Canada popular with Irish expats in 2011

Image by wburris via Flickr

Catherine Deshayes

An aging population and low birth rate means that Canada needs expats more than ever with high immigration levels likely in 2011, according to government officials...
The country expects to have between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents in 2011, the same as for 2010, said Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney.
‘Canada's post recession economy demands a high level of legal immigration to keep our workforce strong,' he said. All of the country's labour force growth will come from immigration within the next five years, according to the ministry.
Some 25% of newcomers are destined for provinces other than Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec, compared to 11% in 1997, with the Federal Skilled Worker Programme expected to be the most popular means of entry. It admits a range of workers, including technicians, skilled tradespersons, managers and professionals.
Anecdotal evidence suggest that there will be a significant influx of Irish expats as more and more people search for jobs abroad due to the country's financial crisis and Canada has always been popular with the Irish.
Irishman Eamonn O'Loghlin has set up an online job seekers website with support from the Ireland Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) to help Irish people find jobs and move to Canada. He also publishes a magazine for Irish expats in Canada.
With Canada emerging from the global recession in good shape, it is an increasingly popular destination among young people, says O'Loghlin. The Irish will always receive a good welcome here, he says, making special mention of the Canadian finance minister, Jim Flaherty, who is descended from Irish stock.
He advises young immigrants to be professional, to be prepared and to look the part. ‘Make sure the first two or three sentences in the CV grab the reader because the competition is fierce. You've got to be better than the rest.'
Those looking for jobs in Canada include mechanical engineers, IT system analysts, construction managers (the Irish construction sector has been particularly badly hit in the downturn), accountants and marketing executives.
Irish companies are also increasingly looking to the Canadian market, which has shown a lot of resilience in the face of the global economic crisis. More than 220 Irish companies now sell goods and services into Canada, and over 45 Irish companies operate offices and facilities in Canada, according to the ICCC.
Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mary Coughlan, has just led the largest Irish trade mission in history to Canada, visiting Edmonton, Toronto and Ottowa. The focus of the mission was to increase the profile and highlight the achievements of world-class Irish companies who have successfully broken into the Canadian market.
The trade mission cantered around 35 high tech Irish companies who are doing business in Canada and many of companies have secured high profile deals and partnerships worth over €10 million. Bilateral trade between Ireland and Canada is expected to increase by €80 million this year, and sales into Canada by Irish companies have trebled in the past five years.
Source: www.expatforum.com

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Portuguese Immigration to Canada

Image via WikipediaBefore 1950 most immigration occurred from fishing and exploring.
The immigrants from Portugal that came to Canada were fishermen. 85 men in total came, 65 from the main land and 18 from the island of Azores named San Miguel, immigrated to Canada during that time. They fished off the coast of Newfoundland where there they would find rich fishing areas. The Portuguese balanced their diet by eating cod. In 1500 a big amount of Portuguese fisherman joined the French and fish there, but only some Portuguese settled there. They didn’t spend much time in Canada because of large vessels that they were using didn’t allow them to stay much time. Many people came but what made them come.
This is what happened to the Portuguese people, that made them have to immigrate. After World War II Portuguese began to immigrate to Canada, this began around 1947. Before this Canada’s cold climate and Newfoundland’s poor economy, didn’t grab Portuguese attention.

After 1950

After 1950 the Portuguese people that immigrated to Canada had a better chance of living, because of all the changes that were happening. The Portuguese started to immigrate to many places including Venezuela, South Africa, Argentina, West side of Germany, United States, and Canada. Many of the Portuguese left Portugal because they didn’t want to get involved with the war. They kept on immigrating to Canada because of all the immigrants from Angola that were starting to bunch up in Portugal, made it very hard to find a job. Most of the men left their families in Portugal, went to Canada to make money so they could save some money, buy a house, and try to go back to Portugal and stay there forever. Canada wasn’t just the only country that the Portuguese immigrated to, they also went to Brazil. Only 61 700 people went to Canada during 1950-1976, and over 300 000 wen to Brazil during that time period. 8115 went to Canada during 1951-1957. In 1958-1962 that number of people increased. There was now twice as much people as there was in 1951-1957. Once more the number's increased. Hundreds of Portuguese people immigrated to Canada from Portugal.
Where the Portuguese arrived was a place where they would do many things. The Portuguese settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia, this was during 1953. After they settled, the Portuguese started to explore and later on they settled in Toronto, Galt-Cambridge, and Montreal. They started to go to those places because other people had said that there were a bigger variety of jobs to go to. They also went there because they would get paid fairly well from the jobs in these large cities. There was also cheap housing, and cheap housing helped the Portuguese a l lot because they didn’t have that much money to spend. A man by the name Manuel Cabral even brought some American people to go work for him, because he owned a job up in Canada. They fished and settled in the province of Nova Scotia.
How did the Portuguese immigrants come so far? How did the Portuguese immigrate to Canada and other parts of the world? Well they crossed the Atlantic ocean on boats and ships, to come to Canada. But in other closer places they just simply ran away because there were a lot of things going on. It was all because of War and Portuguese people needed money and food to survive, so they immigrated to all parts of the world. They went to a lot, in boats to get to Canada.
Why did the Portuguese immigrate to Canada? Ill tell you. The government in Brazil was already restricting immigration, but in Canada there was still people immigrating, because the government opened up and let in anyone, even family members. People kept on immigrating to Canada because there was freedom, and in Portugal there wasn’t freedom in Portugal because of all the wars that were happening. People talked to the Portuguese years after they immigrated to Canada, and they said, “All we wanted was to live in a free country.” Three other big reasons were: friends and other people said that there was a better chance of getting a job, people bought houses, and had their own business, and live in these large cities. A community was already forming by the 1950’s in Toronto, Galt-Cambridge, and in Montreal. Canada had no choice but to take immigrants.
I am going to tell you when and where many first immigrants first settled. The first ever group of Portuguese immigrants that came to Canada was in 1953 and would later settled in the prairies of Ontario. Toronto, Galt-Cambridge, and Montreal had many of the first Portuguese immigrants that ever came to Canada. There were 16 700 Portuguese people that immigrated to Canada during 1958-1962, by 1963-67 that number had doubled. Over hundreds of thousands of Portuguese people immigrated to Canada during certain time periods
This concludes my report. In this report it should have told you that before the 1950’s there weren’t too many people immigrating to Canada from Portugal, but after 1950 there were many immigrants from Portugal. 

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