Immigration officials review admissibility criteria

BY DANIEL PROUSSALIDIS ,PARLIAMENTARY BUREAU

OTTAWA - Citizenship and Immigration Canada is keeping an eye on prospective immigrants who have a record of doing things that are legal in their home countries, but not in Canada.

Officials say the federal government is reviewing its immigration policy by asking officers posted abroad to collect information about applicants' actions in their homeland.

"The objectives of the admissibility review are to assess whether the provisions in (the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act) continue to meet Canadian needs, identify any gaps, and recommend necessary updates to policy and operational guidelines, or amendments to the legislation or its associated regulations," said an official with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

The review has been going on since 2010 and is expected to wrap up this year.

QMI Agency first reported Wednesday that immigration officials have asked foreign-based officers to keep head office informed of situations or actions in foreign countries "which would constitute criminality in Canada."

Normally, a criminal record would keep a prospective immigrant out of Canada.

But some cultural practices aren't crimes in immigrants' countries of origin, creating a potential loophole.

A July 2011 request sent to immigration officers placed priority on cases of domestic abuse, polygamy, cultivating and marketing khat -- a drug popular in East Africa - and carrying a concealed weapon.

Conservative government officials say no specific concern spurred the review.

"This is part of our broad plan to protect the integrity of Canada's immigration system," said Kasra Nejatian, the immigration minister's director of strategic planning. "We want to keep foreign criminals out of Canada and make sure they get the boot if they ever get here."

Many divided on proposed immigration changes

SURREY (NEWS1130) - There's a mix of concern and support over the government's plans for new Canadians to speak one of our official languages.

News1130 spoke to people at the Vaisakhi festival in Surrey on their thoughts of the proposed changes.

Some worry that making French or English mandatory will cause difficulty for some families who want to bring elderly relatives into the country. They say older family members may struggle to pick up a new language.

"It stops the families from coming together in Canada, the mother or the father still in India or something, the daughter is here, and she can't bring her parents over anymore - that I don't agree with," says one man attending the festival.

Others say language should be required and encouraged to help immigrants start their new country. They stress that it's much easier to succeed and get around in Canada and support the proposal to make it mandatory for citizenship.

"If you are coming to an English-speaking country, you should know the language," says another festival attendee. "That's fine. It should be done a long time ago, even."

The reforms would have Canadian citizens provide written proof of their language abilities.

Theywill be asked to submit evidence that they completed secondary orpost-secondary education in English or French; they could also provideresults of approved third-party tests, or proof of success ingovernment-funded language training programs.