do our part to give new Canadians relevant work experience and the best possible start in their adopted country."
Also on the best employers list was Xerox Corp., which has a major research facility in the Sheridan Technology and Science Park.
It was also recognized for participating in the TRIEC mentoring partnership and the Career Bridge programs, for including new Canadians on its interview teams and for working directly with the Dixie-Bloor Neighbourhood Centre to connect with new Canadians who are seeking jobs.
jstewart@mississauga.net

Changes Announced for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

New rules to strengthen Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program came into effect on April 1, 2011. Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) will be making significant changes to the current procedures impacting both foreign workers and Canadian employers.

As a general rule, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program allows employers to hire foreign workers when sufficient numbers of Canadian workers are not readily available. A Canadian employer who wants to hire a foreign worker may be required to apply to HRSDC for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO). An LMO is a document that HRSDC issues to employers confirming that hiring a foreign worker for a particular job will have a positive or neutral impact on Canadian workers. Employers must usually prove that they made reasonable efforts to hire a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident before they offer the job to the foreign worker. In addition, Canadian employers must offer wages and working conditions to foreign workers that are consistent with standards for Canadian workers in their region.

With a genuine job offer and a positive LMO, the temporary foreign worker can apply for a work permit. It is important to note that some work permits do not require an LMO, such as Intra-Company work permits and work permits obtained under international agreements (eg. NAFTA).

To ensure that temporary foreign workers are protected while they are in Canada, CIC and HRSDC will be making the following changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which will affect those applying for LMO-based work permits and LMO-exempt work permits:

Genuineness of the Job Offer

To protect foreign workers and prospective immigrants from fraudulent job offers, CIC and HRSDC will be establishing additional criteria for determining whether a job offer is genuine, including job offers extended to Live-In Caregivers. They will be assessing:

The terms of the job offer (including the wages offered) and if the employer can reasonably fulfill those terms;
If the job offer is consistent with the employer’s labour needs;
If the employer previously complied with provincial and federal laws regulating employment or recruiting of workers.

Ban for Non-Compliant Employers

If a Canadian employer is found to be in violation of the regulations, the employer will be banned from hiring any foreign workers for two years. Employers can also receive the two year ban if they fail to fulfill the conditions given in the LMO and in the job offer. These non-compliant employers will have their name and address published on a list available to the public.

According to Immigration Attorney David Cohen, “Employers will want to get this right as the government has indicated that the consequences of non-compliance will be severe. Misinterpreting the new regulations may result in the employer being banned from hiring foreign workers for two years which can negatively impact a company’s brand and ability to meet staffing needs. The risks inherent in these consequences underscore the need for companies to secure professional legal representation to make sure that they comply with the new regulations.”

Maximum of Four Years for Canadian Work Permits

CIC will be limiting the number of years a foreign worker is permitted to hold a Canadian temporary work permit. A foreign worker will only be permitted to work in Canada for a total of four years. Once the four years has ended, the foreign worker will be required to wait at least four years before reapplying for a work permit. Certain workers will be exempt from this new rule:

Foreign workers who are working in Canada on a study permit;
Foreign workers who are working under an international agreement with Canada (eg. NAFTA, GATS, etc.); and
Foreign workers who are working in a Canadian job that creates or maintains significant cultural, economic, or social benefits for Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

Foreign workers also have the option of applying for Canadian Permanent Residency before or after their four years of Canadian employment have ended.

Source:Canada Immigration Newsletter.

Peter Schiff puts his money on Canadian resource sector

Peter Schiff, who failed to gain 15% of Republ...

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Iconoclastic U.S. investor, author and commentator Peter Schiff has long been fairly bullish on Canada, its resources and its prospects. The chief executive officer of Euro Pacific Capital Inc. of Westport, Conn., came to Toronto this week to publicize the launch of his first Canadian venture, Euro Pacific Canada, in which he holds a 20-per-cent stake, and to expound on his philosophy, which underpins the firm’s investment choices.

Q. What makes Canada so attractive to you?

A. I’m already investing in Canada. I personally have more money invested in Canada than I do in the U.S. Part of that is my interest in owning resources. There are a lot of resource names up here. Pretty much all the stocks I own in Canada are resource stocks.

Q. Precious metals?

A. Energy as well, and agriculture.

Q. Your outlook on the U.S. economy is rather dark. What about the Canadian economy?

A. I’m not nearly as pessimistic about Canada. … I like Canada for the resources. [Canadians] are certainly going to be impacted by the problems in the U.S., maybe more so than other countries. So that’s a negative. A lot of it depends on how Canada reacts.

