Improving Canada's immigration system

As the federal government set about retooling the country's immigration system this fall, it identified two important goals.

It wants, first, to admit a larger number of skilled workers, and second, to whittle down the seven-year backlog in its family-reunification program. This week, it added a third objective: protecting live-in caregivers from possible exploitation by the families they live with.

In a surprise move, the government announced that the waiting period for live-in caregivers to apply for an open work permit will now be shorter by 18 months. Open work permits allow caregivers to look for another job, in any field, once their two-year live-incaregiver contract is complete.

This is a timely and sensible change. The Live-In Caregiver Program has proven to be a resounding success as Canadian families struggle to find care for children and elderly parents. Parents who can't find child care can't work. The same is true of adult children with aging parents in need of care. Here in Quebec, we've read too many exposés of old age homes where the elderly are underfed and poorly cared for to want to depend exclusively on institutional care.

As welcome as this additional protection for live-in caregivers is, however, there are legitimate fears that this new third objective could leave Canada with a caregiver shortage - a concern given our rapidly aging population. Earlier this fall, the government said it would begin admitting no more than 8,000 to 9,000 live-in caregivers a year, down from the current 10,500 to 12,500. It would have been a good idea for the government to keep the numbers at their current level, at least for now, until we see the effects of open-work-permit liberalization. It may be we will need to increase the numbers in the future.

It bears remembering that when we talk about Canada being a country built on immigration, the builders have always included domestic workers. A century ago, Canada took in people willing to work as farmers, lumberjacks, railway builders, store-owners - but also people who worked in private homes.

This is not to say skilled workers should not be the cornerstone of the country's immigration program. They remain a good bet in terms of immigrants' ability to settle in and start contributing. Government research shows that skilled workers fare well, earning on average $79,200 three years after arriving. Last year, Canada granted 280,681 people permanent-resident status, of whom 67 per cent, or 188,056, were skilled workers and entrepreneurs.

In his enthusiasm for the skilled-worker and entrepreneur categories, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said he intends to cut back on the number of people Canada lets in through the family-reunification program. He is right to be embarrassed by the sevenyear waiting list in that program, with a backlog running into the hundreds of thousands. This leaves people waiting interminably in the often unrealistic hope of moving permanently to Canada.

In addition, Canadian taxpayers may not be convinced that opening the doors to the elderly parents or even grandparents of immigrants is a good investment. Elderly people who have not contributed to the country's health or social services will, if they are admitted, be able to draw on these services in the final years of their lives, possibly even competing with people who have paid for them.

But there are other choices when it comes to family reunification. Longer visitors' visas - five to 10 years in length and requiring the family to provide health insurance and social care - would leave families and their aged relatives with reasonable options and answer taxpayers' concerns. Currently the only options are a short visit or permanent residency.

In the global competition for top-level talent, being able to bring along families can prove a deciding factor for potential immigrants. And those families tend to have the same drive and energy that characterizes the main breadwinner. Canada did not get to be an economic powerhouse on the strength of its relatively small population. It has succeeded because it let in people who wanted to make a better life for themselves and their children - all kinds of people, the live-in caregiver and the telecommunications engineer alike.

© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette

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Exports Canada: China will replace Britain as Quebec's second-largest export market > EDC

China will replace Britain as the second-largest foreign buyer of Quebec's products next year as the demand for base metals continues to feed the Asian economic giant's continued growth, says Export Development Canada. The province's exports are expected to grow for the third year in a row, with a seven per cent gain in 2012, according to the agency's global export focus released Tuesday.


The pace of expansion would put Quebec behind British Columbia (13 per cent), Ontario (10 per cent) and Nova Scotia (nine per cent) in a three-way tie with Manitoba and the Territories, and equal to the national average.

Higher prices for gold and base metals such as aluminum and iron ore should mean another good year for this sector. Mining activity is booming, in large part because of the government-led Plan Nord initiative and development of Malartic and the Sleeping Giant.

"Iron ore shipments to China are ... a huge part of it and that's not going away, it's not a flash in the pan, it's a trend over time," chief economist Peter Hall said in an interview.

China is using Quebec's iron ore to help it aggressively expand its steel-making capacity.

China accounted for 13.6 per cent of the world economy in 2010 when its economy grew by a little more than 10 per cent. Forecasts call for growth of 9.3 and 8.8 per cent in the following two years.

Quebec's aluminum exports should be boosted by stronger prices this year but production will be flat this year and next with the only notable increase occurring at Rio Tinto's Laterriere smelter, says Hall.

The aerospace sector should also be a "star performer" in 2012 as airlines ramp up orders following a couple of years of weak economic conditions.

Hall said the industry will have the beginnings of a recovery as carriers take advantage of order deferrals next year to ensure they get order slots for their planes.

Among the winners will be Bombardier (TSX:BBD.B), which has won an order for 120 business jets from NetJets and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney Canada, both based in Montreal.

The transportation sector is expected to grow by 23 per cent, largely as a result of the aerospace sector, after declining by one per cent in 2011.

"Anybody who's in the supply chain is going to feel the updraft from that 23 per cent growth that we're forecasting for 2012," he said.

Quebec's exports are led by four areas — industrial products which account for 39 per cent of total exports, machinery and equipment at 13 per cent, forestry 13 per cent and transportation at 12 per cent.

Quebec is the third-largest exporter in Canada after Ontario and Alberta. Its $57.8 billion of merchandise exports account for 15.4 per cent of the national total.

After growing by 2.6 per cent in 2010, Quebec's exports are expected to increase by four per cent in 2011 and seven per cent in 2012.

EDC expects Quebec's forestry sector exports will grow by nine per cent in 2012 after two years of zero gains.

Although the number of new U.S. households is growing by 1.4 million, housing starts are only increasing by 550,000 to 600,000.

Most of Quebec's lumber is shipped to traditional markets like the United States while western lumber is increasingly going to China.

Hall also expects opportunities in Quebec to increase shipments of agricultural food products like meat and dairy. The growing size of the middle class in emerging countries is increasing demand for quality food products.

Increasing exports won't have an immediate impact on job creation, which tends to lag recoveries by about six months, Hall said.

"Sadly jobs always lag the recovery so it's going to take awhile for this growth to actually turn into jobs."

Source: CANADIAN BUSINESS