Q. In fact, you argue that Canada needs higher interest rates right now.

A. Canada’s interest rates are still much too low. But they [authorities] feel that they can’t raise them, because they don’t want to see their currency rise too rapidly against the dollar. That’s a mistake. The longer they follow our lead, the more problems they’ll create for their own economy. We’re going to take a lot of countries down that have tethered their currency to the [U.S.] dollar.

Q. But we fear that a stronger loonie will cripple our already weakened manufacturers. Why is that not a legitimate concern?

A. Ultimately, they won’t get creamed, because if the Canadian dollar is strong, then that means capital costs for Canadian businesses will be lower. There will be confidence in the future purchasing power of the Canadian dollar. Higher interest rates will mean more Canadians are saving, which will bring down the cost of capital for businesses to invest in labour-saving devices to make them more competitive. Also, when your currency goes up, the cost of raw materials goes down. … In general, manufacturers are helped by a strong currency.

The policies that produce a strong currency are sound. The policies that produce a weak currency are bad. If you’re running up big deficits on social spending and cranking out money, that’s destroying your economy.

Q. How does this figure into your bond strategy?

A. As an investor, the most important thing for me is the strength of the currency where my yields are coming from. We have Canadian bonds in my bond fund. If I’m a bond investor, it’s the only thing that matters really. I’m not worried about Canada defaulting. But I would be worried about Canada inflating. When you’re a bond investor, you want purchasing power. … I have to make sure the currency that I own [for clients] is going to deliver that purchasing power in the future. So the currency value is paramount.

Q. Obviously, you’re no fan of the U.S. currency.

A. The dollar is losing value. Right now it’s losing value more slowly than the euro. If two people jump off of a building, and one is falling at 40 miles an hour and the other is falling at 30, the one that’s falling at 30 isn’t flying. He’s still going to hit the pavement.

Q. Yet money is still pouring into U.S. Treasuries.

A. Not my money. You’re seeing the Federal Reserve buy Treasuries. But none of my clients are buying. I can’t imagine the person dumb enough. I want to find that person.

Q. I guess you’re not rushing into European sovereign debt either.

A. The maturity on my bond fund … is two-point-something years. I don’t want long-term bonds, because the rates are too low. But a lot of people are being suckered into making that tradeoff, because you can’t get any yield on the short-term bonds. So some people are buying 10- and 20-year bonds, because they need the income. They don’t realize how much risk they’re taking. As an investment adviser, I’d rather tell my client: “Look, if you really want bonds, then just buy the short-term bonds and spend some of your principal now. Because you’ll lose a lot less of it that way.”

Q. What’s your own recommendation?

A. I still try to get my clients to go away from the fixed income [sector]. If you need income, buy stocks. There are stocks that are paying 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 per cent. So you can get all the income you need.

Canadian dollar reaches three-year high

The Canadian dollar was at a fresh three-and-a-half-year high above 104 cents US Wednesday amid record high gold prices while oil approached the US$109 mark.

Topics :: Canadian FIC Strategy , RBC Dominion Securities , Nymex , U.S. , Cushing, Oklahoma ,Libya

The currency was off early lows, but still up 0.5 of a cent to 104.25 cents US. It earlier surged as high as 104.5 cents US, its highest level since November, 2007.

"To be fair, a large part of it is U.S. dollar-driven," said Mark Chandler, head of Canadian FIC Strategy at RBC Dominion Securities, who noted that most of the major currencies were up significantly against the U.S. greenback.

Investors looking for a safe haven sent the June bullion contract on the Nymex up $6.60 from Tuesday's record close to US$1,459.10 an ounce after going as high as US$1,462.10 earlier in the morning.

The May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained 41 cents to a two-and-a-half-year high of US$108.75 a barrel despite a report from the American Petroleum Institute showing that crude inventories fell a greater than expected 2.8 million barrels last week. Analysts had forecast an increase of 1.3 million barrels.

However, inventories of gasoline rose unexpectedly by 568,000 barrels and crude supplies at the key U.S. storage facility in Cushing, Oklahoma rose 120,000 barrels, the API said.

Crude prices are still up more than 27 per cent from mid-February because of fears the fighting in Libya could spread and interrupt supplies from the big producers in the Persian Gulf, such as Saudi Arabia. Higher demand resulting from an improving global economy has also pushed prices higher.

Copper prices also advanced with the May contract in New York ahead 11 cents to US$4.37 a pound.

The U.S. dollar also weakened against the euro a day before the European Central Bank is expected to make its first rate hike in nearly three years to deal with inflation. A quarter percentage point increase in the main rate to 1.25 per cent is fully priced in by the markets so investors will be more interested in what the central bank's president Jean-Claude Trichet says in his press conference.

Traders are also looking ahead to a solid Canadian employment report at the end of the week. Statistics Canada is expected to report Friday that the economy added about 30,000 jobs in March and that data could further strengthen the currency.

"The story for (the Canadian dollar) is quite supportive," said Chandler.

"The reason Canada does well in the risk appetite movement is it's a small, open economy, very leveraged on trade. We've been having good news generally in growth."

Canada's Ukrainian heartland

Mile zero of Trans-Canada highway, Victoria, BC.

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A Drive from Winnipeg to Saskatoon,with visits to magnificent old churches peppered along the back roads, allows visitors to appreciate the triumphs and hardships of eastern European immigrants on the Prairies

BY BRYAN DEMCHINSKY, THE GAZETTE APRIL 9, 2011

Because we live in such a big country and mostly in cities, a lot of Canada is as unfamiliar to us as somewhere on the other side of the world. But if you look closely into out-of-the-way corners, there's so much to see.

Manitoba and Saskatchewan are two big, flat empties as far as many easterners are concerned. But not so. Follow this route between Winnipeg and Saskatoon, and little-known pieces of our culture and history come into view at every turn.

It might be called the Ukrainian heritage trail. It cuts through the central part of a much broader area, extending from southern Manitoba to northwestern Alberta, that became home to tens of thousands of Ukrainian and other eastern European immigrants at the turn of the 20th century.

Now, after a little more than 100 years of solitude, the borscht belt, as it is affectionately known by the locals, is fading away. That's yet another reason to see it while you can.

The journey begins by driving westward from Winnipeg on the Trans-Canada Highway. You are crossing the bed of ancient Lake Agassi, a stretch of real estate that has given the Prairies its reputation for being flat. Here, it's intensely flat.

The landscape begins to change after you turn north, 10 kilometres west of Portage la Prairie, onto Highway 16, called the Yellowhead route. You might stop at Gladstone long enough to say hello to the Happy Rock, the village mascot, a boulder decked out in a top hat. It's not as famous as Vegreville's Easter egg, but for delightful silliness it deserves to be. It's also an indication that people in this part of the world don't take themselves too seriously.

Onward to Neepawa, a pleasant little town built on the side of a hill. It's worth a pit stop if for no other reason than to see the Margaret Laurence Home. Neepawa, doubling as the fictional Manawaka, was the author's hometown and setting for five of her novels.

At Minnedosa, turn north on Highway 10, which takes the traveller through Riding Mountain National Park. "Mountain" is a relative designation or another example of Prairie humour; the park makes the Laurentians look like the Andes.

Still, this densely forested upland is a good place to spend a day or two hiking, swimming and checking out the herd of wood buffalo. If a tent is roughing it more than you like, you can reserve a furnished yurt at the park's main settlement, in Wasagaming - a big step up from sleeping on the ground.

The park is a gateway to the Ukrainian heritage area. To the west, along Highway 45, villages feature fine examples of homegrown church architecture. Tiny Sandy Lake, for example, has two magnificent churches, one Orthodox, the other Ukrainian Catholic.

In Quebec, typically one large Catholic church spire will dominate a community's profile. In this part of the Prairies in almost every village, there are two sets of cupolas, recalling an intense rivalry for adherents between the Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholic churches that began in the 1920s.

The surrounding back roads are also peppered with churches large and small, a reminder of the time before automobiles when the places of worship had to be within bellringing and walking distance of their congregations.

Now, many have disappeared. When their congregations are entirely gone, the churches are closed. Some have been burned or razed by the church, a tradition among the Orthodox Ukrainians. Others were destroyed in acts of vandalism, while still others crumbled into ruin.

Yet the memories of the families who built them and their hardships persist. Proof is found near Patterson Lake, at the end of Highway 577, a lonely country road that runs north from Oakburn. A monument and small park recall the deaths of dozens of children buried there in a mass grave. In 1899, a group of Ukrainian immigrants, having trekked to the spot in ox carts and on foot, were forced to camp in the open while their homesteads were allocated. Struck by scarlet fever, their children died en masse. There was no church and no time for a proper burial. Today the names of the children and their families are poignantly recorded on a marker erected by the descendants of their parents.

On the other side of Riding Mountain is Dauphin, home of the annual Ukrainian Festival, this year taking place July 29 to 31. The event attracts thousands of people from across the country who come for the perogies, singing, dancing and storytelling. If you want to be a part of it, look for a room early or plan to stay in the nearby national park.

Passing through Dauphin, it's worth making a side trip to Trembowla, a lovely spot for a picnic. Here a Ukrainian settlement has been recreated with original buildings - including an 1896 church - gathered from nearby. Along a remote country road, Trembowla feels far away, but is easy to find. It's about 20 kilometres northwest of Dauphin, and signs along Highway 362 and Highway 20 will direct you there.

Westward from Dauphin, Highway 5 passes through scenic parts of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Around appropriately named Grandview, the land slopes to a faraway horizon. A bit farther on, as you enter Saskatchewan, it dips steeply into a valley as it crosses the Lake of Prairies, a part of the Assiniboine River that has been dammed to create a recreation area.

Manitoba Highway 5 ends at the border, but a Saskatchewan No. 5 resumes a few kilometres north at Togo. It's worth going this way, as the winding road follows the Assiniboine Valley. It belies the idea that the province is flat and featureless.

The road also takes you near Duck Mountain Provincial Park and Madge Lake, another good place to spend the night. The park has condo and hotel accommodation next to the beach.

Another bit of history is on view at the village of Verigin a few kilometres west. It's named for Peter Verigin who led the Doukhobor sect out of Russia at the end of the 19th century with the help of Leo Tolstoy. The author of War and Peace championed the Doukhobors' pacifist and communal lifestyle. Verigin built a mansion in the village. It is now a museum.

This part of Saskatchewan is known as the parkland, and it's easy to see why. With its boundless fields and copses, sloughs and meadows, the land indeed sometimes seems like one vast park.

Highway 5 continues through a series of towns and villages as it rushes on to Saskatoon. By now you will have noticed the unusual names of some of these places: Togo, Mikado, Kuroki. All derive from names in the news during the Russo-Japanese war of 1905-06. Townsites were being created so rapidly at the time that surveyors turned to newspaper headlines for inspiration, favouring Japanese admirals and generals because Japan was an ally of Britain. There's also a Kandahar a few kilometres off the highway, near Big Quill Lake, recalling Britain's involvement in Afghanistan.

Where Highway 5 makes a T with Highway 2, it's worth diverting north to visit the Batoche National Historic Site. The countryside nearby, dotted with villages and Ukrainian churches, has a bucolic aspect now, but in 1885, Batoche was the scene of Louis Riel's last stand during the Northwest Rebellion. Bullet holes from the battle can still be seen in the church where the Métis rebels held out against 800 government troops.

From Batoche, Saskatoon is less than an hour away. This pleasant university town on the banks of the Saskatchewan River is a worthy place to rest up after the long drive.

- IF YOU GO

Both Air Canada and WestJet have direct flights from Montreal to Winnipeg. Beginning in July, the cheapest one-way flight to the Manitoba capital from Montreal, before taxes and fees, is $229 on Air Canada and $209 on WestJet.

If you fly out of Saskatoon, a oneway flight to Montreal, before taxes and fees, is $229 on WestJet and $269 on Air Canada. Flying into or out of Saskatoon requires stopovers in either Toronto or Calgary.

Riding Mountain: www.pc.gc.ca/ pn-np/mb/riding/visit.aspx

Dauphin Ukrainian Festival: www.cnuf.ca/

Duck Mountain Provincial Park: www.tpcs.gov.sk.ca/DuckMountain

Batoche National Historic Site: www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/sk/batoche/ index.aspx

Manitoba Tourism: www.travelmanitoba.com/

Saskatchewan Tourism: www.sasktourism.com/

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A Drive from Winnipeg to Saskatoon,with visits to magnificent old churches peppered along the back roads, allows visitors to appreciate the triumphs and hardships of eastern European immigrants on the Prairies

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A Drive from Winnipeg to Saskatoon,with visits to magnificent old churches peppered along the back roads, allows visitors to appreciate the triumphs and hardships of eastern European immigrants on the Prairies

Leave us a message

Check our online courses now

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Vcita